Soul restoration What would it take to restore your soul?

Green Pastures 2

 

In Psalm 23, King David described what was often required for him to experience inner renewal from the Lord. He wrote, “The LORD ... makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul” (vv. 1-3a).

Something I find striking about those words is David’s admission that he often needed the Lord to make him lie down in green grasslands. A mere invitation to experience renewal was not enough to get the point across. A gentle suggestion that rest would be beneficial would probably not get David’s attention. What King David needed (and what we often need) was for the Lord to force him to lie down.

This season of quarantine is sidelining many of us from the normal busy pace of our lives. Though it’s understandable that we may resent these restrictions on our activity, I wonder how many of us will look back on this time as a season of spiritual renewal. Maybe our Shepherd is making us lie down.