I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship here this evening. Let us ask the Lord's
blessing in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven
and of earth, we come before thee through our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ, and we seek, Lord, thy blessing upon our worship
this evening. Do grant, Lord, thy word with
power. Bless us with thy Holy Spirit's
aid. and do suit thy word to the needs
and cases of thy dear people, and do grant, Lord, that manna
to our souls might be fed. We ask, Lord, this mercy through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Hymn 27. Tune, Trentham 73. This evening I wish to read from
two portions of God's holy word. Firstly, Psalm 23. If you have one of our free Bibles,
that's page 557. The 23rd Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou
art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That was a psalm of
David. Now let us turn to the prophet
Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 42, page 684. Isaiah chapter 42. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. Nay, bruised reed
shall he not break, And the smoking flax shall he not quench, He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor
be discouraged, Till he have set judgment in the earth, And
the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord,
he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread
forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth
bread unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk
therein. I the Lord have called thee in
righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee
and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of
the Gentiles. To open the blind eyes, to bring
out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness
out of the prison house. I am the Lord, that is my name,
and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise
to graven images. Behold, the former things are
come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring
forth, I tell you of them. Sing unto the Lord a new song,
and his praise from the end of the earth. Ye that go down to
the sea, and all that is therein, the isles and the inhabitants
thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities
thereof lift up their voice. The villages that Kida doth inhabit,
let the inhabitants of the rock sing. Let them shout from the
top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the
Lord and declare his praise in the islands. The Lord shall go
forth as a mighty man. He shall stir up jealousy like
a man of war. He shall cry, yea, roar. He shall prevail against his
enemies. I have long time holden my peace. I have been still and refrained
myself. Now will I cry like a travailing
woman. I will destroy and devour at
once. I will make waste mountains and
hills and dry up all their herbs. And I will make the rivers islands
and I will dry up the pools. And I will bring the blind by
a way that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that
they have not known. I will make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them. They shall be turned back, they
shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that
say to the molten images, ye are our gods. Hear ye deaf and
look ye blind, that ye may see. Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger that I send? Who is blind as he that
is perfect and blind, as the Lord's servant, seeing many things
but thou observest not, opening the ears but he heareth not. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness sake, he will magnify the law and make it honourable. But this is a people robbed and
spoiled. They are all of them snared in
holes, and they are hid in prison houses. They are for a prey and
none delivereth, for a spoil and none saith restore. Who among
you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear it
for the time to come? who gave Jacob for a spoil, and
Israel to the robbers, did not the Lord, he against whom we
have sinned? For they would not walk in his
ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. Therefore he hath
poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle,
and it hath set him on fire round about, but he knew not, and it
burnt him, yet he laid it not to heart. The Lord bless to us
that reading of his holy word and help us in prayer. Let us
pray. O Thou loving Heavenly Father,
we come to Thee through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Thy
only begotten Son. O Lord, do grant unto us those
gifts and benefits and blessings that an earthly father would
give to his children, and how much more shalt Thou give the
Holy Spirit and good things to them that ask Thee. We thank
Thee for those promises made through our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, that which rests on Thy perfect sin-atoning sacrifice. Thou who art our hope, Lord Jesus,
that through Thee we might be blessed, through Thee renewed,
through Thee get at last to be with our heart. Lord we would
give thee the honour and glory due unto thy name and Lord we
are dependent upon thee for everything thou hast said without me ye
can do nothing. Do grant then as we gather for
worship that even that, that thou wouldst give us. For he
that cometh to God must believe that he is, to grant us that
belief. And they that worship thee must
worship thee in spirit and in truth, to grant us thy spirit,
to grant us those blessings that shall go back to thee, and thou
wilt acknowledge them as coming from thee. not strange fire,
but of thy own gifts and of thy own giving. We think of David
in preparing for the temple, and he acknowledged that all
that he gave of his own proper good had originally come from
thee. And Lord, we would be mindful
of this. We do pray for Thy work to be
manifest in each of our hearts, that we might feel and know the
power of God working in us to will and to do of Thy own good
pleasure. We might not desire any other
advocate, any other mediator, any other one to stand between
us and thee, or even between other men, but that, Lord, we
