Compare with Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
In Psalms 23:3 the word restores, in the original language, means “movement back to the point of departure.”[1] The Good Shepherd restores your soul back to a place of rest in the confidence of being loved, protected, forgiven and eternally secure. He cleanses your conscience, quiets your fears, accepts you, blesses you, encourages you and gives you His righteousness as a free gift. He lifts off your heavy burdens and gives you rest from the pressure of self sufficiency. He brings your soul back into peaceful fellowship with God.
There are a lot of people who need rest for their souls. Someone might be in the midstream of life; problems seem insurmountable, relationships unfulfilling, hope is dim, life is either hard or just not fun, your friends are boring, the economy is scary or you’re stuck in some no-win job. This soul-stress can happen to you if you’re a student, young adult, grown-up or ancient of days... it doesn’t matter. Many in our world today labor and are exceedingly burdened with their own problems, the problems of their children, the problems of the world.
Even keeping track of our political landscape and reading the newspapers can be gut-wrenching. For example, we’re recently told that if we do not pass a trillion dollar Federal spending plan (of money we don’t have) we are facing a national catastrophe. The stock market melts down, jobless rates soar, the new president blames every problem on his predecessor and the opposition party screams bloody murder.
And so we march on and continue to labor and bear the heavy burden of our own lives and feel the pressure of the world around us. So many people walk around with a great heaviness upon them, and yet the promise offered is that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, will restore your soul. You will find rest for your soul.
Jesus can do this because He rules eternity (Matthew 28:18) which gives Him the power to protect His own (Luke 10:19). He is able to supernaturally provide peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:7), to quiet your storm (Matthew 8:23-27), to heal, bless, cleanse and purify your heart. He can break the chains that bind you and break you out of jail (Acts 16: 25-26). He is the Good Shepherd. “The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
Therefore, no matter what happens on planet earth—with your children, your job, your career, your marriage or with the world around you—the Good Shepherd is able to restore your soul. If you are tired of the pain and burden of life: come to Jesus today.
There is a famous evangelist and TV preacher named James Robison who, in his book entitled Thank God, I’m Free, tells a story about a time in his life that, even while he preached the gospel, there was evil and lust in his heart. He describes a feeling of having a claw in his brain and a deep unhappiness in his soul. Through a trusted friend he finally submitted himself, reluctantly, to a man who prayed and rebuked the devil. Robison said he felt no immediate change so he politely thanked the man and showed him the door. Three days later, however, he woke up in the morning with his soul completely restored and the glory of God filling his heart. He restores my soul.
One quick sidebar: The way that many Christians veer off course and end up with battered souls in the first place is from neglecting the commandment to love. Some people start out strong in the faith and receive the free gift of God’s love but never purposely invest love back into others. Because of this, their love-tank is not refilled and they end up empty of love. Failure to consistently put any heartfelt effort into loving God, their spouse, parents, children, neighbors, or the poor and needy, results in an unhappy existence, devoid of the true riches of Christianity. This is a great paradox: Christians who do not sow love into others but expect to reap love from life. These are people who do not feed the hungry, help the poor, comfort the fatherless or even put effort into prayer and worship. They are loveless. And, loveless people will eventually seek cheap substitute pleasures from the flesh unless they come to their senses and yield to the Good Shepherd.
How to have your soul restored:
"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30
The instruction is to Come, Take, and Learn:
- Come – Bring all of your cares and burdens to Jesus with the confident expectation that He has the power to give you rest. Jesus represents absolute security and has absolute power. He is: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). Nothing can penetrate the safety of His resting place—this is a promise of God’s Word and therefore, absolute truth.
Psalms 91 speaks of abiding in the secret place of the Most High and says: “though a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked” (Psalms 91:7-8). Come to Jesus and He will give you rest.
- Take – Taking Jesus’ yoke is allowing His burden to be your burden. It is to love what He loves and hate what He hates. It is to involve yourself in His business and to leave the worry of your business to His care. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”1 John 2:15-17
- Learn – I’ve heard preachers say that one way to look at this passage is through the idea of a two-yoke team of oxen pulling together, the younger learning from the elder. Jesus, the elder, offers to personally yoke Himself together with His student. Be forewarned, however, that this is humble work. “I am gentle and lowly in heart” In other words, the one you are yoked with is not by nature a party animal or a trouble maker. You cannot race ahead of Him or follow some other path of your own choosing. He values peace over contention, humility over prowess. He is extremely strong, very consistent, loving and protective. If you take His yoke and learn from Him, He will restore your soul. His yoke is easy and His burden is light because He does all the hard work and it is His good pleasure to share the victory with you. Learn from Jesus—adopt His values, care about what He cares about and love what He loves and you will find rest for your soul.
If your soul is restored you can dream, think clearly, love, keep promises, plan, hope and see God in the fabric of life. Your heart is not eaten up with anger, fear, anxiety, lust or inappropriate ambitions. If your soul is restored you can believe, and "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Mark 9:23
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