Midweek Musing- October 1, 2025

Scripture:

“He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.”

Just to remind you this Midweek Musing is part of a series on the 23^rd Psalm. The series was born from a simple request: “Hey Clay, could we really look deeply into the 23rd Psalm in one of your weekly musings.”

I thought it was a great idea but discovered it would need more than one musing if we were to really dive deeply into the text. So, I discovered my best plan would be to consider it phrase by phrase?

Last week we began with “The Lord is my shepherd,” which is a claim of God being with us and being sufficient to meet all of our needs.

Now in this phrase the psalmist moves in a different direction. He shares that God providing us rest, restoration, and renewal—gifts which are as needed today as they were when first written and then most likely sung. (You might recall scholars believe most if not all of these Psalms were originally sung like our hymns.)

Now if you consider the historical time, the general geography of the land, and the climate of Israel things like “green pastures” and “still waters” were and still are not the “norm.”

Such places were not picturesque retreats but vital resources for survival.

Think of it in a dry, rocky land, to find food and drink for animals like sheep was a matter of life and death.

The shepherd’s ability to bring the flock to nourishment was not decorative but essential.

Even today, water remains one of the most contested resources in the Middle East, a reminder of how vital the psalmist’s imagery is.

This region’s conflict over land is not just about the amount of acreage but what resources lie in each of those acres that are contested.

Anyway, historians believe when the Psalm was written and heard the Hebrew people were captives in Babylon. Thus, these Hebrew people would have heard the words of this 23^rd Psalm with deep longing.

Consider it they were uprooted from home and living as captives in a foreign land. Their lives were marked by grief and uncertainty. Therefore, they prayed for God to restore their weary souls as surely as a shepherd prays for water to revive and sustain tired sheep.

The psalmist shifts here from geography to theology.

The image shifts: the Shepherd doesn’t demand work from the flock but compels rest. This is an important understanding of who God is and the gifts God has given humanity.

God is not only the one who rules and protects, but the one who gives sabbath so we might be restored.

As Professor Emeritus of Hebrew and the Old Testament at Union Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr. James Luther Mays writes: “The shepherd image here is one of nurture as much as guidance. To be led to rest is as much a part of God’s provision as protection from harm.” (Interpretation: Psalms)

And Dr. Walter Brueggemann builds upon this framing these words within his categories of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. He notes:

“The Psalms speak the whole truth of life before God. They move from settled trust to seasons of despair to new songs of hope. Psalm 23 is a psalm of orientation, affirming that life, even in chaos, can be trusted to God’s care.” (Message of the Psalms)

In other words, God’s leading us to rest is not foolish thinking which is advocating for naive escapism from life. No, it is a powerful and radical confession proclaiming ultimate trust in a God who gives rest and restoration to sustain all of life.

Another important point to consider is the phrase “he restores my soul” can also be translated “he brings me back to life.”

In Hebrew, the word for soul (nephesh) does not just mean some inner, invisible part of us like we think of it today.

You see for the original hearers of this Psalm one’s soul encompassed the whole of a person: body, mind, and spirit. In other word’s this text tells us that God’s restoration for us is total.

Friends, this is true Sabbath language.

It is an invitation to stop and breathe remembering that we are not God.

We are mortal. And when we forget that (as we sometimes do), we exhaust ourselves by trying to carry the world on our shoulders instead of the yoke Christ offers us.

And friends, sabbath is God’s reminder that the world spins without us, that creation has an order, and that our place in it is to rest as well as to work.

Now the breath imagery deepens this point. The word for spirit in both Hebrew (ruach) and the Greek (pneuma) also means breath. To say God restores my soul is to say: God breathes new life into my weary body, my scattered mind, and my broken spirit.

Brothers and sisters, the good news is even in hard days—grief, a frightening diagnosis, financial stress—God promises not only to get us through but to renew us fully by the Holy Spirit.

Eugene Peterson, in The Message, interprets these verses like this:

“You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.”

“Catch my breath”—those are words I need to hear, and they are at the heart of this section of the 23^rd Psalm. Our loving God gives back what fear and exhaustion steal away. And in that renewed breath, God directs us toward life.

When I sit with this verse, I hear God’s invitation to rest not as laziness but as faith. To breathe deeply of the Spirit. To trust that even when life feels depleted, God’s restoration is real. We don’t escape valleys of stress, loss, or worry—but we are not left there. God restores, revives, and breathes us back to life—body, mind, and soul.

Thanks be to God.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Alleluia Amen.

Reflection Question: Where in your life right now do you most need God to help you “catch your breath”?

Prayer

Restoring God, thank you for the gift of your Spirit-breath. Lead me beside your still waters when life is anxious and heavy. Breathe into me your renewing Spirit and teach me the gift of Sabbath rest. Restore my body, mind, and soul, and send me forward with courage and hope. Amen.