The Good Life, a Study of the 23rd Psalm - Part 6: Paths of Righteousness

REVIEW
 

• Ephesians 2:10 says in the Amplified Version that the good works we are called to walk in is [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].” So, God has a good life that He has prearranged and made ready for us to live. And the reason we are teaching on this is because there is a misconception in many Christians - both groups and individuals - that the Christian life is just a life of suffering, pain, heartache, loss, etc. These believe that when we get to heaven, that’s when we can expect to see God’s goodness and to experience this good life. And while the kingdom of heaven will certainly be far better than anything we can experience here on the earth, that doesn’t mean we can’t taste and see that the Lord is good now. David said in Psalm 27:13, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” We should EXPECT the goodness of God in every area of our lives today.
• So, that is why we are looking at the 23rd Psalm. It is because I believe that it is a beautiful, poetic description of what this good life that God has prearranged and made ready for us to live really looks like:
• We spent the first couple of weeks looking at the first phrase of verse one which says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” We saw that it is important for us to know our God like David apparently did - knowing that He is not just our Shepherd; He is mine and your Shepherd. This will produce boldness and confidence in Him, being the heartbeat of our faith. We saw that Jesus revealed Himself as this Good Shepherd, having come to give us life and life more abundantly. We also learned that as our Good Shepherd, He knows our name just as we are to know His name and that He speaks to us and leads us.
• Then, in part three, we saw that when we come to know the Lord as our Shepherd and are hearing from Him and being led by Him, then we “shall not want.” We learned that this is not just referring to spiritual things either. While we certainly do not want (or lack), spiritually speaking, David was not referring to spiritual things. He was talking about natural things! But when it comes to some “believers,” you would think that David said, “Thou shalt not want!”- not believing a Christian ever needs to desire or want things. But we saw that there are varying degrees to us not lacking, and that is all determined by us - us seeking first the kingdom of God and being generous. We looked at Luke chapter 12 (& Matthew 6:33), Philippians 4:19 & Psalm 37:25, and saw how important it is to be doing what He tells us to do and be led by Him. Our part is that we must choose the good life - hear and know His voice, and do what He says. God is always willing to forgive and redirect you if you're willing to repent and follow. If you're not following your shepherd, you may well lack. But if you follow Him you will not lack. The good life God has prepared for us is a life of no lack! 
• In part four of this series, we moved on to verse two and saw that our Good Shepherd also wills to make us lie down on green pastures and He leads us beside still waters. We saw that the term “green pastures” literally describes “pastures of tender grass.” We also saw He desires to give us a new life, a new beginning, a fresh start. He makes all things new and He has made all things good. Amen. Then, we saw that He leads us “beside the still waters” and that phrase “beside the still” describes a “rest or resting place.” It describes a comfortable, still and quiet place or thing (and in this case, that thing is “water”). So, these “still waters” could literally be described as “waters of rest” and for us to be led beside these still waters would describe us being led and guided alongside places of rest - places that are quiet, still and comfortable. Amen. Then we saw how this is the same word that was used in Psalm 95:11 to describe “the Rest,” the same Rest that the writer(s) of Hebrews describe in Hebrews chapter 4. So, we looked over at Matthew 11:28-30 which says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” We saw that twice in this passage Jesus makes reference to “rest.” This is that rest that remains for us to partake of experientially - and that is when we exchange our weakness for His strength, when we learn to wait on the Lord and draw near to Him in fellowship. This is when we will run and not grow weary, when we will walk and not faint. Amen.
• Finally, we began looking at Psalm 23:3 last week and camped on David’s statement: “He restores my soul.”
• We first looked at the word “restore” and saw that it literally means “to return, to cause to return, to restore to a former condition.”  And if you know anything about God, you will know that this is one of His favorite hobbies: He loves to restore! He did this with each of us when we were born again - when we each came to ourselves like the prodigal son and made the decision to “return” to Father’s house. It was then that we were restored completely - receiving again the ring, the robe and the sandals. We were restored in our sonship! However, we also learned that He loves to restore other things as well: He restores possessions, relationships, health, time, etc.  We looked at Joel 2:25 which says, “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust (Pretty much all kinds of locusts😊) …” So, no matter what kind of “locust” we’re talking about, God will restore what they have stolen!
• But we saw in this verse that He specifically says that He restores our soul! Saints, so many people need their souls restored. Through life, many of us have had parts of our souls damaged, wounded and bruised. Therefore, the restoration of our souls is a part of the good life. Then we asked the question - How does He do this? How does He restore our soul? And the reason this is such an important question to ask is because it is obvious that this does not automatically happen for all of the Lord’s children, at least to the same degree. People with wounded souls love things that minister to their soul like people listening to them, telling them things they want to hear, etc. But this is not what restores the soul. So, how does one’s soul get restored? We saw the answer in Psalm 19:7 which says, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” The word “converting” here is the same word that was used in Psalm 23:3 for “restores.” So, what we see in this verse is how He restores our soul - it’s through the Word of God. So, yes, the Holy Scriptures are what restores our soul! We also saw in James 1:21 that when we receive with meekness the implanted word, it is able to save our souls! Amen! So here we see how God’s Word is likened to a seed because James calls it the “implanted” Word. So, when you “receive with meekness” the Word of God, it is like you are allowing the Word to be planted inside of you, and its job is to grow or spring up in your heart like a seed’s job is to grow after it is planted, and this results in this: “which is able to save your souls.” Therefore, His Word has the power to deliver our mind, to restore our emotions, to preserve our personality, to heal our heart, to change our will. His Word has the power to save our life and even create life! Amen!
• We then looked at how the Lord first created man? He formed his body from the dust of the ground. He then breathed into His nostrils the breath of life. And then man became a living soul. So, what was it that made man a “living soul”? It was when the Lord breathed into him the breath of life - which is obviously when God gave him his spirit. Well, the Bible teaches us that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16), and this literally means that His Word is God breathed. So, what do you suppose happens when we receive God’s living Word into our hearts? It’s like God breathing into us all over again! Do you see where I am going with this? Likewise, as it was with Adam, the breath of God will create (or you could in this case say, recreate) a living soul within us! Amen!  

