He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. 

                                                                                                                 Psalm 23:3 

Restoration has to be one of the most miraculous words in the English language. To take something old, outdated, broken, and run down, and rebuild, reconstruct, and rehabilitate it, is truly something to behold. An old, rusty automobile, now freshly painted, rebuilt, and drivable. Or that old piece of furniture, rough and falling apart, now smoothed out, repainted, and usable once again…this is restoration.

Perhaps the most powerful portion of this Psalm is found in David’s words, “He (God) restores my soul.” In writing Psalm 23, David is reflecting on God’s goodness as his heavenly shepherd. But this is not the only time in David’s life in which we find his thoughts focused on God’s restoration. After great moral failure (adultery and murder), we see David calling on the same God who had hand picked him to be the King of Israel. Consider his words after this failure: 

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. 

                                                                                                           Psalm 51:12 

This truly is the heart of a repentant man. Because of bad decisions, moral failure, and sin, David was left a broken man. After asking for God’s mercy and grace over his life (Psalm 51:1-9), he turns his attention to restoration, the kind that only God could perform. David had lost his joy. His godly course in life had been temporarily derailed. Guilt and shame would now overshadow any joy and contentment that he had previously enjoyed…and it all began with a bad decision.

As believers, we can find ourselves in need of restoration as well. Eternal restoration is accomplished at the moment we are saved, but restoration is also something that we can find ourselves requiring often, perhaps even on a daily basis. Life has a way of squeezing “the joy of our salvation” out of us. Like a tremendous head wind, bad decisions, moral failure, and sin can work against the spiritual progress that we are making as we live our lives for Christ. David knew that all too well. His request says it all, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.”

I believe that one of the strategies the enemy uses against believers is to cause them to doubt the position that they enjoy in Jesus. Works-based religious philosophies can compound this problem as people are led to believe that their salvation is somehow tied to their moral performance. Guilt and shame can plague born again believers who feel that they have moved beyond the grasp of the Savior. But under the new covenant, the issue isn’t perfection in behavior rather faith in the One who has already accomplished everything necessary for us to be saved (Galatians 2:16). When we refuse to allow failure and bad decisions (which we have all made), to derail the Divine purpose that God has for us, we will find the restoration that we need. This may have to be done daily but spiritual victory is a reality for every believer who will renew their minds by focusing on the truth of scripture rather than religious philosophies and faulty doctrines.

Along with David’s call for restoration is for God to grant him a willing spirit. I believe that restoration and a willing spirit to serve God are connected. When we are restored (especially after failure), we find that we are even more willing to move out in faith than ever before. But the key is restoration. When God takes our bad decisions, moral failures, and sin and rebuilds, reconstructs, and rehabilitates our lives, we find the spiritual strength and power necessary for us to be effective in proclaiming the gospel and furthering the kingdom of God.

If you are living in the victory, power, and contentment of knowing Jesus, why not rejoice today and openly declare, “God restores my soul!”