Paths of Righteousness

My text today come once again from the 23rd Psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”

 I want to also draw our attention to John 10 in which the Lord Jesus applies to Himself the title of Shepherd: (John 10:1-11 ““Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”  

“This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them . . .The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” . . . .” My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:1-8, 10-11, 27)

In the past few weeks, we’ve looked at the magnificent promises inherent in the first verses of this Shepherd psalm. We know from the whole of Scripture that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, will supply His sheep with everything they need – as He alone understands our needs. It is also He who, in His great and incomprehensible love for His sheep, makes us lie down in green pastures, He leads us beside quiet waters, and He restores or ‘refreshes’ our lives. We also noted last time the verbs in verses two and three: He makes, He leads, He restores – and I made the point: It’s all about Him. It’s all about who He is, what He does for us, and why He does it.

We often forget that – or at the very least, minimize it in our minds. Our sin-saturated nature deceives us into thinking life is really all about us – what WE are, what WE do, what WE want. But Scripture tells a different story – the true story about how we should focus our lives. For example: Psalm 115:1 - “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.” Listen also to how the angels proclaim it: (Revelation 15:3-4a) “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before You.”

No, it’s not about us, regardless of how we like to think of our lives, day after day. Some of you may be familiar with this plea by CT Studd, 20th century missionary to China, Africa, and India: “Only one life, it will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.” And that begs the question of each of us, doesn’t it? What have you and I done for Christ?  What are you and I doing NOW for Christ?

So, back to our texts: “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” David tells us WHY our Shepherd leads us in paths of righteousness. It’s right there in the text: He leads us in those paths for His name, for His glory. I’ll return to that point in a few moments. But although this text here does not say it, we know from the context of the whole of Scripture that there is another reason – a love-saturated, intimate and very personal reason – why the Shepherd leads us along those paths of righteousness.

Have you ever given much thought to what your life would be like today if God had not led you – and CONTINUES TO LEAD YOU – along the path of righteousness? Have you ever thought about the personal benefit you derived from being led on the path of righteousness AND following the Shepherd’s voice on that path?

 It's easy for many of us to extrapolate from where we’ve been and what we’ve done before Christ brought us to Himself – it’s easy to deduce to where we would be and what we’d be doing if not for God's merciful call to walk along those paths of righteousness.

I often think how my life would have become a complete moral disaster if God had not led me to those paths of righteousness, if God had not opened my eyes to my wretched and despicable sins I had willingly made part of my life before Christ.

And then I think of the untold MILLIONS of men and women, young and not-so-young, who today are actively yet typically unknowingly walking along paths of unrighteousness and headed inexorably toward destruction in this life and in eternity.

I’ve spoken to women who had abortions ten, twenty, even forty years ago and longer and who STILL grieve over what they’ve done. And then there are these tragic statistics: Nearly 30 million people, many as young as 12, abuse alcohol. Recreational drug use among 13–14-year-olds increased by more than 60% between 2016 and 2020. Drug overdose deaths in the US since 2000 are nearly one million.

Yes, the Thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy those who walk along paths of unrighteousness.

Among adults 20-54, nearly 1/3 of marriages end in divorce. Among those ages 55 to 64, that number is about 43%. What is not included in those tragic statistics are the numbers of children who live without the security of a stable two-parent home. I am nearly 75 years old, and I still remember when my mother told me my father had left us. I was four years old. That’s more than 70 years ago.

Yes, the Thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy those who walk along paths of unrighteousness.

I could cite equally tragic statistics about suicide, and the growing number of young people who say they are LGBTQ+ - but it ought to be sufficiently clear by now that the Thief comes to kill, steal, and destroy those who – knowingly or unknowingly – walk the paths of unrighteousness.

Our Shepherd leads us on paths of righteousness because ONLY those paths lead to an abundant life in the here and now – an abundance not of material gain, but of intangible benefits of a peace of heart that passes understanding, and the blessings of loving relationships and so much more. That is why repentance is such a critical step if we hope to be led in the paths of righteousness. We must not forget that biblical truth or overlook it, neither now during the season of Lent, nor throughout the year.

Not long ago I was ministering to a group of men and women in varying stages of dementia, and I asked the question, “What does it mean to ‘repent’?”  One gentleman looked at me and immediately answered, “Stop doing what you’re doing.”

