I was doing a devotion the other day on Psalm 23, which is probably one of, if not the most, well known Psalm. The Psalmist begins with:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Psalm 23:1-3

It’s true that the Word is alive, because you can read the same passage and get something new each time. This time, as I was reading, the beginning of verse 3 stood out to me more than ever. “He restoreth my soul.” It can be so easy for our souls to become weary in this world. God knows this is and the beautiful thing that captured me about this verse is the use of the word “restoreth.”

In the Strong’s Concordance, the word “restoreth” has two numbers associated with it. One for the root word, being restore, and one indicating the form: the -Piel.

The first definition listed in the concordance for restore is “to return.” This lines up with the basic definitions that can be found today. If you look up the definition of the word restore, the top definitions on dictionary.com include:

• To “bring back”, to “reinstate”
• To “return to a former condition”; to “repair or renovate” to its original condition
• To “give (something previously stolen, taken away, or lost) back to the original owner”

God returns or brings back our souls to a place of peace. I find it no coincidence that the previous lines in the Psalm talks about God leading us to a place of beauty and quiet. We were created to be in this state, so as things get “broken” He repairs us back to that state. Even when we feel like we’ve lost a piece of ourselves, He is faithful to restore us.

The second number references the -Piel. This “usually expresses an “intensive” or “intentional” action.” It can also express a “”repeated” or “extended” action” (https://studybible.info/strongs/H8840).

God is intentional in restoring us, and He does it continually. Daily life impacts our souls in many ways, but God is there every single day, without fail, to renew us.

Even more, He doesn’t just do this once and consider it complete; it is an ongoing process that He does within us. He brings us back to Him, He brings us back to the condition He created us to be in, He repairs our brokenness, and He replenishes us with anything we may have lost. With all this that He provides, I truly shall not be in want.