Psalm 23 Study - Healing For Our Personalities

This weekend my husband and I reminisced about what we were like ten years ago.  We decided that, if we had started to date back then, it wouldn't have worked out.  I'm so thankful that God had a better plan!  It was painful to wait until 32 to meet my future husband, but it was worth it.

Here's the reason that Garrett and I wouldn't have worked out back then:

I was not good in relationships and was willing to accept very little.  I once had a guy tell me, "There's nothing special about you.  Why should I tie myself down to you?"

So I proceeded to drop-kick him.

Just kidding!  Hee hee hee, I crack myself up.  The truth is, my reaction was way worse.

I agreed with him.  And continued to date him.

It saddens me to think of my young self accepting so little.  The only explanation is a soul that needed restoration.  I finally recognized my need and determined to become emotionally healthy.  It didn't happen overnight, but I'm happy to say that my husband and I share a healthy relationship and are thrilled to be married and to serve each other.

Let's study today by putting the emphasis on each word in this portion of Scripture.  By diving deep into each word, we'll broaden our understanding of the entire verse.

"He restores my soul." (Psalm 23:3a, emphasis mine)

As we saw in a previous lesson, the "He" in this verse is the Shepherd, Jesus.  I cannot restore myself.  Other people can't do it for me.  Jesus is the only One able to restore me.

"He restores my soul." (Psalm 23:3a, emphasis mine)

I like to look up verbs in a lexicon to get a fuller understanding of their meanings.  Let's look at restore in the Bible study tools provided by crosswalk.com.  About halfway down the list of definitions you'll find "to restore, refresh, repair."  Isn't that interesting?  It sounds a little different if we say, "He repairs my soul."  That tells me that there's something in my soul that needs fixin', as if things aren't what they should be.

This makes me think of those home improvement shows on TV.  I like the ones where people are trying to sell their houses but aren't getting buyers.  A team comes in and fixes all of the flaws that came about from neglect or even just lack of knowledge about what to do about those flaws.  Sometimes the homeowners knew about the flaws and just didn't know what to do.  Other times, they didn't see the flaws at all.  They just lived with them, even though they could be fixed.  I also love it when they take an empty room with no purpose and give it a purpose, such as an office or den.  By the end of the 30 minutes (including commercials), the home is hardly recognizable, transformed into a place that anyone would like to call home.

It's comforting to know that God wants to come in and restore my soul to the way it should be.  I know some of my "issues" and know that I can't fix them - only God can.  And I cringe to think about "issues" that I have and don't know about - but I'm sure others see them!  Thinking about that makes me want to throw myself at His feet to restore me to be the person that He intended me to be from the start, giving me purpose where I thought there was none.

"He restores my soul." (Psalm 23:3a, emphasis mine)

The word "my" reminds me that I need not concern myself with the restoration of another's soul.  We cannot restore someone else.  God may use us in the process, but we are not the responsible party and are not capable of such a feat.  So instead of reading this lesson and thinking about so-and-so, I should be thinking about my own need.

"He restores my soul." (Psalm 23:3a, emphasis mine)

"Soul" is one of those words that I tended to gloss over in Bible reading.  So let's jump over to the lexicon and get some definitions.  To summarize, your soul consists of your mind, will, and emotions - your personality. 

What does it all mean?

I've been thinking about those things that injure our souls and affect our personalities and I've come up with a few examples:

• Grief - the natural outpouring of grief can wound us if we let it turn into bitterness or self-pity.
• Abuse - physical or verbal abuse can convince us in our minds that we are not worth any better.
• Sin - cherishing sin can harden our hearts to God's voice.
• Stress - I for one am extremely sensitive to stress.  That's a nice way of saying that I'm not pleasant to be around when I'm stressed out from work, commitments, or anything else.  I don't even like myself.  This past year I've gone through the stress-inducers of planning a wedding, buying a house, moving, and my husband changing careers.  So I've had many opportunities to consider this topic!

Can you think about other things that can injure our souls?  Leave a comment and tell us about it.

Something to remember is that restoring our souls is not the same as changing our personalities.  For example, I'm an extreme introvert, and in restoring my soul I don't expect or even want God to make me an extrovert.  That's just the way God made me.  There's nothing wrong with it.  On the other hand, something in my personality that might need restoring is low self-esteem or lack of purpose.

Now the big question: How does God repair all that needs repairing in me?  Let's turn to Scripture for answers.  Read the following Scripture passages and ask yourself the associated question.

• Psalm 116:7 - What instruction does this passage have for the soul?
• Psalm 19:7 - What revives the soul?
• Luke 22:31-32 - What type of person can strengthen their brothers?

To experience restoration, we may need to cut out anything that keeps us from resting, at least for a season.  Maybe that means saying no to new commitments, taking a sabbatical, cutting down on work hours.  We then need to devote ourselves to God's Word.  But not unguided.   God places us in community with other believers so that we can strengthen each other when needed.  Other believers can strengthen us if we place ourselves under their teaching, learn from their experiences and victory over struggles, or even by working through a Bible study written by a believer that we can relate to.

What's the big takeaway?  God repairs what's broken in me.

Questions:

• What can injure our souls?  Share your thoughts with us here.
  
• Have you experienced His restoration?  Share your thoughts with us here.
  

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Comments

[Mom Reyes]

I know 'disappointment' can injure our souls.
Disappointment in our church, not meeting our spiritual expectations; disappointment in the people therein - where is the love; disappointment in our personal relationships - being misunderstood or uncared for; or disappointment in the cards life has dealt us - why me. Nevertheless, like a GPS, our soul keeps searching, hoping, for that very personal restoration and closeness with God. In the end, it is one on One. We pray and our soul yearns and hopes, and waits.