might know that thou art he that doth send that reconciliation,
thou art he that doth answer the cries of thy poor Jacobs
and bring them to see Esau as an angel of God. O Lord, we do
thank thee for thy word and those Blessed examples of how Thou
hast gone before and heard the cries of Thy dear people. O leave
us not to do as some of Thy dear people have done, turn to man
instead of Thee. Lord, we know that the trials
that Thou hast sent to us are designed to bring us back to
Thee. Do make them work for good in
that way. Deliver us from every wrong way
and every wrong thought and do grant that fellowship, union,
our Lord, Saviour, Redeemer and Friend. O Lord, we confess our
many sins, a thought, word and deed. Lord, sins against light,
against knowledge. Sins, Lord, that we have, we
trust, repented of and yet committed again and again. O Lord, do grant
us that. God, this sorrow for sin, a hatred
for sin, the desire to walk in ways of holiness and uprightness. Do bless us with the fear of
the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, and that which we
see not, teach thou us. O Lord, do grant that thy word
tonight might be made a blessing to us and to each of thy people. Lord, we thank thee that we can
gather. We pray for this freedom, this
liberty to still be granted, in this our land. And, O Lord,
hear prayer for those in authority over us, that their ears might
be opened to good advice and shut to bad, and that thou dost
overrule for good, Lord, all things that are done. Deliver
us, Lord, from wicked and unreasonable men, and from laws that go against
our Christian conscience and go against thy word. Lord, do
be pleased to bless us with prayer and sing answers to prayer, and
that thou wouldst deliver us, Lord, in our day and generation. that we might be able to serve
it. Lord, do remember that thou hast
raised us up not for a generation hundreds of years ago, but for
our day and generation, with all its individual differences
and trials and the new things that come, Lord, nothing has
taken thee by surprise. Thou knowest in all thou said
that knowledge shall increase, men shall go to and fro. Thou hast foretold all the travel,
all the knowledge, all of the inventions, all that we have
to contend with today. We do thank thee that thy word
remains the same, untouched. Lord, help us to proclaim and
to preach that word tonight, and that we might prove it still
effectual, still the same, still thy divine remedy for sin, still
the means of grace, still the way by which faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God, still the way that thou dost
speak to men. O Lord, leave us not to be weary
of hearing the word of the Lord. Lord, we fear that many are,
and they seek those things that this world has to offer, and
that which does captivate the natural man but do grant us an
appetite for wholesome words and for the words of the King
of Kings and Lord of Lords. We thank thee for every mercy,
every temple mercy and favour and also spiritual blessings
and favours as well. We do pray, Lord, that Thou be
with us as a church and people, to bless us and increase and
build us up, and bless the ministry here, bless the Bibles that go
forth, bless Thy word to those that receive it, constrain those
that are Thy people, hidden amongst the stuff to ask for Thy word. And Lord, do be pleased to grant
us to hear from time to time what Thou hast done, what Thou
hast wrought. We lay our petition for Thy day. We pray for Thy blessing upon
our gatherings then. And O Lord, to be with the gatherings,
the young people on Saturday evening, and on the next Saturday,
the Creation Ministries International meeting that we are holding here
in this town. Lord, do grant Thy blessing to
be upon that as well. We do pray for health and strength
for all these things, for those that take part, to those that
lead, to those that come. Lord, we realise what a difference
it makes if our health is to be taken away. We would value
it. We thank Thee without pleas to
answer prayer. Lord, do remember many brethren
that we know that are in need of Thy kind healing hand. and
help in times of affliction. O Lord, do help and do be with
them. Now, Lord, we do seek the provision
of thy word, and that thou hast blessed us. O Lord, hear prayer
for mothers with children, that they might bring forth a healthy
living child, and we would be pleased to Also remember the
mothers in Israel, and help us to be of those that labour and
pray for souls to be born again of thy spirit. But we do pray,
Lord, that thou hast made thy people a fruitful vine, and that
there might be a generation brought up under the sound of the truth. We remember, Lord, causes of
truth where there are troubles, whether in this land or in other
lands, and do give wisdom, help, and grace to each of thy servants,
the pastors, and Lord, do grant thy blessing of peace and union
and love and building up. Lord, do grant that blessing
in each of our churches. We ask, Lord, thy mercy now,
and we plead the name and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. Hymn, 1077. Tune, Daniel 459. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Psalm 23, a Psalm of David,
and reading from our text, verse 3. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness, for his name's sake. Specifically the first words,
he restoreth my soul. Psalm 23 and verse three. Really a psalm for any one of
the Lord's dear people who feel to be in need of restoring. Far off, faith low, maybe weak,
Weak in doctrine, maybe lacking of love, maybe fallen, need,
like David, to be restored in repentance and godly sorrow,
maybe gradually gone into ways of unholiness and to be brought
back again into ways of holiness, to be brought to what we once
were, The churches in Asia. There were those that were written
to that had lost or left their first love. Those that were called
to remember the first works and to do them. The picture. You think of someone
who has a car and it may be the It's an old car, and the paintwork
is all mud. The engine doesn't really work.
