“1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23 NIV).
“He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” The paths of righteousness here mean simply, “right paths.” The Good Shepherd will not lead you down the wrong path, though sometimes in might look like it.
The picture presented in this part of verse 3 is a picture of the shepherd is moving his flock from their winter quarters to their summer lands. To do that, he takes them along a predetermined course.
Sheep are creatures of habit. If left alone they will always follow the same path, and in doing so, they will ruin their own land. People are creatures of habit as well. If left alone we will always follow the same path. Someone once said that “the definition of insanity is doing the same things that same way and expecting different results.” It doesn’t take long before one realizes we all are insane to some extent. For instance, with all the clinical studies done on the dangers of smoking, smokers persist in their habit and then seem surprised when they develop lung disease or heart disease.
When it comes to the habits of sheep (and of people), the skilled shepherd knows that his sheep, by nature will want to always travel the same pathway. The shepherd knows that this is not only bad for the land since soon that route would be barren, but it is also bad for the sheep who may not even be aware of the stalking wolf, or lion who soon come to recognize that pattern and could easily lie in wait. The good shepherd precludes both possibilities by careful planning and alternate routing.
But there is another truth to this beautiful picture. The shepherd doesn’t just “map” his route, he takes it before he takes his sheep along that route–he knows what dangers may lie along that route because he has been there!
There are some marvelous verses in Hebrews 4. Let me remind you of them: “14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV). That is how the writer of Hebrews put it. David said the same thing this way: “He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
One final thought. Notice that immediately after this phrase, “He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Comes the familiar “4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Now remember, verse 4 comes after the promise that the Good Shepherd will never lead us wrong!
I don’t know what you may be facing today, but I know this, if you know Jesus as your personal Savior, you can relax knowing that the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise, and loving Good Shepherd not only knows the path you take, but He’s scouted it out before hand and knows exactly why He is leading you along that path and where that pathway will end!
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