Restored For Glory

SCRIPTURE READING:

Psalm 23v3 - "He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake."

RESTORE : bring back to original state, form or position; reestablish; give back; reinstate

LEAD : show the way by going in advance; guide; direct; inspire the conduct of

In this psalm, as we all know (or should know), the writer (David) acknowledges the goodness of God as the shepherd. He opens the psalm by saying that, having God as a shepherd is sufficient for him. Then he goes on to say that God restores his soul; this is the verse I want us to look at, deeper.

The word David uses, 'restore' means all that is written above. The original Hebrew word used for 'restore' is 'yeshoveiv' which means 'to return'; it also is the root word for the Hebrew word, teshuvah, which means 'returning to God in repentance'. So in essence, what David is saying is,

"the Lord brings me back to original state, form and position, gives me back my soul and reestablishes me when I repent".... Wow! Wow! Wow!

So, He gives me a clean slate to re-write my life! Not only does He end there...

He then leads me in the paths of righteousness... Are you kidding me?! He does what?! God goes ahead of me, guides me, directs me and inspires my whole conduct! And He does this not just in any path; the path of righteousness, because I am the righteousness of God when I repent (2 Cor. 5v21). 

Why does God do all this for me, a sinner?!? "...for His Name's sake".

He does it because He is jealous of the work He created. He does this because we carry His Name, His image His identity. But because of sin we are separated from Him; but there still is in us something that is of God, which makes Him want us back in His courts. So in repentance, we are reconciled to Him and He is glorified when we live in righteousness.

God restores and directs our souls, if we repent, so that His Name may be glorified in us.

PRAYER:
Lord, thank You for loving me so much that You still give me a way back to Your presence though I'm undeserving. I repent and allow You to restore and lead me from today onwards. Let my life bring you glory. This I ask believing in the name Jesus, AMEN.