The upholstery is all ragged. And they make it work to restore
it, to bring it back to its original condition. And what a transformation
sometimes is wrought by those who do that, to bring such a
vehicle back to a showroom condition. and many other things, pianos,
organs, whatever it is, that may be in a very deteriorated
condition, to restore it, to bring it back again to a working
condition, back to nearly new, or sometimes better than new. This is the idea that is spoken
of here, when David says, he restoreth my soul. It is not a car, it's not an
organ, it's not some material thing. It's a soul, his soul,
my soul, David's soul that he is speaking of. And what a blessed
thing just to realize that here in the word of God, it acknowledges
that souls do get into a need of restoring. They do depart
from what they should be and in showing forth God's glory
and praise. And what a blessed thing to realize
that there is provision in the word for such a restoring. Imagine if naturally we came
across something and maybe it was of great value to us, sentimental
value to us, and we looked at it, people looked at it, and
they said, impossible, you can't restore it, trash it, throw it
away, no good. But what a difference if someone
says, yes, it is restorable, we can repair it, we can bring
it back again. And this really is what is set
before us here regarding a soul. And what a good message, what
a lovely message to those who feel the ruins of my soul repair. And that is what they want, to
be restored, to be brought again into the banqueting house, to
be brought again to be blessed, to walk with the people of God.
And so David here, he makes this testimony in this verse. He restoreth my soul. He has spoken of the Lord as
his shepherd in verse one. And of course, David is a shepherd. He has a picture of what it is
to restore a sheep that has gone out of the way and to bring it
back into the fold. and back into the right ways
again. And so he sets this before us,
and this is what I desire to speak of this evening. On to notice first, and before
we come to some more definite points, but the reason why the
soul is to be restored or how it can be restored in the latter
part of this verse. It is for his name's sake. And it is a good thing right
at the start, and especially if you and I are coming to such
a text like this and viewing ourselves as we are, It's good
to be told that the reason why restoration can be made is not
because of something good in us, not because of something
that we have done to be worthy of it, but for His name's sake,
for the Lord's sake, And we are reminded that God's people are
a blood-bought people. They have been chosen in Christ
from the foundation of the world. They have been loved with an
everlasting love. They have been upon the heart
of our Lord and their sins have been laid upon Him. and he has
borne them away at Calvary. The Lord has redeemed his people. He has finished that work. He
has accomplished for them what they could not do themselves. He has paid the debt. He has
settled the ransom. His people are redeemed. They are not their own. They
are bought with a price. And so it is for this reason,
for His name's sake, many times through the Scriptures, this
is set forth as the reason why the Lord will do such things. We read in the prophecy of Ezekiel
what the Lord will do for His people, and we may come back
to this in a moment, but he makes this statement, not for your
sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you, be
ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. And it is then for the Lord's
sake, for his name's sake, That is the secret, that is the reason
for it. And may we remember that right
at the start, David acknowledges it in our text, that what he
is the subject of, the restoring of his soul and the leading in
paths of righteousness, it is all for his namesake, the Lord's
sake, not for his sake though, David is receiving the benefit
and the blessing, yet the crown, that glory, goes to the Lord. We read in Isaiah 42 that the
Lord will not give his glory to another, but he shall have
the glory, and that is especially concerning the restoration of
a soul. So on to then look with the Lord's
help. Firstly, a work being done by
the Lord, He, He restoreth my soul. Secondly, an ongoing work. The wording of our text is not,
He restored my soul. It is not, He will restore my
soul. But he restoreth, it is a work
that is ongoing, in progress, if you like. And then thirdly,
a work characterized by leading in paths of righteousness. He restoreth my soul, he leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness, for his name's sake. But the first thing I want to
note is the work being done by the Lord. Now right at the outset,
we need to remind ourselves that the first restoration work that
is ever done is a call by grace, is being born again of the Spirit. And every soul that looks at
such a passage as this that wants to be brought back to what they
once were in the Lord as being converted, needs to remember
