Restoration of the Soul

June 10, 2025

In this dry and weary land in which we live, in this world of noise and stress, we often need renewal in our inner being.  Where do you turn when your soul needs to be refreshed?  I like how the old hymn we sing puts it: “But when my soul needs manna from above, where could I go but to the Lord?”1 There is a great truth here.  Only the Lord can renew and restore our souls.  There is no other true source of inner renewal.

David knew this truth.  Listen to his words in Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:1-3 NASB95) The word “restore” here can mean that God brings our soul back when we stray from Him, as a shepherd brings back a wandering sheep.  It can also mean that God brings back liveliness and vitality to our inner being2.  Biblically speaking, both senses are true and certainly needed.

Listen to the words of David in Psalm 63: “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1 NASB95) David found himself in a dry and weary land, both literally and figuratively speaking.  I’m sure we have felt the same at times.  The world we live in can be harsh and dry and can sap the vitality right out of us.  But we, like David, can find refreshment from God.  As David ponders the power, the glory, and the love of God in this Psalm, and as he turns to worship God, he exclaims, “My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.” (Psalm 63:5 NASB95) David found deep, inner satisfaction from contemplating God and His goodness.

In Psalm 19:7, David writes, “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul…” (Psalm 19:7 NASB95) The word of God can restore our soul.  It can bring us back to the right path when we stray. It can reach into our hearts and give us an inner liveliness again.

Where do you turn when your soul needs renewal?  Where could we go but to the Lord?  As we worship God today and hear His word, may He grant renewal for our souls!

—Scott Colvin

  1. “Where Could I Go?” Lyrics by J.B. Coats
  2. Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT)

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Posted by Scott Colvin

The Inner Life and Prayer

July 18, 2024

Do you ever feel like you’re running on empty?  I don’t mean in a physical sense but in a spiritual one.  And I don’t mean that you don’t love the Lord, or that you’re not being obedient to Him, or that you’re not thankful to Him.  No, I’m speaking of a spiritual dryness.  I’m speaking of a sense of going through the motions outwardly while feeling depleted and lacking passion for God inwardly.  I suppose it happens to all of us from time to time.  How can we regain a true, inner passion and feeling of nearness to God?

One mistake we can make in our spiritual lives is to place too much emphasis on the outer person, and not enough emphasis on our inner person.  We can be busy serving others, going to worship, attending church functions, reading our Bibles, and praying—all wonderful things—but if these are merely outward displays and are not driven by genuine spirituality, something is wrong.  We have become unbalanced.  Over time, the lack of a glowing inner life will manifest itself.  Eventually we will have nothing left to give if we are not allowing God to build up and renew our inner person.  Taken to an extreme, we can end up like the Pharisees who did all the right outward religious things but had hearts that were very far from God.

So, what can we do if we find that our inner being doesn’t seem to be glowing like it once was?  I’m reminded of the song we sing which says, “But when my soul needs manna from above, where could I go but to the Lord?”  Only God can give us manna from heaven to nourish and sustain our souls.  Only He can give inner renewal.  As Paul wrote, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16 NASB95) We need inner renewal every day.  The inner renewal we receive from God (which He gives through the Holy Spirit) will then overflow into our outer actions.  We will be able to serve, to worship, to give, and to obey with greater zeal and greater joy.  And we will be doing these things not by our own strength (which will leave us depleted), but by the strength that God supplies.

One powerful way in which we can receive God’s inner renewal is through prayer.  We need quiet time alone with God in prayer to recharge.  Jesus Himself needed this while He was on the earth, so how much more do you and I need it?  When our prayer life is lacking, our inner vitality will also be lacking.  But when we devote ourselves to prayer, God can renew and recharge us inwardly.  I encourage you this week, and always, to set aside time to commune with God in prayer.  It is one of the most important things we can do, for inner renewal comes in times of quietness and nearness to God.

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

In the Wilderness

August 23, 2019

Even believers may experience times when God feels distant. (He’s not, by the way.) But we feel a spiritual dryness. Our cup feels empty. It is our wilderness experience. Listen to the psalmist’s wilderness experience.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1–2, ESV)

He goes on to speak of his tears, and people asking him, “Where is your God?” One of the refrains in Psalm 42 is “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (Psalm 42:5, 11 ESV).

What does David do to combat this spiritual wilderness?

  1. The psalmist is honest about how he feels. He is spiritually dry, and he admits it. His soul is cast down within him. He asks God, “Why have you forgotten me?” (v. 9). 
  2. The psalmist remembers his better days when he went with the throngs to the house of God with “glad shouts” and “songs of praise.” (v. 4)
  3. The psalmist remembers who God is. He remembers his hope in God (v. 5). God is his salvation (v. 5). God has “steadfast love” (v. 8). He is “the God of my life” (8). Note that there is another refrain within the psalm, “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (Psalm 42:5-6a and 11. And it is this closing refrain in verse 11 that gives us the resolution of the psalm.

Why do we have these “wilderness experiences” and feel spiritual dry? I don’t know for sure, but I suspect these test our faith. The moments of dryness in my life seem to have come when I’ve been extremely busy or stressed with difficulties. The question becomes then: will I seek God? I have found that when I pray, read scripture, and worship through the dry spells my cup is eventually refilled. I must like the psalmist be honest in my prayers, remember better days, and remember who God is. Don’t be surprised by spiritual dryness in your life. Scripture warns us and aids us when we are in the wilderness.

— Russ Holden

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Posted by Russell Holden