Some time ago I was with a family to plan a funeral.  One family member wanted to be involved so I suggested that they read Psalm 23.  I received a message later, asking if I could suggest something else as that Psalm was too frightening.  I had always thought of Psalm 23 as offering comfort but, I assume, reading about “the valley of the shadow of death” created problems.

Today the Gospel passage speaks about Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  The idea of God, or Jesus, as a Shepherd is one that I have known since my earliest days.  The strange thing is that I was not brought up in an area where there were sheep –
I had never seen a sheep or a shepherd at work.  Jesus talked about shepherds and sheep because he lived in a place where shepherds were common. People would see them passing through their villages and towns with their flocks of sheep on a daily basis. Sheep were an important source of wool and people relied on this, not least for much of their clothing and household fabrics.

I think that when we read Psalm 23, we often link it to this picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  We imagine everything in the Psalm as illustrating the care of Jesus for us.

I like to reflect on the verse which says, “He restores my soul.”  It speaks of several things to me.

First, it reminds me of the store cupboard used by my mother.  In it she would keep various foodstuffs, especially those that were not everyday items.  Sometimes on a Sunday afternoon she would look out of the window and see the arrival of an uncle and aunt, who had come by motorcycle from across the town.  Out would come a tin of salmon so that she could make sandwiches for tea – a special treat and cut in triangles!  But when she next went shopping, she’d buy another tin or whatever she’d used, to stock up the cupboard – to re-store it. There was always something in reserve.

Of course, our personal reserves can get run down too.  But it’s not so easy to recognise that.  It’s not like seeing empty space in the cupboard.  But the day-to-day stress of life can become demanding.  There’s a great awareness at present about mental stress, which can be more debilitating than a physical problem.  I believe that if we bring our concerns to Jesus in prayer, his grace is sufficient for us.  He restores our soul.

Secondly, it reminds me of the work of an art restorer.  Some years ago, the paintings in the Sistine Chapel were cleaned and were restored to reveal colours and details that had been unseen for years. 
Such people are so skilled that they can even reveal a painting that has been hidden beneath another of less importance.

We may need restoring too.  Especially if life has been unfortunate, if we have made wrong choices, if early hopes have been squashed.   We do not have to stay disappointed, to feel that life is not worthwhile.  Jesus can restore us and help us to find purpose and new direction.

The prophet Joel knew of this when he said “I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten” after there had been four years of failed harvests.

Finally, the word restore reminds me of the Prodigal Son, whose father welcomed him back and restored him to a place in the family.  In one parable Jesus speaks of the Shepherd searching for a lost sheep, leaving 99 in the fold, finding the one that was lost and bringing it back.  God’s love reaches out to everyone, even those who have squandered life’s opportunities.  Many of Charles Wesley’s hymns illustrate this and in one he writes:

Your undistinguishing regard

Was cast on Adam’s fallen race.

For all you have in Christ prepared

Sufficient, sovereign, saving grace.

                        (StF 320 v3)

“For all” – John and Charles Wesley lived in a time when there was a belief that God selected people for salvation – predestination.  But the Wesley brothers rejected that.  They believed that anyone could be restored into God’s family the Church.  Do we?

Our next hymn is the Stuart Townend version of Psalm 23.  He’s written: “The psalm is familiar to many as a psalm of comfort, in, for example, funeral services. But I also noticed that the psalm uses a lot of ‘movement’ imagery (walking, leading, following, etc) that speaks to me of an active response of faith to what the psalm is saying – we are to live each day believing goodness and mercy are following us, that there are still waters and green pastures to be found. That’s why I included a response in the chorus of ‘I will trust…’  “