“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Psalm 23:3
My friend Oliver is a shepherd. He tends to dozens of sheep on his family’s land. I recently asked how it’s helped him relate to God more personally or understand himself, since scripture relates us to sheep over 40 times.
Oliver didn’t take long to tell me how rare it is for his sheep to lie down. They won’t do it if they’re hungry. They have to feel safe, be with people they trust, and not have any bugs bothering them. Total peace. Only then—when every need is met—will a sheep finally lie down.
This is the part of the Psalm that stood out to him. Where David certainly knew, just like Oliver does, how hard it is for a sheep to lie down, to rest, to be restored. It’s not that they are stubborn; it’s just that true rest takes trust and stillness.
David didn’t seem to come to his clearest understanding of God as a warrior on the battlefield or in the moment of slaying giants. He came to it on a quiet hillside, watching over the flock with his harp. When he writes about the Lord’s presence, he doesn’t bring us into the palace or onto the battlefield. He takes us to the pasture. Not where the crowd is cheering, or the victories are won, but where the ground is soft and the waters are still. It’s there, in that stillness, that our souls are restored.
God is with you in the valleys and He’s with you on the mountain tops, but the deep rest is on the quiet hillside. When you escape the chaos of life and run to the stillness of His presence. When you’re still and know that He is God.
So, don’t wait around for a highlight reel moment for God to show up. Look for Him in the stillness.
Like Elijah, who heard Him not in the wind or the earthquake, but in a still, small voice.
Like Jesus himself, who often slipped away to silent places to pray.
Like David, pursuing God’s heart, alone in the fields.
The world will tell you all about the next thing or fix that will finally satisfy you. But I’ve come up empty and learned, just as my friend Oliver has and King David did, that complete restoration happens only in His presence.
His presence alone will restore my soul.
He is my shepherd. I have everything I need. I can lie down.