Still Waters: Restoration for the Soul

Peter Lockhart

In John 10 Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd and so makes a particular claim on this Psalm. It is Jesus the shepherd who provides for our wants and invites us to relax and be restored and to find hope, even in the face of dark and evil times. Psalm 23 is undoubtedly a Psalm of comfort seeking God’s restoration for our souls.

In our contemporary Australian lifestyle our lives appear to be getting busier and more frantic even though we live in a world that appears bright with lights. But the light is artificial, neon and fluorescent, and whilst it may cast away the shadows the darkness lurks underneath. People are feeling overwhelmed in a rapidly changing environment as our souls are consumed in the business.

The amount of information which we are exposed to is immense, especially if we spend time on our computers surfing the net. Opening web pages and blogs has become an assault on our senses with a multitude of images and even sounds bombarding us with information.

TV’s occupy prominent positions in households tutoring us to be consumers, increasing our desire to own more stuff, and indoctrinate us to a lifestyle pursuing individual happiness.

Walking through the streets and in the shops immerses us in the rush and bustle of society, lost in a sea of faces. We can sit alone in a food court with a thousand other people, isolated in our independence from one another.

For families the list of events and demands turns parents into taxi services and children into slaves of the next activity that they must attend to have a well rounded life.

Psalm 23 calls to repose again by the still waters of God’s presence ad to restore our souls. This is about rediscovering whose we are and what is important in our lives. Drawn into the community of God’s presence breathing deeply of the Spirit our lives are reorientated and our souls are restored so that we declare with hope:

you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

What do you want...

by Peter Lockhart

The beginning of Psalm 23 challenges the very core of our Western culture. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Yet wanting things drives our Western consumerist culture, and dare I say even the Church in the West. We are consumers par excellence and we are taught to want, we are goaded into coveting, and without our continued consumption our economy is headed for disaster.

How do we as Christians live with this tension of wanting so much and finding that our true contentment and peace comes as a gift from God? How do we consider our wanting in terms of the issue that so much that we consume is produced by people who live in abject poverty? How do we understand our not wanting in relationship to the Lord being our Shepherd?

Hear Peter's sermon on Psalm 23 on 'Family Worship' on the Brisbane Family Radio Station 96.5 FM Sunday 11 April at 9am.