 
Now this week, let’s move on to the second half of Psalm 23:3…
 
HE LEADS ME
 
Notice that David goes on to say in Psalm 23:3- “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
 
First of all, notice that David starts this sentence by saying, “He leads me…” Notice that there is no wavering in this. It is a matter of fact: Because the Lord was His Shepherd, he knew that He would lead him. This too needs to be our confidence - that the Lord will lead us. He will show us the right way to go. He will give us the directions we need.
 
The reason I make this point is because this is the first step to receiving direction from the Lord - believing you will receive it. Far too many Christians say things like, “I just don’t hear the voice of the Lord” or “I wish I was led by the Holy Spirit.” No, our profession should be that of, “Thank you Lord, that I do hear your voice because You said that I do! You said that you lead me, so I believe that you will.” (John 10:3). This, again, is the first step in the right direction - believing His Word.
 
However, we must understand why learning to be led by our Good Shepherd is so vital: It is because sheep are known to be dumb. And sometimes people don’t like to think this way. They’ll say, “Well, I’ll have you know, brother, I am extremely educated.” Yeah, in comparison to other sheep, you might be real smart; but in comparison to the shepherd, even the smartest sheep is considered dumb.
 
You see, it is known that if left unattended, sheep will utterly destroy the land that they inhabit by following their foolish nature. Therefore, they need to be led by a good shepherd. This is why the Scriptures tell us in Isaiah 53:6 that “we all, like sheep, have gone astray, each has turned to his own way.” But somebody help me here - what does the Bible say about us doing our own thing and going our own way? Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”
 
You see, it is important for us to understand that these promises and provisions that we find in the 23rd Psalm are all subject to us being led by the voice of our Good Shepherd.
 
We see this fulfilled in Proverbs 3:5-6: Here He promises to make our paths smooth and straight (Literal definition of “direct our paths”) But what is it contingent on? Us not being “head-led.” No, I’m not talking about having a head as hard as led; I’m talking about leaning to our own understanding and being led by what we think, what we know, how we see things, etc. That will get you and I in trouble, church.
 
