From the archives of Oral Roberts – Third of eight parts
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. — Psalm 23:3
One bad thing about sheep is that they have a tendency to stray, to just follow their noses. They put their heads down and start grazing, and away they go. Sheep are said to have such a poor sense of direction that they will graze right up to and over a cliff. So if a sheep strays, it’s in danger. And the shepherd has to go out and find it and restore it to the flock.
Aren’t we often like that? We simply wander off from our Shepherd. But though we may stray again and again and again, when we say, “Lord, forgive me,” He brings us safely home again (Ezekiel 34:16).
The soul – that inner part of us – can go astray like sheep. It can be lost. But God, who made our soul, can fully restore it. He can and He does! The Bible says, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way…but are now returned unto the Shepherd…of (our) souls…for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption (Isaiah 53:6, 1 Peter 2:25, Psalm 130:7).