A sheep’s look at the Shepherd of Psalm 23 (Part III)

We have previously looked at verses 1 & 2 of Psalm 23. As many will testify, this is one of the most beloved passages in Scripture. Continuing on in Psalm 23, we are looking now at verse 3, here we will see God’s continued care for us. What we find in this verse is a beautiful explanation
of the restoration and reconciliation that is offered us from the Lord found in this passage. Though often overlooked this passage has a lot to offer us. Let’s see what we can glean from this verse as we continue to ponder the 23 psalm. He has claimed ownership to me in verse one. In verse two He has given me a place rest and much needed nourishment, now we turn to verse 3.

Verse 3

Psalm 23:3, “He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

“He restores my soul; …He restores my soul, what a beautiful thought from the Lord. Here He presents to us His restoration, what more restoration do I need after salvation you may ask? What more can He give me? The truth is a lot. To restore the soul is to revive or quicken it, notice here in Psalms 19:7, “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;” (ESV). We can also turn over to the passage in Ezekiel we have looked at earlier and we find, Ezekiel 34:16, “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick;…” (Ezekiel 34:16). Here is restoration from the Lord, offered to us by His gift of Grace, making us full aware of His presence and help in several ways.

He restores my soul in fellowship, I John 1:3, “That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.” We have fellowship of the Father and the Son, what is the true depth of this verse? That which was taken away by sin has now been restored by His Grace. That which was dead has now been made alive. We have communication with the God of the universe. This communication includes access to God the Father and the Son, John 14:13-14, “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (14) If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” One of my favorite verses states it this way, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3). This is communion of fellowship, not just mere fellowship but one of restoration, precious because it was once removed.

He also restores my soul through the privilege of kinship – at the moment of salvation we are adopted into the family of God. We are now the sons of God, related through the saving blood of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures tell us that to be in Christ is to be an heir with him. Romans 8:14-17 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (15) For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (17) and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” We now belong to Christ and are brought back into relationship with God through His shed blood. We see that He has awarded us benefits as part of this adoption. He has made us a part of the family of God. Our adoption allows us the privilege and rights of son-ship. We are children of God, and then we are heirs. Galatians 4:4-5 “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, (5) to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

He restores my soul in Grace – “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. (23) They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23) How much do I love Him? I say more and more with the passing of each and every day. The Lord graciously restores this poor, tired and drying up old soul of mine daily. It is a blessing to know that, when our soul is fearful He lovingly revives it; when it is oppressed by the weight of this world He strengthens it; when it suffers because of sin He convicts it so that He can sanctify it. You see we need restoration, and we need it daily. Daily restoration is necessary to keep and preserve our relationship with Him and with those around us. Only Christ can do this, He is the one the restores and refreshes us. After restoration we will want to follow Him so…

“… He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” Jesus our shepherd is committed both to us and to God the Father for our care. He will guide us as only He knows best and as it glorifies God, which is the ultimate goal. He is faithful to the task of leading, guiding and protecting His flock. This is done in obedience to the plan that God the Father had ordained for all men. The key to all of this for the believer is found in the word obedience. Many are obedient, but the real question is, are they obedient out of love, or of fear? Many believers treat the commandments of God cafeteria style; they want to be obedient to some commandments and forgetful of others. This is not pleasing to Him. We do not have the right to pick and choose; rather we are called to be obedient to them all. This is evident since the psalmist wrote this in plural voice, “the paths of righteousness.” Notice that this is plural “paths”, as in many.

“…paths of righteousness” – the paths of righteousness or the paths of the right are our privilege as believers to walk. We are called to walk where He walks and in doing so we are walking with Him. It is our delight to walk with Him and to be obedient to Him. These paths are for our safety, they are directed by God, and above all pleasing to Him. He is not only our master; He is the source of love. Our delight should be to please Him and to please Him is to walk here He leads. To walk where He leads is a walk of faith, obedience and self denial. This path calls out to us to be obedient and to walk along them with our loving and righteous Savior as our guide, not the other way around.

“…for his name's sake” – we are to do so out of respect or regard for who He is. What ever the task that the Lord may lead us to do we should do so whole heartedly being led out of a great love for Him. Someone once said, “The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God will not protect you.” Some believers overlook the blessing of our sanctification, and all that we do have in Him through salvation. If we could be saved from wrath, and yet remain the same enregenerate sinners that we were, where would God get glory? Yet in spite of this some believers choose to live this way. Beloved we are not saved as we desire but as He wills. One of the strongest desires for any believer is that we desire to be saved from sin and led away from self and into the way of holiness. This is accomplished because of one simple word called “Grace,” He has done so out of pure free grace. Notice that the verse says “for his name's sake.” It is out of honor and respect of our great Shepherd that we should strive to be a holy people. We should be focused, walking in the narrow way of righteousness. In doing so we will be led and we will be guided along and through these paths. Above all we must never fail to love and adore the care that we receive from our heavenly Shepherd.

Whatever path or goal He gives us we know that He not only prepares the way but that He leads us through His grace and love. The ultimate goal is of course the Glory of God which is to please Him and to want to serve Him. Thus when serving Him we do what we do for His name sake, He gets the glory, not us. We do so in honor of the Great Shepherd who has already given us His all. The path is the narrow way and we must keep our heart and mind focused upon Him so that we do not fail. I once read a statement that said, “The Will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you.” Wherever He leads us He will protect us because He is leading us for His namesake and He will honor that.

To Be Continued…

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