that the Lord found them first when they were lost and ruined
in the fall, when they were dead in trespasses and sins, when
they were without strength in due time. Christ died for the
ungodly. He passed by me when I was in
my blood and bid me live. That great work of bringing from
death unto life, that first great restoration, bringing back to
the Lord, that is the work of the Lord that His people have
from Him right at the beginning, unasked for, unreally sought
for, though we hope there are many brought up under the sand
of the truth. that hear the message that they
need the new birth, they need spiritual life, and do ask the
Lord for it, do seek the Lord for it. But really it is the
Lord that gives that life, and before that life is given, that
soul cannot really know what their condition is, or even in
their need of life, because they are dead. But when the Lord opens
the ear, when he gives life, when he gives hunger, thirst
after righteousness, then that soul is a living soul. Often when the Lord first begins,
that soul is much more tender, teachable, in a better position
than sometimes later on in the journey. Many of us would love
to go back to those first days when we were so tender of conscience,
so teachable and so pressing after the Lord. But it is good
for us to remember that the one that begun that work he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ, was the Lord and not ourselves. Salvation,
says Jonah, is of the Lord. And this is what David states
here. Not I am restoring my soul, not
he is restoring my soul with my help, but he restoreth my
soul. And it is good for us to really
note who is the worker here? Going back to our illustrations,
is it the car that is in need of restoring? Is that restoring
itself? The organ, the piano that is
being restored, is that restoring itself? Or is someone else doing
it? and they are, you might say,
passive in the hand of that one that is repairing and doing the
work. And this is what is set before
us here. We know, of course, we are living,
we are active, and we do respond to the Lord's teaching and leading. We are to be a living soul. In that way, the illustrations
of material things don't follow through. But the main point here
is that the work is being done by the Lord, and the one that
is receiving this work, that is David, he is able to testify
as firsthand as experiencing it, and to say, he, the Lord,
restoreth my soul. Now if we turn to Psalm 51, now
Psalm 51, written by David, was after he had sinned with Bathsheba,
and murdered Uriah, her husband, and then after Nathan the prophet
came unto him, and he was brought to be convicted of his sin and
what he'd done. Now, he'd no doubt gone many,
many months hardened in what he'd done, still outwardly worshipping,
still going before the Ark, it may be, still appearing to be
a godly person, but all the time, this hidden secret, this thing
that was done, that Joab knew and others knew in Israel. When he was convicted of it,
he says, I have sinned. And then it was the Lord that
brought Nathan. He instigated that first step
in restoring David. He sent Nathan to convict him
of his sin, in need of restoring. He brought him to repentance. He brought him to know the chastening
hand of God. The child should die, and it
did. The sword shall not depart from
thy house, and it didn't. The path that David walked, it
was a path ordered by the Lord. But it brings forth this Psalm,
Psalm 51. And this is where we can see
the difference between something that is material, that has no
life, no feeling, no voice, and a soul that does have a life,
does have a voice, and does move under the restorings and teachings
of the Lord. And one of the things that is
so evident in this psalm is that David is convinced of his need
for the Lord to do it. Notice the wording, I draw your
attention to the various verses in it. We go from verse one. Have mercy upon me, O God. The mercy is never deserved,
cannot be deserved or earned at all, It is something only
God could show to him. Don't we ask for that? Then in
verse two, wash me through thee from mine iniquity, cleanse me
from my sin. He's asking the Lord to do this. He's not saying, Lord, I am convinced
of my sin. I'm going to wash myself from
my iniquity. I'm going to cleanse myself from
my sin. He's asking the Lord to do it. Then we have in verse seven,
purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall
be whiter than snow. He's asking the Lord to do these
things. In one sense, he's been shown
what he needs. He needs washing. He needs cleansing. He needs purging. And he's asking
the Lord, as the restorer of his soul, to do it for him. We have verse eight, make me. to hear joy and gladness that
the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. It's the Lord that
broke those bones, the Lord that brought him to confess his sin. Then he decides in verse nine,
hide thy face from my sins, blot out all mine iniquities. Verse 10, he wants create in
me a clean heart. Here he is mindful of an unclean
heart, and not saying, Lord, I'm going to cleanse my heart.
