Title: Reviving Soul
Contents
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters. He revives my soul and leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff comfort me. You have set a table for me in the sight of my enemies; you have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23:1-6)
Even plants that withered and withered in the heat of wind and long drought are revived as if they were washed in the moist rain. Even the human heart is almost dead in the midst of trials, hardships and oppression, but when we receive the blessing of God's grace, it can be revived.
At the height of his ordeal, David said, "Lord, why have you forsaken me like this?" and said, "Why do you forget me?" and begged. “Everyone treats me like a worm and tramples me,” he exclaimed.
When I sat down in a dead-end alley beyond human strength, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack. You lead me to still waters and green pastures. So you refresh my soul." and moved by this wonderful grace, he did not know what to say.
When plants and grains are burnt in a long drought, rice fields are cracked, and even people seem to wither, everyone looks at the sky every day. Even if I want to see a single raindrop falling from the dry expanse of the blue and blue sky, at some point a dark cloud came up, and in an instant the sky became dark, thunder pounded, and rain showers began to fall. get and revive. In this way, our hearts wither, our human consciences wither, and the souls of the nation almost die. The thunder of God's grace, which no one could have predicted, suddenly fell, and we felt the joy of reviving these withered and dying hearts, consciences, and national souls. you will get The LORD is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
Today, the pollution problem is so serious that the air, rivers and even seawater are polluted, and even plants are polluted, so vegetables and grains contain pesticide residues and toxins, probably in fish, and in livestock that eat grass there will be But even more pollution is the pollution of the human mind. Due to political oppression and inflammation, economic imbalance and resignation, ideological wandering and confusion, cultural sensibility and boredom, etc., the souls of modern people cannot be truly polluted and are reaching the point of suffocation. Indeed, he has become a human being like a worm. Fish that live in stagnant waters in paddy fields cannot be alive unless they are alive. The smell of muddy water is already wet because it feeds on the stagnant muddy water and grows up. If human beings live only in the human-made culture, ideology, politics, economy, etc., the human soul will die without realizing it. Perhaps at this time, just as a stream that was blocked by this soul from above bursts down, when a stream of grace from God pours into this soul, it will be revived.
David had this experience of grace. He said that in order to expand the territory and raise the national prestige as the great king of a nation and the general of a nation, he knew only that he would become a shepherd of a nation, and that the people he rules should follow only him, and the country he rules is his will. He thought he had to do what he had to do, but in the end, he himself could not rule the country, and the people not only left him, but in the end, he could not even govern the children of his family, and even himself, his soul drowned in the muddy waters of lust. that has been thrown away. Thus, indeed, he was not the king of a country, but he was in a pitiful condition, trembling with fear, groaning, and despair day and night, and wet his bed with tears of repentance.
At that time, he came to be regarded as a worm-like being even by humans. He wrote this psalm of despair in Psalm 22, and now David here knows that he can be the shepherd of Israel again only when the Lord can be my shepherd, and a new confession of faith that the Lord is my shepherd I have done At that very moment, like a clogged water bursting out, God's grace poured out to water this soul, gaining new strength and reviving it.
The revived soul immediately walks on the path of righteousness. The way people truly live is the way of righteousness, but those who die will leave this way of righteousness and enter only the way of unrighteousness. The fish still leave the muddy water and go up in search of the spring, but the unrighteous humans and those whose souls are sick leave the path of righteousness and go only to the path of injustice. However, when the Lord is led by his shepherd, and his soul is revived from him, he abandons the broad path of unrighteousness and goes only on the narrow path of righteousness, the path of life.
The revived soul will stand on the road to victory anytime, anywhere. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I am not harmed, and I may suffer trials and sufferings, but in the temple hall, in the presence of my enemies, he sets a table for me and anoints my head with oil.
There is a saying that we have won and lost, and we have won even if we lose. A person with a truly dead soul achieves success in everything, but that success is failure or ruin. The one whose soul is alive, whose spirit is alive, whose soul lives and walks, whoever walks in the path of righteousness, will fail temporarily, but that will be success, and that will make a starting point for greater blessings, Jehovah my Shepherd give it
The revived soul says, "I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."
There is a proverb that says, “Even if a person goes to ten houses and eats food, they should sleep in one house.” It is that the dwelling place of a person is that very important.
Where is the dwelling place of our souls, the dwellings of our hearts, the dwellings of our spirits and of our souls? Although we are scattered in all directions and live individually, our souls must always and forever dwell in this house of God.
The house of Jehovah refers to the temple in Jerusalem, where we offer worship services of praise to God, hear the word of God, offer atonement sacrifices for all sins committed, both knowingly and unknowingly. This is where we offer In all these sacrifices and prayers, praises of thanks, joy, grace, and blessings burst forth.
We hope that our worship will be such a worship service.