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He Leads Me in Paths of Righteousness - That's Right Direction

 Psalm 23:3 – “He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.”

            There is a simple formula you can follow to be successful in your Christian walk. “He leads, I follow, we arrive.” Psalms 23:2 says, “He leads me beside still waters.” When you fail to allow the Lord to lead in paths of righteousness you get on the wrong path. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” We must allow the Lord to lead us in the right path. These are paths that are straight, plain, and safe. We should pray the words of Psalms 27:11, “Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.”


            The Psalmist writes in Psalms 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.” Phillip Keller writes in his book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalms 23, “A commonly held but serious misconception about sheep is that they can just ‘get along anywhere.’ The truth is quite the reverse. No other class of livestock requires more careful handling, more detailed direction, than do sheep. No doubt David, as a shepherd himself, had learned this firsthand from tough experience. He knew beyond dispute that if the flock was to flourish and the owner’s reputation was to be held in high esteem as a good manager, the sheep had to be constantly under his meticulous control and guidance.”[I]


            Sheep do foolish things. They wander away and get lost. The shepherd goes to find and restore the lost sheep. Francis Dixon writes, “the shepherd not only restores the sheep; He gives them power to walk in straight paths – ‘in paths of righteousness.’ A literal rendering of ‘He restores my soul’ is ‘He turns back my desires.’ When He restores us, He takes from us the very desire to wander - the love of sinning; then gives us the power to walk in His way of holiness and love.”[ii] 


            Isaiah 35:8 says, “A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, Shall not go astray.” Make your prayer the words of this beautiful verse, “lead me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

            


[i] Keller, Phillip, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, page 58.

[ii] https://www.wordsoflife.co.uk/bible-studies/study-4-the-sweetest-psalm-of-all/

 


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