I'm going to get a right spirit. Give me time. I'm going to affect
this. I'm going to be more diligent
in my reading and my prayer. And you will see, I will cleanse
my heart. No, he is going to the Lord,
creating me a clean heart, oh God, as if there's nothing there
to begin with. He's not just repairing the part
of his soul, he's making it new. Sometimes in a restoration of
something, there's some parts of the organ or a car that might
need to be completely thrown away and be remade. And he's praying, restore in
verse 12, unto me the joy of thy salvation. And in verse 14,
deliver me. from blood guiltiness. And then
in verse 15, open thou my lips and my mouth shall show forth
thy praise. All of this is what the Lord
will do. He's asking the Lord to do these
things for him under a sense that he is not able to do it
himself. He needs the living God, the
eternal God to do these things. for him, and he's asking. Now
this, if we go back to Ezekiel, that we briefly had a look at
before in Ezekiel 36, we then read of what the Lord will do
for his people. And remember, Ezekiel prophesied
in the beginning of the captivity in Babylon, that the Lord says
that he will cleanse from all your filthiness and from all
your idols will I cleanse you, verse 25 this is. And a new heart
also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. I'll give
you a new heart of flesh. I'll put my spirit within you
Cause you to walk in my statutes, you shall keep my judgments and
do them. Verse 29, I will save you, also
save you from all your uncleannesses, and I'll call for corn and will
increase it and lay no famine upon you. All of these things. Then shall ye remember your own
evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe
yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your
abominations. And this is where he says, Not
for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God. Be it known unto
you, be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of
Israel. And he's stating not for your
sakes do I this he is doing it but then we have later on in
verse 37 thus saith the lord god i will yet for this being
quiet of by the house of israel to do it for them i'll increase
them with men like a flock and that is exactly what david is
doing in some 51. He is inquiring of the Lord to
do it for him. In Ezekiel chapter 37, following
on from the chapter we've just quoted from, we have a picture
of dry bones, a valley full of dry bones, and Ezekiel was asked
Can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, Thou
knowest. Then He was commanded to prophesy
before them. They came together, with no life
in them, then to prophesy again, and the Spirit entered into them. And the Lord says that this is
the children of Israel. These bones are the whole house
of Israel. Behold, they say our bones are
dried and our hope is lost. We are cut off for our parts.
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. Behold, O my people, I will open
your graves, cause you to come up out of your graves and bring
you into the land of Israel. When you think of the history
of Israel, how many times they were restored, how many times
they, because of their sin, carried into captivity, and then the
Lord raised up a deliverer, and he delivered them, he brought
them back again, he brought them out of Babylon, he brought them
to restore the temple itself, and as a nation, they were restored. And these things are for our
learning, and to see what the Lord has done with his people
and how he's brought them from idols back again to the living
and true God. We think of the times with Elijah
on Mount Carmel. It was the Lord that brought
the famine, the Lord that sent Elijah, the Lord that told him
to make the two altars, the Lord that answered with fire from
heaven. This is the Lord's work and This
is the message, the first point and main point. This is a gospel
point. It is not pointing to the law
and saying, you must do these things. It's pointing to poor
sinners, sinners that feel their sinnership, sinners that are
blood-bought sinners, and they're appointed to the Restorer. Appointed
to the Lord, to look to the Lord, You think of Jonah in the whale's
belly. I am cast out of thy sight, he
says. And you might feel that this
evening, cast out of the sight of the Lord. And he says, yet
will I look again toward thine holy temple. Salvation is of
the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fair
sheep, vomited Jonah out on the dry land. All of where the salvation
was of the Lord. He gave Joan the prayer. He gave
him the fish to swallow him up, to preserve him from drowning.
All the work was the Lord's. So may we remember this. May
we remember who it is that restores. May we remember that he will
be inquired of to do it for us. Thinking of Psalm 51, David's
petitions, thinking of Ezekiel 36, the statements of what the
Lord will do for Israel and that he will be inquired of by the
House of Israel to do it for them. And a great encouragement
to us is if the Lord has begun with us and quickened us into
divine life, how much more then when we have gone astray, When
we are backslidden, when we are weak, when we are feeble, when
we need renewed strength and help, will the Lord do that for
us? He restoreth my soul, the work
being done by the Lord. Secondly, an ongoing work. Our text says, he restoreth my
soul. Not restored, not will restored,
it is ongoing. Yet in this psalm, David has
much assurance. He is able to say, the Lord is
my shepherd. I wonder how many of us are able
to say that, it's a blessed thing. to be able to say the Lord is
my shepherd. He shepherds me, he guides me,
he cares for me. I am one of his sheep. My sheep, they hear my voice,
they follow me. He makes these statements of
what the Lord does, including our text, but also including
he make of me to lie down in green pastures. He also speaks
of the Lord preparing a table before him. And the statement
at the end, beautiful verse, surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. You might say a soul that can
pen a psalm like this is already restored, is already in a good
place, already in a blessed place to be able to say that you might
cover such a blessing and say, oh, that I was in David's shoes
here, that I could speak this language here. But David doesn't
say he has restored, but he restoreth my soul. In one sense, if we think of
our bodies, in a day, We have meals. If we did not have meals,
if we did not have regular food, then we would go faint and weak.
