In Paths of Righteousness—For His Name’s Sake—A Bible Study in Psalm 23
The book of Psalms in one of the most loved books of the Bible. The Psalms express in a very detailed, personal way the prayers, thoughts and emotions of the human mind calling out to God. The 23rd Psalm is “everybody’s favorite Psalm.” It is highly thought of by Christian and non-Christian alike. In addition to the poetic and comforting sound of its words, the Psalm mirrors the various stages of our Christian walk.
In the life of the believer, “The Lord is my shepherd” (verse 1) would refer to the starting point of our faith—the fact that each of us must receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. There are many things we need to know as we begin in our new faith. First and foremost is the assurance of our salvation: accepting as fact that Jesus Christ is our Savior. Two New Testament verses in John bring this out clearly. John 3:16 declares, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:36 adds, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”
Verse 2 of the Psalm, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me besides quiet waters. He restores my soul,” symbolizes the vital means of growth in our Christian life. To a believer, “green pastures and quiet waters” include reading and studying the Word of God, praying to the Father in Jesus’ name, and having relationships and fellowship with other believers. This is God’s way of restoring our soul and revitalizing us for His service.
God will not allow us to stand still in our Christian experience, however. He continues to move us along, as the next verse reminds us. “He guides me in paths of Righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” Apparently the path of righteousness passes directly through the valley of the shadow of death! We see spiritual and physical death about us daily. Those who don’t have Jesus as their Shepherd are separated from God, just as we were before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and He became our Shepherd.
The “shadow of death” has yet another aspect: our identification with Jesus Christ. This idea is brought out in Romans 6: 3 – 4, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father we too may live a new life.” In this new life, as in Psalm 23 verse 5, He prepares a feast before us to share with others. He anoints our head with oil, and our cup overflows with love for others.
Now how do we fit into His plan to accomplish this? Simple—by letting go of our own life and desires and taking on His life and service. Jesus said in John 12: 23 – 26, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow Me, and where I am, My servant also will be.”
This is a cardinal truth, which the apostle Paul elaborates on in his writing. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians 2: 20, he writes, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” The purpose of all we do for God in Christ must be to glorify God and not ourselves. We might say that the “C” of Christ is a bent “I” for ourselves. The path of righteousness is not the path of self-gratification, our ambitions and desires, but rather Jesus Christ’s gratification’s, ambitions and desires. We put Him first. Proverbs 3: 5 – 6, sums it up, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
We may say, “I can’t do that!” That’s right. We can’t live the Christian life. It is only by allowing Christ to work in us and committing ourselves to His purposes that we can obey these principles. If we look again at Psalm 23, verse 4, we read, “I will fear no evil, for You are with me.” Jesus is our Shepherd, and He is always with us. He Himself promised this in Matthew 28: 20, “And surely I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Yes, it is Jesus Christ who “guides us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death…”
The Psalm closes with a grand declaration of our hope in the future. “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Are His goodness and His love with us only after we die? No way! They are with us today, tomorrow, and forever.
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