The Fundamentals: Divine Righteousness

¹The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  ²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:  he leadeth me beside the still waters.  ³He restoreth my soul:  he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  ⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  ⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:  thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  ⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Welcome back to this LifeLine study of Psalm 23. This is one of the best-known Scriptures found in the Bible. We are excited for this study, for as we dig into it, we find that from within, there is so much more to learn.

Today, we find ourselves at the portion of the third verse that reads,

“He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

Let’s start right off by splitting this verse into three focuses,
1. Him
2. His Plan & Path
3. His Purpose.

Who is the He? As from the earlier verses, we know that the He, throughout Psalm 23, is referring to our Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. We have also found that we are able see God’s character – who He is by what He is doing in these verses. The One True God is known by many names within the Bible and each of these names use a description of His character within the name itself. How awesome that His name tells us exactly who He is!

Remember in verse one, we found that the Lord is our Shepherd or as it would be written in Hebrew - Jehovah-Rohi? David wrote this Psalm after spending time caring for his father’s sheep. From his sheep experience and the experience of His Lord working in his life, David could see how the Lord was like a shepherd to him. So, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit he called Him Jehovah-Rohi – the Lord is my Shepherd.

We can also see that the Lord is shown as Jehovah-Jireh – the God who provides. Praise the Lord, He provides all that we need! Remember, it may not be all that we want, but He knows, in His unending, all-powerful, all-compassionate wisdom, exactly what each of His sheep need for each moment in time. Philippians 4:19 reads,

Thank you, Jesus, for knowing my needs and faithfully being my Jehovah-Jireh!

When we look at the Lord leading us beside still waters, we find that His name is Jehovah-Shalom – God our Peace. In Isaiah 9:6 we read,

Jesus Christ, and the price He paid with His life on the cross, made it possible for us to be at peace with God, through salvation from our sins. Then, in our Christian life, He leads us as our Prince of Peace to calmly grow and mature in Him. He surrounds us with a peace that only He can provide as our Jehovah-Shalom.

Next, we see our Savior as Jehovah-Rapha, meaning the Lord your healer. He is the one that can restore our souls. Yes, even as Christians, we take our eyes off the Lord, get distracted by the “things” happening around us, and find ourselves in need of being put right by the Shepherd. In Psalm 51:12 we read,

That is exactly what He does. Our Jehovah-Rapha heals the broken, hurt spirit restoring us unto Himself.

This entire Psalm is about Him and what He is doing in the Christian’s life. Now, we find ourselves here at verse three, and we see the Shepherd as Jehovah-T’sidkenu. He is the Lord God our righteousness! His character is RIGHTEOUSNESS! In all His ways He is righteous. That means there is not any lawlessness in Him. Jehovah-T’sidkenu can never sin, He hates sin and is the perfect judge of it. There is no way for Him to act in any other way, but to be 100% holy. Psalm 145:17 tells us,

See the words all in that verse? That means that it is not part or some, but inclusive of every motive, thought, word, and deed. His righteousness is consistent with all His other attributes. God’s righteousness never changes, it is the same yesterday, today and forever. In Psalm 119:142 we read,

All of us were born sinners and unable to make ourselves righteous in the sight of God. Romans 3:10, “… there is none righteous, no not one.” In order for us to one day stand before God, our Righteous Judge, we must be made righteous in His sight. This is the reason why Jesus Christ came to earth as a man, lived a perfectly righteous life, gave His life on the cross – paying the debt we owed because of our sins, and then He rose again victorious over sin and the grave. 1 Corinthians 5:21 states,

“For he [God] hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Anyone who repents of their sins and trusts in Him will be dealt with as if they were righteous. So, our righteousness is not anything we do for ourselves, but it is what Christ has done for us! Our Lord Jesus is truly our Jehovah-T’sidkenu. He is our righteousness.