David, at Ziglag, he found the Egyptian that had been left in
the field by the Amalekites faint, and they gave him some raisins,
they gave him drink, they gave him food, to revive him, to restore
him. He needed that food. Now maybe,
because we have regular meals, we are never really reminded
that if we didn't have them, then we would get very faint
and very weak. So part of the ongoing work that
God does with his people is, as we are taught to pray in the
Lord's Prayer, give us this day our daily bread. Men shall not
live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God. So there's one sense, he restoreth
my soul, is when we come and ask the Lord for manna, we ask
for the word to be blessed, we come into the house of God, We
are not able to feed ourselves, we are not able to bless ourselves,
but that the word that we hear might be used to restore us,
to keep up our strength. And we think of many ways that
we are restored. Each night we are blessed, we
are blessed to have a home, a bed, We go to sleep. Why do we spend
eight hours a night asleep? Is it not restoring our body?
Does not our body need to be restored in that way? Yes, it
does. And so we are used to, in a natural
way, having our bodies restored as an ongoing thing. And so it
is in a spiritual way as well. Day by day, maintained and restored
and kept in health. Sometimes we can find it like
in Psalm 84, that we go from strength to strength. We are
given some strength, we use up all that strength, and then we
need to be renewed again. In Psalm 107, you read of them
there. Again and again they fell down,
there was none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and the Lord delivered them out of their distresses. And it was a repeatable thing
again and again through that Psalm to be restored. And this is the picture really
with with God's people. It is not running on an even
all the time, not mindful of weakness, not mindful of needing
fresh food, fresh encouragement, fresh strength. That restoring
is an ongoing thing and we need to be mindful of our need of
that. Our Lord used the illustration
of himself as the vine and We as the branches, the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine. Well, if you
cut the branch off, it'd just wither. But that means for it
not to wither, it is all the time being restored with sap. It's all the time being granted
that life. And so it is with our body. We have our skin cells, they
die, brush off our blood cells, they die, they're flushed away,
they're replaced again. All the time, our body is being
regenerated, restored. And so in that sense, when David
says, he restored my soul, it is the picture ongoing in the
life of all of the people of God. But it is also when we are
backslidden, when we have gone away from the Lord. It is the Lord that then brings
the soul back again. And that then is an ongoing work. Sometimes it is where we, like
David, have sinned and the Lord chastens. Now no chastening for
the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward,
it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that
are exercised thereby. And the chastening is used to
restore, and we're told that there is not any of the people
of God that escape that. All of the children of God, we
are sinners, and all will be chastened when they sin. And so may we think of this word
when we are brought into Christ's fold, when we are part of His
flow, when we are like the children of Israel, brought out of Egypt,
brought to go through the wilderness, and the Lord reminded them. Moses
reminded them sometimes, if you're going to be the Lord's people,
then you're subject to His laws, to His chastening, to His dealing. And the Lord did deal with them.
as with his people, in a special way that marked them out as his
people. The Lord will do that to bring
forth his praise and his glory. It is he that quickens a soul
and he that makes us to be what he'd have us to be. This people
have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. And so may we be encouraged in
this, this ongoing work, a work that the Lord will not forsake. He will not forsake the work
of his own hands. He will bring his people safely
to be with himself. And this is then a mark of God's
people. Now, if we read, I think it's
in Proverbs, the child left to himself bringeth his mother to
shame. Well, the Lord doesn't leave
his blood-bought chosen people to themselves, sometimes for
a season, like with David. But then there comes a time that
they are brought to acknowledge their sin, brought back again,
and he restores them again. He restoreth my soul, an ongoing
work. Do we know what that ongoing
work is? Do we know the first work? And
do we know what it is from day to day to have our soul restored,
renewed? You might say, in what ways is
a soul renewed? What is a healthy song? What
is the standard? What is looked for in a song? You know, those who are storing
something in a natural way, they have a picture of what it used
to be. They may know what it is to do. If it's a car, it's not much
good if it won't start and go. If it's an organ, it won't be
much good if it can't be played. So, in one sense, that is the
aim, that it will be useful. These people have a form for
myself. They shall show forth my praise.
