I hadn’t previously thought it. But suddenly I knew: Psalm 23 is a song of rest.

The revelation happened on a sunny Sunday morning in a valley-of-the-shadow season. For years, I’d pressed in to learn how it looks to answer Jesus’ invitation,

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28)

Searching the Scriptures, I had explored the lives of eight people who came to Jesus while he walked the earth. I saw the reasons rest had eluded each of them. I watched each come to Christ. And I learned how beautifully multifaceted rest can be. Just for starters: It welcomes, restores, calms, invigorates, rejuvenates, strengthens, delights.

What’s more, I saw how eight lives from another time and place intersected with mine. Each one unique, all have much to say to us today about the different things that rob us of rest, and the compassionate ways Christ restores it.

Writing what I was learning, I had drafted most of a book manuscript. However, I had no clue how to end it. What could capture the essence of all God was showing me? What could help us, who are so driven, delight in receiving the rest he gives?

One timeless song, many uplifted voices

I’ve heard and recited the world’s best-known psalm countless times. Yet, that bright-but-dark Sunday, when I read Psalm 23 in the New Living Translation, I saw what I had not previously seen: The entire psalm expresses David’s delight in – and yes to – God’s rest. It can help our hearts sing yes to rest too!

In addition: Psalm 23 beautifully summarizes what rest looked like for the New Testament women and men whose lives God had used to teach me so much.

Pondering all that, I began to wonder: How might it sound, if those eight sang David’s song?

As I read and reread Psalm 23, I could hear it. I could hear their very different voices singing in harmony. I found myself singing along.

An honest seeker, a hidden treasure

My heart will rest in you.
“Rest” – Kutless

A jewel of a human being, Nathanael followed Jesus as a disciple and became one of the 12 apostles. He appears in all four Gospels and Acts. Yet, he’s hidden in such a way that we have to seek to find him. Indeed, we wouldn’t even know his first name, if not for John.

Ah, but Jesus knew Nathanael, surnamed Bartholomew, before they ever met. The first time Nathanael came to him, Jesus called him, “a man of complete integrity” (John 1:47 NLT).

→ Nathanael came, sincerely seeking – even though he thought Jesus’ resumé didn’t fit the Messiah that Scripture foretold.

→ In that first encounter, Nathanael confessed his faith in Christ – even when it required trusting the Lord with all his heart and not relying on his own understanding.¹

→ To follow the Lord, Nathaniel had to walk away from the status and power he might have had as a religious leader.

He did all that so effortlessly, we can miss the sheer wonder of it. And oh my, I can hear him belting out the first words of David’s song of rest:

The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.

Two who were demonized

All you weary, all you broken,
Come to me, my arms are open.
“Rest” – Downhere

The man

In a land of well-bred people and urbane cities, a demonized man called Legion roamed – homeless, naked, unrestrained, lurking in graveyards, self-mutilating, shrieking and screaming at all hours of the day and night.

If such a man ran up to you, fell on his knees and screamed, “Don’t mess with me!” you might do exactly what he said. Jesus did the opposite. He messed with that man, big time.

But first, Jesus saw him. He saw a person, who had terrorized everyone around him, who repeatedly broke the strongest chains, yet who could not escape the cruel legion that tormented him. Jesus watched the man run toward him and bow before him. Then, Jesus delivered him from evil.

Instantly, visibly, someone whose real name we do not know found rest. Jesus sent him out to people who would marvel at his stunningly changed life – and might want one too.

The woman

We don’t know how seven demons oppressed Mary Magdalene, but we do know: She too came to Jesus. We see her afterward, trusted and honored by her Lord, walking and working from a place of continual inner rest.

Jesus had cried to the exhausted, tormented, overwhelmed:

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matt. 11:29)

Mary believed his words and proved them true. She, and other women “who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases,” traveled with Jesus as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God (Luke 8:1-2). They learned from him and ministered to him.

Even when it all came to an abrupt and brutal end, the women did not scatter. We find them standing at the cross. Twice, we find them at the tomb.

Who, then, did God choose as eyewitnesses to the death, burial and resurrection that Scripture describes as “of first importance”?² A handful of women who kept coming to Jesus when it seemed hopeless and pointless to do so – among them, Mary Magdalene.

The song

Oh my. Now I hear a duet in progress – a man and a woman, singing in wonder:

He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.

Two women, weary and burdened

Be healed
Refreshed
Restored in Me
Find joy
Find rest
It’s all in Me
“Rest” – Beckah Shae

We tend to see a one-dimensional view of Mary and Martha, the sisters Jesus loved. We tend to peg each sister based on our first encounter with them in Luke 10. Thus, we can miss the significance of the other two snapshots of Mary, Martha and Jesus, in John 11 and 12.

Taken together, those three encounters show us: Rest evaded each sister at different times, in different ways. And when it did – when the work, or the grief, weighed heavy – each sister came to the Savior they both knew and loved.

Neither tried to be her sister. Neither tried to sugar-coat her distress. Each one came honestly, sometimes with words, sometimes without. And each time, Jesus received each woman as a friend, said what she needed to hear and offered what gave her rest.

How moving to hear Mary and Martha sing in harmony:

Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.

Two men people loved to hate

I am calling
Are you listening
I am waiting for my child
But you keep running
Always chasing
Stop your striving for a while
And just Rest
“Rest” – Matthew West

Tax collectors made a profit serving the empire that ruled their people. Two of them invited Jesus to dinner.