Shepherds must study and know the land where they will lead and graze their sheep. They don’t just take off one day guiding an entire flock over land that they have never seen. Before they ever take the sheep through those areas, they will travel over the paths, looking for places that have obstacles or dangerous areas that could cause harm. They choose a path that is best. Only after they have done this, they will be prepared so that when their flock arrives to a specific place that could be a problem, they will know the best way to guide them to safety. We could say, that the shepherd has it all planned out. The shepherd then goes out before the sheep and with great care, guides them on the best paths that he has chosen. The entire time the shepherd is acting with the interest of his sheep in mind.

Jesus has done the same for His sheep. Because He is righteous and only able to do what is right and good and true, then the paths that He chooses for us will only be right, good, and true. We can trust Him in the way that He leads. You may ask, “How does He lead me? How do I know what He wants me to do or where He wants me to go?” In scriptures we read,

“… and the sheep hear his [Jesus’] voice; and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.” John 10:3-4.

So, we know it is true - He does lead. According to this verse, the sheep are following the voice of their shepherd. We must have a listening ear for the guidance of the Lord. He will speak and guide through His Word. He will speak and guide us through the promptings of the Holy Spirit within our hearts. But, in order for us to hear His voice, we must open the Word, we must seek Him, we must have a hunger and a thirst for Him. In Psalm 143:8 and 10 the psalmist writes,

This is the prayer of a man who is listening for and seeking the voice of the Lord. He is wanting to be lead on the path of righteousness. A person who is crying out as this psalmist is, will hear and receive the direction of the Lord. Psalm 4:11 tells us,

“I [God] have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths.”

This requires not only a listening ear, but trust on the part of the sheep. We must trust our Shepherd that where and how He leads will be the best path. A well-known verse in Proverbs 3:4-5 says,

Possibly you find it difficult to trust others because of hurt you have experienced. Unfortunately, we have been “burnt” by so many, that soon we place a “safety wall” around ourselves that protect us from the next hurt. But take a moment and look at who we are to trust for our leading here in this Psalm – really, throughout the entire Bible! This is your Shepherd. This is your Good Shepherd. This is your Righteous, Good Shepherd. He is the One that has walked before you. He is the One that knows the best path for you – on paths of righteousness. Just as the verse above says, we can trust in the Lord with all of our hearts.

Take a look at this song and let it speak to your heart as it does mine:

All the way my Savior leads me-
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my guide?
Heavenly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me-
Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living bread.
Though my weary steps may falter
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see;
Gushing from the rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see.

All the way my Savior leads me-
Oh, the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day,
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way;
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way.

Oh, Christian, let your Lord guide you. Trust Him for you can’t go wrong walking on the path He has chosen for you.

Remember that we said the shepherd goes out and “checks out” the paths before he leads his sheep. From this we can see that other paths do exist. Paths that lead other places and can be detrimental to us. Paths that may look nice and easy for a short time, but ones that the shepherd already knows leads to danger and destruction. Those other paths can be tempting. Look at Psalm 119:104,

“From your precepts [directions or rules] I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way.”

There exists a false way. Proverbs 4:27 says,

Here we can see there is a way to the right and way to the left. Another verse, Proverbs 11:19

You and I are each left with a choice. And we each make that choice. Do you choose to follow the path that leads off in a direction that looks good to you but leads to evil and death? Or do you step out in obedience to your shepherd and follow His leading, trusting Him in each step? We find in 1 Peter 2:21, Peter writes,

You want to know the best path? Look to your Shepherd and step where He steps.

Now what happens when we are walking righteously, on the path of righteousness with the Righteous One? We find His purpose. It is so that your life points to Him. It is so that where you walk, what you say, what you do, points others to your Good Shepherd. In this, He receives all the glory, honor and praise! Look at a verse that we have read many times throughout our LifeLine Lessons: 1 Peter 2:9,

This obedience to His leading on His path is so you and I are able to show forth HIS praises. Look at these verses found in Psalm 40:1-3,

He turned toward, He heard, He brought you out, He set your feet, He established you, He put a new song of praise in your mouth, and why did He do all of this? So that others will see it, fear (respect Him) and trust in Him with a life of obedience! Praise the Lord for His path! Praise the Lord for He is leading! Praise the Lord for His righteousness! He is our Jehovah-T’sidkenu.

Hebrews 13: 20-21:

Christy