The way we are supposed to be living our lives is by “acknowledging Him in all our ways.” That literally means to know Him in everything we do - meaning, we are aware and cognizant of Him in every path we take and every step we make - listening on the inside of when and where to turn. This is today what we would call the Spirit-led life. But this also means that we do indeed “acknowledge” Him in all our ways - meaning, that we learn to acknowledge all the good things He does for us throughout our day. The Lord showed me that the more thankful and grateful we are for everything He’s done for us, the smoother and straighter our path will become. Amen.
 
And this is honestly one of the major reasons why we incur so many hard and crooked circumstances instead of smooth and straight paths. It is because we do not inquire of the Lord before we do things. We don’t acknowledge all that He has done for us. It is because we lean to our own understanding and do what seems right in our eyes. And again, what does the Bible say about doing what seems right in our own eyes? Its end is the way of death.
 
So, it is in our best interest to not be “head-led” but to be “Spirit-led.” This is how we can experience smooth and straight paths, paths of righteousness.
 
PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
 
Now when David refers here to “paths of righteousness,” he is literally referring to “paths of rightness” or “right and just paths.” This is what “righteousness” really is.
 
Of course, most of these “right paths" which God has chosen for us are clearly marked out in His Word, and are the same for all sheep. No path of righteousness, for example, will ever pass through the field of adultery or fornication. No path of righteousness will ever travel over the ground of fear, lying, backbiting, hatred, etc. These road signs are unmistakable in Scripture and any of God’s sheep can read them! Therefore, these “paths of righteousness” that the Lord would “lead” us on will never contradict what He has said in the Scriptures.
 
For example, I have ministered to people who don’t fellowship with other believers and have withdrawn from the flock generally because they got offended or disagreed with something. Well, these Christians will swear up and down that the Lord has not led them to go anywhere, but that is a complete violation of Scripture. He told us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:25), so why would the Holy Spirit lead us to do something else? He wouldn’t.
 
But what about specific questions that apply only to me and not to the rest of the sheep - like decisions about where to go to church, who to marry, what job to take, etc.? Can these areas be included in the paths that the Lord has promised to lead us in? Absolutely! As we’ve seen in Proverbs 3:6, the Lord desires to direct us in all of our ways into smooth and straight paths (of righteousness).
 
Therefore, God is going to lead us on upright paths - that is, paths of being right and doing the right thing.
 
So, what specifically are these “right and just paths”? We have many Scriptures that refer to these “paths of righteousness.” Let me give you a few of them:
 

1. Psalm 16:11 refers to the Lord showing us “the path of life.” I believe the paths of righteousness are akin to this “path of life”- for righteousness is a fruit of life.
2. In Psalm 139:24, David referred to the Lord “leading (him) in the way everlasting.”
3. Proverbs 4:11 shows us that the Father teaches us in the way of wisdom and has led us in right paths.
4. Proverbs 8:20 says that wisdom walks about on the way of righteousness and in the midst of the paths of justice.
5. In Proverbs chapter 2 we are told how walking in this wisdom and understanding will enable God to guard the paths of justice, to preserve our way from evil people, and keep us to the paths of righteousness. (See verses 6-22)

 
So, these “paths of righteousness” could certainly apply to the path of having our right standing with God revealed to us. It could also apply to paths of doing the right thing like practicing righteous deeds towards others. However, when it comes to this term “righteousness,” I believe sometimes we become a little too locked in to what we think righteousness is. Yes, there is the righteousness that we are freely given through our faith in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sure, there are those righteous deeds we are called to practice. But there is another side to righteousness too and that is what we are seeing here in these verses.
 
These paths of righteousness are more likely referring to the Lord leading us along paths of justice and rightness. In essence, the “paths of righteousness” is “God’s way of being and doing right”- whether that be His direction when we are under attack or His path of experiencing life and life more abundantly.
 
However, I believe David gave us his own commentary of what He meant in Psalm 23:3 over in Psalm 5:8- which says, “Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies: make your way straight before my face.” So, here, David was wanting to be led in the paths of righteousness because of his enemies in order to have God’s way straight before him. In other words, the paths of righteousness here is the way of direction to be delivered from bloodthirsty and deceitful men (Psalm 5:6).
 