Matthew met Jesus in northern Israel, early in Jesus’ ministry. The Lord approached the tax collector at his booth and said, “Follow me.” Without hesitation, the man who would write the Gospel of Matthew laid aside his own agenda and his lucrative career – to go with God.

Zacchaeus met Jesus in southern Israel, just before the crucifixion week. A chief tax collector, Zacchaeus had wealth. He had clout. He was despised. And he was short. For all those reasons, the last thing we would expect him to do is to climb a tree – to ask to be ridiculed, to set himself up to be memorialized forever as “a wee little man.”

Ah, but to come to Jesus, Zacchaeus did exactly what pride would have forbidden.

When Jesus ate at each man’s house, people complained – the religious leaders, most of all. At both houses, Jesus rebuked those who muttered about the company he kept. He affirmed and honored two men who had recognized and owned their need for him.

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10)

When Christ invited two hated men to rest in his love, each came at his call. Then, each invited other despised people to dinner, to meet the One who loved them too.

In a land where even repentant tax collectors would be counted the worst of sinners, Matthew and Zacchaeus sing to their Lord in awe:

You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.

A mom whose strong faith faltered

I know that you’re scared to look in my eyes …
Won’t you come to me and rest?
“Rest” – Nevertheless

When an angel visited a virgin named Mary, the young teen felt troubled. But she quickly yielded to God and entered his rest. During the tumultuous months of pregnancy and childbirth, her betrothed almost broke off the engagement.

God knows what rumors flew, what insults and other hardships Mary, the mother of Jesus, faced. Yet through it all, she displayed a serenity supernaturally endowed. As Jesus grew, Mary treasured even the unnerving experiences along the way.

We’re so predisposed to see the serene Mary that we may not notice: Glimpses of Jesus’ mother during his earthly ministry do not reveal a soul at rest. Quite the opposite, in fact.

His mission didn’t look at all as she had thought it would. So, at a wedding feast, she made a clumsy attempt to guide him. That only distanced her from him. Then, her spiritual leaders began vehemently denouncing her son. Her own family members began saying, “He’s lost his mind!”

So Mary went with her other sons to try to pull Jesus from ministry and take him home. After yielding to God’s will so fully, for so long, she openly opposed it.

Ah, but the day Jesus died, Mary went to the cross. And stood with the women disciples. After Jesus rose again, she went to the upper room. And waited with Christ’s other followers until the Holy Spirit was poured out.

When Mary came to Jesus, not as her baby, but as her Lord, she returned to her rest. I can hear her singing to him, humbly, with great joy:

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.

A Shepherd who gives us a song

Life is real. And messy and hard. Every one of the eight knew that. Many things, within and around us, work relentlessly to rob us of rest. The eight knew that firsthand, too.

And yet, in a great crescendo of four-part harmony, I hear all their voices rise:

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.

We follow a Shepherd, who gives us a song – a song of faith in him who is faithful and true.

Each of us sings this song differently from anyone else – differently, even, from the way we sang it yesterday. For continually, our Lord shows us what it looks like today to rest in his provision, his rhythms, his help, his favor, his love.

One fall afternoon as I worked to write this post, I paused to take a walk. Meandering through an open field, I marveled at the way, that day, the Spirit of Christ had lifted my spirit and lightened my load.

I said Psalm 23 aloud and let its timeless truths wash over me yet again. Then, I walked for a while in silent awe. Out of the blue, the word “many-splendored” came to mind, and I found myself humming a tune written in the 1950’s. Ultimately, I sang out my own version of the final lyrics of that song:

Lord, your goodness touched my burdened heart
and taught it how to sing.
Yes, true rest’s a many-splendored thing.³

Any time your yes to God’s rest wells up in your heart, please don’t push it down. Let a song that’s new every morning ring out through your lips and your life.

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Postlude: Sing along with Matt

You restore my soul and You give me rest.
“Rest” – Matt Maher

Two years after recognizing the multifaceted rest in Psalm 23, I completed and published a book titled, Return to Your Rest: A Spirit-to-spirit Journey. It ends by meandering through David’s song of rest.

While finishing the book, I decided to look for contemporary songs of rest. To my surprise, I found six different songs, each by a different Christian artist, and each simply titled, “Rest.” I’ve quoted snippets from each of them above.

Most intriguing of all, I found that Matt Maher’s song titled, “Rest,” is his rendering of Psalm 23. Here he is, singing his yes to Jesus’ rest. Sing along, dear one, if the Spirit moves you.

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This post replaces a mini-post I published June 6, 2016, and originally titled, “Song of Rest.” Parts of this post are adapted from Return to Your Rest: A Spirit-to-spirit Journey, © 2016, 2019.

Image by Albrecht Fietz from Pixabay

More posts in the Song of Rest series

• I shall not want: Resting in God’s provision
• He restores my soul: Resting in God’s unforced rhythms
• I will fear no evil: Resting in God’s very present help
• My cup overflows: Resting in God’s favor
• Now and forever: Resting in God’s love

See also

• 12 Signposts on the journey to rest
• The blessing of rest
• Mary Magdalene stuck her neck out

Footnotes

1. See John 1:43-50; Proverbs 3:5. ↩︎
2. See 1 Corinthians 15:3-5. ↩︎
3. As is his great love! Lyrics adapted from “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing,” 1955, music by Sammy Fain, real lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, sung by a whole slew of well-known singers. ↩︎