The right path will not always be an easy path. If you look at verse five, the right path takes you through the presence of enemies. In verse four, the right path takes you through the valley of the shadow of death. But even there, your shepherd will lead you. Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick, and we’ve been looking this week at the ways God leads us. And Colin, it’s easy thinking about God leading us during easy times, comfortable times, sometimes we forget that He’s also leading us through difficult times. Yeah, that’s exactly right, and I think that this is really important to take hold of, because otherwise we lose our assurance and our peace and joy at the time that we need it the most. I know what it is in my own life to get to a place of saying, boy, this is really difficult, am I sure that I’m on the right path? I mean that’s the natural question to ask. And Psalm 23 addresses exactly this, that Jesus leads us on right paths, and right paths doesn’t mean easy paths. Sometimes they’re very difficult. The disciples followed Jesus obediently, and he led them into a storm. But you know what? They discovered more of the glory of Jesus in that storm, and they grew as followers of Jesus, and the Lord will be our shepherd on the right path leading us. He’ll never abandon us there, and that’s, I think, a great encouragement for us to try and take to heart from the Scriptures today. Let’s do that. We’re in Psalm 23. As we continue the message, he leads me. Here’s Colin. The Good Shepherd leads his sheep into rest, rest. He makes me lie down. And then secondly, the Good Shepherd leads us into righteousness. He leads me in paths of righteousness. Now, notice you have a full description of the Christian life right here in these two phrases. There are times for lying down and for rest, and there are times for moving forward. There’s the whole Christian life. We rest in order that we may have strength to follow him on the right path. The natural order, you might think, would be that we walk the right path and then that we rest. But here, it’s the other way round. That’s the gospel principle, that we rest in order that we may be able to walk in the right path. The Bible speaks about righteousness in two ways. There is a righteousness that Christ gives us, and that is what enables us to rest, and then there is a righteousness to which Christ calls us and that is what David is speaking of here. The righteousness that Christ gives us. Paul says in Philippians, I want to be found in Christ. Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and depends on faith. We become right with God, not through a righteousness that we produce, but through the perfect righteousness that Jesus Christ himself gives to us. He lived that perfect life, and when he laid it down on the cross, he offered up that perfectly righteous life on our behalf, and brother or sister, isn’t this wonderful? All the righteousness you will ever need is given to you fully and freely in the Lord Jesus Christ. And it becomes yours when you become his. It’s a marvelous thing to be wholly owned by the Son of God, and that’s why you have rest. The righteousness of Christ is yours when you are his. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. But now do you see how this fits with Psalm 23, that that is not the end, but the beginning of the Christian life? It is not simply that we lie down and rest in the given righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we have received this and have this by faith in him. He calls us now to follow him in right paths. And that’s what’s referred to here in the words of David. There is a righteousness to which Christ calls us. Peter puts it this way. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. There are right paths that your shepherd calls you to pursue. Right paths and he will lead you in them. Clearly, that is what David is talking about here. Path of righteousness simply means right paths. And where the shepherd leads you will always be the right path. I want you to notice a couple of things here. And the first is that the right path will not always be an easy path. The psalm makes that very clear. If you look at verse five, the right path takes you through the presence of enemies. In verse four, the right path takes you through the valley of the shadow of death. But even there your shepherd will lead you. Psalm 23 makes it very, very clear that the pastures will not always be green and that the waters will not always be still. When Jesus said to his disciples in the gospels, let us go to the other side of the lake. Remember he led them into a storm. But it was a storm in which they saw his glory and it was a storm in which they learned that they could truly trust him. So the good shepherd won’t always lead you beside the still water. Sometimes he’s actually gonna lead you right through the water. In another Psalm, Psalm 77, we read these remarkable words referring back to when God led his people through the Red Sea, your way was through the sea, your path was through the great waters, your footprints were unseen, but you led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and of Aaron. Now there will be times in your life where the way in which God leads you seems to be absolutely impossible, that was the situation of God’s people when they came to the Red Sea, but God was with them, he was leading them, and there will be times when you find it hard to detect the presence of God. Notice what he says here, that God’s footprints were unseen, that God led His people through the Red Sea, but there was not a visible evidence of God’s presence that was given to them in that experience, his footprints were unseen. There will be times where you say, Now, where is God in this? Can’t see him, can’t figure out what He’s doing, can’t feel His presence. God’s ways will sometimes be a mystery to you, that’s what we’re being told here, but you can be sure of this, that when the Lord is your shepherd, even where you cannot see His footprints, He will lead you even when his footprints are unseen. And then there will be times when God’s direction in your life comes through people he puts beside you. Do you see that in this verse