“He Leads Me in Paths Of Righteousness For His Name’s Sake.” - Psalm 23:3
Week 6 - Psalm 23: “He Leads Me in Paths of Righteousness for His Name’s Sake”
We are all led and influenced, but the question is, by whom are we led? And what path are we taking? As sheep in need of our Shepherd, we must trust the intention behind His leadership. A life led by the Shepherd leads to righteous habits in every season for His names’ sake.
In A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Phillip Keller emphasizes in chapter 6, “No other class of livestock requires more careful handling, more detailed direction, than do sheep.” If you needed another reminder of why God calls us His sheep, think about how deeply you need His careful handling and detailed direction.
Consider your habits in this season. Are they reflecting God’s righteousness and pointing others closer towards the Shepherd’s path?
BEING LED IN OUR HABITS
Sheep have favorite spots to eat just as we have our familiar habits and routines. When feasting, they devour grass all the way to the root, completely stripping the area to bare ground. Phillip Keller teaches, “Because of the behavior of sheep and their preference for certain favored spots, these well-worn areas become quickly infested with parasites of all kind…Just as sheep will blindly, habitually, stupidly follow one another along the same little trails until they become ruts that erode into gigantic gullies, so we humans cling to the same habits that we have seen ruin other lives.”
I recently confirmed with a man who owns a farm that horses graze fields of grass while sheep truly do devour the full root of the grass with each bite.
When thinking of our habits, do we depend on our comfortable routines more than God’s spirit? Do we understand the full outcome of the roots we are eating? Are we following other sheep out of comfort on trails that are actually not fruitful or nutritious?
If we are to “be led” in our habits, we must think of ourselves as jars of clay and remember who is the Potter. Our habits must include devouring God’s word with big bites, like sheep desiring even the root of grass. Our habits must reflect a dependence on God. Our habits must consist of prayer with our Father as we come before the throne each day.
What habits in your life are drawing you closer to the Shepherd? What habits may you consider changing?
Healthy habits with prayer, reading God’s word, and serving others reflect the fruit of the Spirit and mold us more into His righteousness each day.
As Believers, we should understand that our Shepherd’s leadership is intentional and deliberately rotating us into opportunities for “paths of righteousness.” He explains how for the shepherd, “There must be a predetermined plan of action, a deliberate, planned rotation from one grazing ground to another in line with right and proper principles of sound management. This is precisely the sort of action and the idea David had in mind when he spoke of being led in paths of righteousness.”
We should thank God with excitement as we know He has our best interests in mind. Keller writes that “whenever the shepherd opens a gate into a fresh pasture the sheep are filled with excitement….how they enjoy being led onto new ground.” We can approach our daily guidance from God with joy, knowing that it shapes us to be more like our Shepherd. Our holy habits are an overflow of excitement from our heart to walk in the manner that we are called.
When was a time that God brought you to “new ground” for your good and His glory?
Comfortable habits are much easier to fall into, but part of our daily dependence on the Shepherd means seeking the self-denial outlined in Mark 8:34: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” We all have comfortable habits that lead to feasting on barren ground. Isaiah 53:6 reminds us that “we all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.”
What type of actions lead us to lush green paths of righteousness?
I was recently reminded by a teacher that we are called to have a marked change because of what we learn from Scripture. In week one of this study, we listed ways to live as marked sheep.
As we walk with our figurative earmark pursuing the image of our Creator, are we willing to live set apart? Living not just a comfortable life on the shelf, not just with good values, but actually set apart with the righteousness of God? As we’ve discussed, we must have salt in our speech, love our neighbor, and demonstrate the fruit of the spirit.
If we “live led” in everyday habits with the end goal of “holiness” in mind, we can pray these verses in Colossians 1:9-12 over one another…
“...asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will
in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him:
bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might,
for all endurance and patience with joy;
giving thanks to the Father,
who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”
Through the seasons, as we are saints in light, led by the Shepherd, may we “proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
BEING LED IN OUR SEASONS
As the Shepherd guides us through this life in every season, we get to acknowledge in our human limitations that we truly never know what tomorrow will hold. We trust the Author of life, who has our story written and leads us along the way for our sanctification and for His glory.
When I think of “being led” I imagine a dog led down a sidewalk. The dog walker holds the handle, and the other end is attached to the dog. The dog is walking independently, yet, sometimes there's loose slack, and sometimes it’s yanked tightly, depending on its’ actions. In this example, all of the actions of the dog walker are with pure intention, to lead either in the right direction or away from danger. Sometimes, the dog walker gently leads the dog in the correct direction of the sidewalk. Other times, the dog is pulled tightly away from a passing dog or nearby car – held closer to the owner instead.
In the same way, the Shepherd stays close to us and leads us in step with our actions. Sometimes He guides a hard unexpected turn, and sometimes it’s a gentle lead down a familiar route.
Whether you’re seeking the Shepherd’s leadership in a season of comfort, transition, or suffering today, I believe there are questions to consider as we draw near to God for guidance with each step.
In a season of comfort…
“How can I use salt in my speech in this conversation?” (Colossians 4:6)
“What can I do to intentionally love this person in front of me?” (John 13:34-35)
“Where am I called to serve with my time in my community?” (1 Peter 4:10)
In a season of transition…
“How can I turn my eyes from the unknown to a broader eternal lens of what is true?” (Philippians 4:8)
“What provision can I be grateful for in this very hour? (1 Thess 5:16-18)
“Where can I physically go to find peace in your presence? (Psalm 139:7-12)
In a season of suffering…
“How can I turn this misery into ministry?” (2 Corinthians 1:4)
“What heavy details am I holding that I can lift up onto Your throne?” (Hebrews 10:23)
“Where can I spend my time in this season to soak in more of Your truth in the midst of this darkness?” (John 1:5)
May we lift our hands and receive His guidance with humility, trusting that His ways are higher and ultimately for His name’s sake.
BEING LED FOR HIS NAME
It is by His grace that we are saved (2 Corinthians 5:21) and act in ways that proclaim the excellencies of who He is – for His name’s sake.
Are we willing to obey His will when He makes it clear to us; trusting it is for His name?
“...if we are in earnest about wanting to do His will, and to be led, He makes this possible by His own gracious Spirit who is given to those who obey (Acts 5:32). For it is He who works in us both to do will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13),” Keller writes.
Those verses point to both submission to God’s will through obedience and also understanding we cannot do so on our own strength; we must be Spirit-led. We are vessels who say, “Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me” (Psalm 103:14).
As image bearers of Christ, how do we lead lives that bear fruit in every good work for His name’s sake? By fertilizing the soil for the vine with the Shepherd’s still water. By allowing the Gardener to prune us in every season. John 15:2 says, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
Consider Colossians 1:9-12 again.
We are led into more knowledge of God by the renewing of our minds. As described in Ephesians 4:23-24, we are called to “...be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
We are led into being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, by putting “... on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10)
We are led into lives marked with endurance and patience with joy as our joy is found in our salvation, not our circumstances.
We are led in thankfulness for our intentional Father, our Shepherd who leads us in daily opportunities practicing obedience to make an impact for His name’s sake.
Habits of time in God’s word lead us to know and love Him more, leading to letting “the message of Christ dwell among you richly” (Colossians 3:16).
We allow the Lord to lead us through each season and habit change and remember that it is only by His name that we can pursue righteousness.