They are salt, they are light, they'll be useful, but not in
a unrestored, far-off, state, and condition. So I want to look
at how it is set before us as a work characterized by leading
in paths of righteousness. This is our third point. In paths of righteousness, there's
two things to say on this point. The first is a path of righteousness
which is looking to Christ alone for our righteousness. What is
done is not for our righteousness sake. It is done for the Lord's. And every soul is saved when
they trust in not in their own works and not in their own goodness,
but solely in Christ. And sadly, one aspect of backsliding,
departures, is when a people gets self-sufficient. The children
of Israel were warned when they went into the promised land that
then they were blessed with everything, that they forgot the Lord and
they walked on independent from Him. Well, God will not allow
that in His people. So this is the first thing that
He would do. He leads. leads his people, goes
before them as a shepherd, and he leads them in paths of righteousness. And that will be led to Calvary,
led to what the Lord has done, led to see his righteousness. This is the name wherewith he
shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Blessed soul that
is restored to that. Forever my poor soul be saved
is Christ, must be the way. By grace I am saved, not by my
works, but by grace through faith, and that not of myself, but as
a gift from the Lord. The second way is that all that
the Lord says will be called toward holy, godly, and upright
lives. We are not to sin that grace
might abound. And yet we have a wicked, sinful
heart. We have a tempting devil. We
have the world around us that is casting sin before us, before
our eyes, before our ears. We get hardened, we get far off
from the Lord. And so to be led in paths of
righteousness is to be led in paths that our paths of holiness
and uprightness, renewing in us that hatred to sin and a love
for holiness and the Lord, to be led in ways of moral uprightness
and godliness. Again, going back to David, one
of the reasons why the child should die was because through
his deed, the way of truth was evil spoken of. He had caused
the enemies of the Lord to have occasion to blaspheme. God's
people, when they have a profession, and then they do and say things
that are ungodly, unclean, vile, filthy, the ways of the world,
They bring reproach upon the name of the Lord, and they defile
their own soul and those round about them. And so what the Lord
does when he restores, he leads in paths of righteousness, godliness,
holiness, cleanness, not sinning that grace might abound. You
can be sure of this, that one that makes a profession of faith
and yet takes no heed to walk in the ways of the Lord, or to
restrain the wickedness of their own heart and own ways. They
are not in a restored position, but there is hope that the Lord
will restore such a one. And the mark of restoring is
to be brought again tender, teachable, The Apostle Paul says, I always
exercise myself to have a conscience that is void of offense before
God and man. He says that I keep under my
body, lest when I preach to others, I myself am a cast away. We are told that those in Hebrews
12, you have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against
sin. The path of the people of God
is always a path of fighting the good fight of faith, running
the race that is set before us, striving to enter in at the straight
gate, resisting the devil with the promise he shall flee from
us. They are ways that are not ways
of ease. but ways of fighting, resisting,
striving. And this is what the Lord will
work in the soul. When he restores that soul, then
those weapons of their warfare are revived again. The sword of the spirit, which
is the word of God, the shield of faith, that is used, it is
wielded. hope of salvation, that is look
for, long for. Moses had respect unto the recompense
of the reward, choosing to suffer affliction with the people of
God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And so this characteristic, this
way that the restoring is set forth before us here is a leading,
restoring by leading in the paths of righteousness, leading in
those ways that we've gone back from, and leading back into those
ways, back into the narrow way, back into the ways of truth and
holiness. back into that narrow way. So may we know something of the
restoring of a soul in this way set before us in the inspired,
infallible Word of God, the way that David testifies in a personal
way, as if he would say like he does in Psalm 34, that to
come ye children, hearken unto me,
I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that
desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep
thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart
from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon
the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face
of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance
of them from the earth. So these are the ways that David
would teach as the way that the Lord restores a soul and brings
in so that it may be used by the Lord. It shows forth his
praise, his glory. It shows forth the reality that
we have a shepherd. The Lord is our shepherd and
he, on an ongoing basis, he restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the
paths of righteousness. Why does he do it? For his namesake. May the Lord bless this word
to us and grant us to know something of this experience in our own
life. and in our own soul. Amen. Hymn, 471. Tune, Silchester 66. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now