from Psalm 77? You led your people like a flock. How? By the hand of Moses and Aaron. Seek the wisdom and counsel of other godly people God puts beside you when you’re trying to discern a right path. It’s one of the ways that God will lead you. He gives undershepherds to the flock. He puts other believers around you. You’re not alone on this journey. So we’re looking at this marvelous blessing that belongs to those who are wholly owned by the Son of God. When you’re in the flock of God, you have this great blessing that he leads you. Where does he lead you? He leads you into rest and you’ll find it more and more as you keep the shepherd in view. He leads you into righteousness and where the shepherd leads is always the right path. He leads me in paths of righteousness. Now, as I said earlier, it’s so very practical because many of us feel like we need rest, jaded. How are we going to find rest and refreshment? And we’ve seen how the psalm speaks to that. Here we come to another very practical issue, handling change. And I expect that among us, again here this morning, there’ll be many of us that’ll say, When do things have to continue just to change so relentlessly in my life? Now, that is addressed right here. You see, He leads me in paths of righteousness. Why does the shepherd have to lead the sheep? Why can’t the shepherd just leave them where they are? And you will have come across this in your own life. You’re happy in a particular situation. And then something changes. And you say, Why does it have to change? I liked it as it was. I didn’t want to have to go to another place. Why couldn’t things have remained as they were? Why does the shepherd have to lead the sheep on? Why can’t they simply leave them in this lush green meadow beside these pools of water? Well, the answer is that a shepherd has two responsibilities. The shepherd has a responsibility to care for the sheep. And the shepherd has a responsibility to care for the land. When the sheep are put in a lush field of grass, I mean, they’re given a feast. The problem is that the sheep don’t know when to stop. And if sheep are left in one field for too long, they will eat not only the grass, but they’ll eat right down to the very roots, and they will then leave the field completely and utterly barren. So a good shepherd therefore has to have what we might call a land management plan. And before the field gets to the point where the sheep have overgrazed, he will move the sheep on. And he moves them on for the very obvious reason that he must now nourish them somewhere else and if he did not move them on, they would no longer be nourished where they were. Now, knowing this will help you when you face change in your life. And we all have this experience. God puts you in a field where the grass is green. You are happy in the field. And then when change comes into your life and it is evident that the shepherd is moving you on, you don’t want to go. Why can’t I stay here longer? I don’t want this change. I don’t want to have to leave this field that I love. But do you see that when the shepherd moves you on, when change is brought into your life, the shepherd is saying to you, now this is no longer the field where you will be nourished. I have another place. And there I will provide for you, there I will feed you. There I will make you to lie down. Do not be afraid. This is the right path. You may not want to move to the new field where the shepherd will lead you, but he will feed you there. And he will feed you in a way that your soul would not have been fed if you had continued where you were beyond the time that he intended you to be there. So trust the shepherd when he moves you on. Trust the shepherd where change comes into your life. He knows what he is doing. And he leads you where he is taking you for a reason. There’s an old hymn that says, in heavenly love abiding, no change, my heart shall fear. And when the Lord is your shepherd, you do not need to fear change because where the shepherd leads you is always the right path. You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and the message He Leads Me part of series, The Lord is My Shepherd, looking at Psalm 23. And if you’ve missed any of the series or if you’d like to go back and listen again, please do that by coming online to our website, openthebible.org.uk Or find us as a podcast if that’s an easier way for you to keep up with Pastor Colin Smith’s teaching. That’s available on your favorite podcast site. Just go there and search for Open the Bible UK and subscribe to receive regular updates. We’re in Psalm 23, here’s Colin. Now, here’s the last thing and it’s something very wonderful. We’ve looked at where the Shepherd leads us into rest, into righteousness. I want us to see one more thing and it is why the Shepherd leads us. The good Shepherd leads us for His names sake. Now, friends, it would be so easy to pass over a little phrase like this but I want us to see that it is the most wonderful phrase of all. How can I be sure that the Shepherd will lead me? What assurance and confidence can I have that He will indeed bring me all the way home? When you come to a dark valley in your own life, you may have had the experience of saying, oh, I feel like giving up on myself. And when you feel like giving up on yourself, the thought will occur to you, well, I suspect that God must feel like giving up on me too. How do you know that God will never give up on you? The answer lies in these wonderful words, for His name’s sake. Why does the shepherd buy the flock? Why does he birth the flock? The Bible’s answer to that question is for His name’s sake. This is all over the scripture, let me just give you two examples. Ezekiel chapter 36, ”Therefore say to the house of Israel, ”thus says the Lord God, ”it is not for your sake O house of Israel ”that I’m about to act, ”but for the sake of my Holy name, ”which you have profaned.” I’m not acting in the first instance for your sake, I’m acting in the first instance for the sake of my own name, and then God goes on to say, and this is why I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean, this is why I will take away a heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. Or