But let me remind you - it all starts with walking in righteousness - that is, walking uprightly and with integrity. We cannot separate us doing the right thing and receiving the righteousness & justice that is at the end of that path. 
 
A good example of this in the life of David was when King Saul became his enemy. Through offense and jealousy, Saul persecuted young David time and time again. However, David never retaliated. He continued honoring the king and did not return evil for evil. This was David walking in righteousness. And we all know the end result: David eventually was given the throne and received righteousness and justice from his God. 
 
But did you know that these “right and just paths” that David took are clearly marked out in His Word? So, not only is the answer to that question - How does God restore our souls? - the Word of God, but the answer to the question - How does He leads us on paths of righteousness? - also is the Word of God. So, let’s go over to James chapter one, because in it, we have the Lord leading us through our trials and temptations and into His righteousness:
 
STEPS TO RECEIVING RIGHTEOUSNESS & JUSTICE
 
Over in James 1:19-20, we have what I see as James’ summary of the things he was addressing in the first 18 verses of his epistle. It is important for us to realize this because far too often we take verses like this out of context and apply them to things that the author was in no way intending.
 
So, as we look back over these prior verses, we see James exhortations as revolving around the various trials we fall into and the perspective we are to have when we are being tempted:
 

1. In verses 2-4, he exhorts us to maintain a joy-filled attitude when we fall into these trials because of the good that can come through them from a spiritual perspective (i.e. the patience that is worked in us)
2. In verses 5-8, we are taught that when we don’t know what to do in those trials just ask God for the wisdom. However, be careful to ask in faith not doubting or being double-minded - which certainly refers to letting our emotions get the best of us because of the pressure. That person will have a hard time receiving any wisdom from the Lord.
3. In verses 9-12, James pauses to exhort those in this lowly position to rejoice in their soon exaltation from an eternal perspective.
4. In verse 13, he addresses specifically what he had heard some of these afflicted brethren saying - blaming God for their trials.
5. In verses 14-15, he explains that oftentimes our problems are self-induced - that we can’t blame God, nor can we blame the devil. Our flesh nature is responsible for many of the temptations we find ourselves in.
6. In verses 16-18, James then corrects their doctrinal error by explaining that only good and perfect gifts come down from Father God. He is the source of good in our life, not evil.

 
“So then” we come to verse 19-20 which say, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
 
Again, if you lift these two verses out of their context in chapter one, they will be almost impossible to correctly interpret. What do you think the phrase “swift to hear” might be referring to based on verse five? How about “slow to speak” based on verse thirteen? How about “slow to wrath” based on verse six & thirteen?
 
When James said to let every man be swift to hear and slow to speak I believe he was referring to not being so quick to let yourself speak rashly - accusing God of “allowing” these trials into your lives - but of being quicker to hear the wisdom that God has promised us in the face of our trials.
 
The “slow to wrath” admonition had to do with their anger at God (or just anger in general) because of the circumstances that they were experiencing. You see, when we start saying things like, “God, where are you?” or “Why are you allowing this in my life?” we are speaking in unbelief (see verse 6) and when we allow anger in our hearts like this, then verse twenty is the result…
 
The phrase in verse 20, “for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” shows us that getting angry about our circumstances does not result in God’s justice. In other words, this is exactly what James meant in verse seven when he said, “let not that man suppose he will receive anything from the Lord.” You see, getting into unbelief and blaming God for your problems will not produce God’s righteous deliverance from them.
 
THE GOOD PLANS OF OUR GOOD GOD
 
When I consider this truth, I am immediately drawn to one of our most loved verses, Jeremiah 29:11. In this beloved verse of so many, we have God’s heart concerning the plans He has for us. It says, “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
 
Now it should be noted that the word “thoughts” in the beginning of this verse carries more of the idea of plans, purposes, or intentions. However, we know that in order to have a plan and purpose, you must first give thought to those plans and purposes, right?
 
So, the word “thoughts” is also a good word for us to consider because it shows that (as this Hebrew word is also translated in other passages of Scripture) God is “plotting, scheming and devising” a grand and glorious future for us! Amen? You know, when we hear words like to “plot, scheme and devise,” we usually gear towards the negative, but that is not the case here. In the mind of God, His “scheming” revolves around our blessing! In other words, God’s thoughts towards us are thoughts that conspire our good and welfare. Praise Jesus!
 
