Paths of Righteousness
How many times do you think you have read Psalms 23? I can't imagine how many times I have read it or heard it read. I believe I have it memorized, in fact. However, this morning when I read it again in my reading through the Bible, I noticed one phrase that I had not really grasped before. Isn't it amazing how that happens with the living Word of God?
My Shepherd "leads me in the paths of righteousness." Yes, He leads me to rest when I am tired, and He leads me to refreshment when I am weak. He even walks with me through the valley of the shadow of death. The thing I had missed in all of that was that He was constantly leading me to live a righteous life before Him and others. In other words, in order to sin, I have to go against what My Shepherd is leading me to do, or I have to ignore Him. I have no excuse when it comes to doing the right thing. The Lord of the universe is leading me in what I should do. That is an amazing truth for folks who say that they don't know how to find God's will for their lives.
The result of the Shepherd's leading is that goodness (and mercy) follows us all of our lives. The life of a believer who trusts the Lord is a life of righteousness and goodness. David found that out by his own experience, and God inspired him to write it down for us, because it is the truth of God.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 26-28 and Acts 22.
My Shepherd "leads me in the paths of righteousness." Yes, He leads me to rest when I am tired, and He leads me to refreshment when I am weak. He even walks with me through the valley of the shadow of death. The thing I had missed in all of that was that He was constantly leading me to live a righteous life before Him and others. In other words, in order to sin, I have to go against what My Shepherd is leading me to do, or I have to ignore Him. I have no excuse when it comes to doing the right thing. The Lord of the universe is leading me in what I should do. That is an amazing truth for folks who say that they don't know how to find God's will for their lives.
The result of the Shepherd's leading is that goodness (and mercy) follows us all of our lives. The life of a believer who trusts the Lord is a life of righteousness and goodness. David found that out by his own experience, and God inspired him to write it down for us, because it is the truth of God.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 26-28 and Acts 22.