the prophetic Word of Isaiah, God says, I am he who blots out your transgression for my own sake. My own sake. This is a remarkable statement. When God blots out your transgression, the first reason he does it is not for your sake, but for his sake. Now think through with me why that is of such importance and why it is such marvelous good news. In his early life, the Apostle Paul was among the worst of men. He tells us candidly, I was a blasphemer. I was violent. And then he says this, that God chose me the worst of people in order to show just how patient he is. God did not chose me, the Apostle says, because he saw something lovable in me. I was a blasphemer and a violent man, but I received mercy for this reason, that in me, the worst, the foremost of sinners, he would display his perfect patience. Now, I can imagine someone at this point saying, oh, I’m not sure I like this. I like to think that when God looks at me, he sees something beautiful. I like to think that he’s drawn to me because of what he sees in me, that he loves me because he finds something supremely lovable in me. But where would that leave you when you are no longer beautiful? Where would you be when what God sees in you is not attractive but is ugly? What would become of you where your persistent and tiresome waywardness makes you far, far, far from lovable. Now friends, here is the really good news. God does not lead you for your namesake. He leads you for His namesake. He did not set His love upon you because He saw something wonderful in you. He set His love on you in order to display His own patience. And His patience with you will never run dry. The good shepherd has staked the reputation and the honor of his own name on leading a sinner like you safely home. He has said, my sheep will never perish, I will not lose a single one of them. What God is doing in your life is for His namesake. His grace, His patience, His faithfulness will be put on display forever through the completion of His redeeming work in you. That is why He will never give up on you. That is why no angel in heaven will ever say, oh what a shame it is that that sheep was too weak or too wayward to make it. What a pity that that one wandered off and somehow never found its own way back. No, God has given His word. Every sheep in his flock born and bought will be brought safely home. Not one of them will be missing and what has been accomplished in your life and in mine will be for His praise and glory and honor for ever and ever. He staked the honor of his own name on it. Do you see how that gives assurance to a Christian believer, the strongest assurance you can ever have is that the Good Shepherd has staked the honor of his own name on your ultimate salvation. So even when you feel like giving up on yourself the Good Shepherd will never give up on you. Do you see today, we were just really at the beginning of this series, but the central theme is this, it is the most marvelous thing to be wholly owned by the son of God. And it is a marvelous thing to be wholly owned by the son of God for this reason, that when you’re his he leads you. He’ll lead you into rest. He’ll lead you into righteousness. He’ll lead you for his own name’s sake. and that is why he’ll never lose you. That is why he will never give up on you. And that is why he will bring you all the way safely home. You’ve been listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, and the message, he leads me, part of our series, the Lord is my shepherd. And I hope you’ve made that commitment to follow Jesus wherever he leads. If you’re not sure or if it’s something you want to ask questions about, I hope you’ll go and talk to a trusted Christian friend or family member, or maybe go along to a local Christian fellowship and talk to the folks there. They’ll be happy to answer your questions. If you’ve missed any of the series, which is called the Lord is my shepherd, based on Psalm 23, then please come to our website to catch up or go back and listen again. That’s at openthebible.org.UK. On our website, you’ll also find Open the Bible Daily, which is a series of short daily devotionals, two to three minutes in length, and based on Pastor Colin Smith’s teaching and read in the UK by Sue MacLeish. There’s a new one on the website every day, and you can also find that as a podcast on your favorite podcast site. Open the Bible is supported entirely by our listeners. That’s people just like you. This month, if you’ve been thinking about setting up a new donation in respect of Open the Bible in the amount of five pounds per month or more, we’d love to thank you by sending you a copy of Pastor Colin Smith’s devotional, Green Pastures, Still Waters, 31 days in Psalm 23. It’s very much a devotional that goes with this series of messages. Colin, what do you hope that people using this devotional will take away from it? Oh, well, it will fix your eyes and your mind on the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, He is the Good Shepherd. He is what Psalm 23 is all about. And to know that you have a shepherd in Christ and that he’s going to lead you in right paths, he’s going to give you rest, he’s going to restore you when you’re spent and your energy is exhausted and gone. He’s going to guard you, he’s going to sustain you. He’s going to love you all the days of your life and eventually bring you into his nearer presence. I mean a month fixing your mind and heart on Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd is going to renew your strength, it’s going to encourage you greatly. And that’s what Psalm 23 does. And I think that’s why it’s one of the best known and best loved chapters in all of the Bible. So that’s Pastor Colin Smith’s devotional, Green Pastures, Still Waters, 31 Days in Psalm 23. And it’s our gift to you if you’re able to set up a new donation to the work of Open the Bible in the amount of five pounds per month during the course of this month, full details on our website, OpenTheBible.org.uk. For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick. And I hope you’ll be able to join us again next time. Although the Good Shepherd leads us, we still need him to restore our soul. Find out why next time on Open the Bible.