My friends, the mind of Christ is filled with wonderful plans, purposes and intentions for your life! He has a plan for you! You might not think He does; but He does! That’s why I believe it is significant how the first part of Jeremiah 29:11 is worded…
 
Notice again that the Lord says, “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord…” Why does He say, “For I know the thoughts…”? Evidently, it was because His people believed He was thinking something else! Did you know that this is still true today? So many of God’s people have a totally incorrect perception of what God is thinking about them. They think God is harsh, critical and fault-finding - always focused on our sin and shortcomings. This is why the Lord went on to say in Jeremiah 29:11 that the thoughts and plans that He knows He has for us are for peace and not of evil. Evidently this is exactly what His chosen people believed He was thinking about them - thoughts of evil. Nothing could be further from the truth!  As we have already seen, the exact opposite is true!
 
You see, while God certainly is well aware of all of our faults and failures, He does not focus on the negative. No, in fact, God is focused more on our potential and His good plan for us than all of the ways that we fall short of His glory. Sure, we tend to focus on the negatives in people, but not God! No,                     1 Corinthians 13:5 tells us that love thinks no evil. Amen! Other translations say, “(love) keeps no record of wrongs,” “(love) does not count the bad” and “it doesn’t keep score of the sins of others.” So listen - if God is love (1 John 4:8), then that means that God keeps no record of wrongs, He does not count the bad things in us, and He doesn’t keep score of our sins! Amen! In fact, the Scriptures teach us that our sins and lawless deeds He remembers no more (Hebrews 10:17)! Why? It’s because He has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12)!
 
So His thoughts, plans and purpose for us are of “peace” and not of evil… Now, of course, the word “peace” comes from the Hebrew word “shalom”- which means more than simply having an absence of conflict. Shalom describes “completeness, wholeness, soundness, success and welfare.” It basically describes having nothing missing and nothing broken in our lives. So we can see that God’s thoughts and plans for our lives involve making them complete, whole, sound, successful and with nothing missing and nothing broken! Amen!
 
So we have clearly seen God’s heart on the matter… He has good thoughts and plans for us! His purpose for us is to live lives that are complete, whole, sound - with nothing missing and nothing broken in them! This sounds to me like He has planned a good life for us. Amen and amen!
 
FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE
 
Finally, we are told that the Lord leads us in these paths of righteousness “for His name’s sake.” So, what does this phrase mean - “for His name’s sake”? It is another way of saying, “for God’s reputation sake.”
 
So, if you interpret the paths of righteousness to mean God leading you to walk on the path of what is in agreement with His standards (i.e. living holy), then He is leading you to act becomingly to accurately represent Him. Or, if you interpret it to mean that He is leading us into or onto paths of justice and rightness, it is in order for us to clearly represent Him.
 
You see, God does some things for our name’s sake, but most things He does are for His own reputation’s sake. In other words, He does things like save, deliver, heal, etc. for the sake of His own reputation.
 
But herein lies the problem - most of us think God is going to do these things for our name’s sake. In other words, He will give us these blessings if we are being holy enough, praying a lot, in the Word, etc. God does things for His name’s sake, that is, in Jesus’ name, not our own. Yes, it’s not because we are good; it’s because He is good. It’s not because of our prayer life; it’s because of Jesus interceding on our behalf. Amen. It’s all for His name’s sake.  
 
You see, while God certainly cares about our own name (i.e. our reputation), we need to understand that the things He does for us and through us are done for His name’s sake. In other words, we can expect that some of our needs and desires will be fulfilled because of who He is and for His purposes and not because of who are and what we do. That is a liberating truth!  
 
So, what can we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us! He has made the provision for our souls to be restored because He is a God of restoration. He has given us His Word that does the work of restoration in our souls. He has also promised to lead us in paths of righteousness - providing us with deliverance from our enemies and justification on all fronts in our life. The key is letting Him lead us in these paths of righteousness. Amen? He does all of this “For His Name’s Sake”- not because of who we are or what we’ve done. He does it all because of who He is and what Jesus has done. Glory to God!