I don’t think I’ve heard a more succinct definition of ‘repent’ in all my years.

“He leads me in paths of righteousness . . . .” It is the Good Shepherd who calls His sheep by name, and they follow Him and His commandments which are, as Scripture tells us, light and life. The Lord reminds us: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow.” (Isaiah 48:17, CSB). And again, “For the commandments are like a lamp, instruction is like a light, and rebukes of discipline are like the road leading to life (Proverbs 6:23, NET)

Listen, unless He leads us in paths of righteousness, our natural trajectory will always and inevitably lead us to ever increasing degrees and frequencies of sin. That simply is our natural bent as fallen creatures. As the Scripture repeatedly reminds us: (Psalm 14:2-3) “The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.”

So, we can see in ourselves the personal benefits we derive from following the Shepherd’s voice – hope, purpose, fulfillment, peace of heart, and eternal life. Now let’s return to what David writes as to WHY the Shepherd leads us on those paths. The text is pretty straightforward. He leads us for His Name’s sake. He leads us in those paths for the glory of His name, for the honor of His name, for the praise of His name among the peoples of earth and among the angels in heaven.

No one is born an atheist. But as God tells us throughout the Scriptures, people make conscious choices to disbelieve in the one true God and Creator. Listen to His indictment of fallen humanity in Romans 1:18-22  “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

From the very beginning, in that Garden of Eden, God certainly could have let us all go our own way, and each of us would surely end in fiery torment for eternity. But that is not the way of the Good Shepherd. It is He who seeks the one lost sheep. Listen to this text of Scripture: (Ephesians 2:1-7) And you were dead in your trespasses and sins . . . and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

The Good Shepherd, rich in mercy, stopped me and you in our tracks from continuing on the path of unrighteousness. He could have turned His face away and let us continue to our inevitable destruction. But for the sake of His holy name, His merciful name, His loving name, He set us who want to be set – He set us on the paths of righteousness.

That’s why the former murderous Saul of Tarsus could eventually write to his protégé Timothy: “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.  Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:15-17)

Yes, the Shepherd leads us in paths of righteousness for His glory and for the praise for His incomprehensible mercy for NOT letting us go our own way. No wonder the Psalmist cried out: “Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.” (Psalm 113:1-3)

As I bring today’s message shortly to a close, let’s return for a moment to the text I read from John’s gospel at the beginning of this message. Jesus, our Shepherd, told everyone who chooses to listen: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27) 

How do true sheep know the voice of the Shepherd, and how does the Shepherd lead His true sheep along those righteous paths? We’ve looked at these questions multiple times in the past years since I have been here at Ashwood. Simply said: If anyone, regardless of their titles, degrees, positions in the church, popularity, and so forth – if anyone voices a different message than the clear and unambiguous message of Scripture regarding faith and morality – that person is a false teacher and will be cursed and condemned by God. You can find such a decree in the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Christians at Galatia.

How does the Shepherd lead His true sheep? Listen to the Psalmist: (Psalm 119:9) How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word. (Psalm 119:11) Thy word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:105) “They word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path.” 

True sheep listen to God's voice speaking from the pages of Scripture. Phony sheep do not. Pay attention to God's warning to those in Jeremiah’s day who THOUGHT they were true sheep, but were not: (Jeremiah 6:16-17) “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ “And I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’

Have you ever wondered about the spiritual anemia and the rampant immorality that run like a plague through so much of the Body of Christ? I’ll tell you the reason as clearly as I know how: It’s because people in the pew AND the pulpit are unwilling to listen to the Shepherd’s voice and obey His commandments. They know what God says, but they respond as Israel did in Jeremiah’s day: “We will not walk in it. We will not listen to it.”

Those who want to live in sin will always pick and choose what they like and what don’t like of God's commandments. The only way sin and false teachings can make headway in churches is when pastors do not preach the full inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture, and when their congregations blindly follow their local shepherd. There is simply no other way for sexual perversions and immorality of all kinds, along with their attending heresies, to spread through churches.

“The Lord is [our] shepherd . . . He leads [us] in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. But, as we will see in that next verse, sometimes those paths of righteousness lead to the valley of the shadow of death. But we will not fear, because we know from our knowledge of scripture that God is always with us.

We’ll talk about that next time.