![]() There can be no sidetrack that you pursue. Every step of life’s journey is to be taken on this divinely-prepared course. The same is true for your Christian life. No part of his life is to be lived excluded from these “paths.” Every choice he makes and every act he performs is to be conducted on this clearly marked route. They include every area of David’s life, including his personal, family, and work life. ![]() These “paths” are represented in the plural, indicating their comprehensive nature. In the same way, God is closely guiding us in our unique circumstances. God is that intimately involved in ordering his way. So personal is this divine guidance, it is as if David is the only sheep in His care. This is to say, the LORD is directing David’s steps along His chosen path. God Guides Our Stepsįurther, David said, “He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (verse 3). When we go astray, He is constantly pursuing us in order to bring us back to Himself. ![]() Be encouraged to know that God is always at work within you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Maybe you are feeling distant from the LORD. This is God’s continual work of sanctification in our lives. When we leave our first love, He brings us back to Him. When we are depleted, the Lord replenishes us. When we are discouraged, the Lord encourages us. But by His restoring grace, He brings us back to our first love (Revelation 2: 4-7). Left to ourselves, we would wander away from the LORD and be slow to return. He brings us back to where we need to be by reviving our hearts when we become spiritually sluggish or lukewarm. In each of our lives, God works in similar ways. It came by the ministry of “the law of the LORD” that is “is perfect, restoring the soul” (Psalm 19:7). It came by the LORD’s painful, yet loving discipline. It came by the Holy Spirit, who convicted him of sin. This restoration of David’s soul came through various means of grace. In like manner, the LORD “restores” David’s “soul,” meaning He brings him back to where he once was before he drifted away and suffered spiritual decline. For example, Noah released a dove from the ark and waited for it to return back to him (Genesis 8:8-11). The word “restore” means ‘to turn back, to return.’ The idea is for something or someone to go back to where it previously was. “He Restores My Soul”ĭavid says the LORD “restores my soul” (verse 3). Now, in verse three, we see that He patiently restores our soul and guides us in His chosen paths of righteousness. In the second verse, we saw that He is lovingly feeding us in green pastures and wisely leading us beside still waters. In the first verse, we already noted that the LORD graciously cares for us and is unconditionally committed to meeting all our needs. ![]() What David reflects about himself applies to each one of us as believers. He writes, “He restores my soul He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake” (verse 3). In this psalm, David draws upon this shepherd-sheep relationship as He describes his personal walk with the LORD. In those times, the LORD had to go after him, like a shepherd, and bring him back into the safety of the fold-just like David had done with his father’s sheep. He could be drawn in the wrong direction where he found himself exposed to many threatening dangers. He too easily could lose sight of the path and wander away. Possessing all the weaknesses of a sheep, David knew he needed a shepherd to restore and guide him. This picture became an apt metaphor for who he was-one of the LORD’s sheep. Through his experiences, he gained firsthand knowledge about the characteristics of sheep and shepherds. ![]() Before he was king of Israel, David had been a young shepherd boy, caring for his father’s sheep. ![]()
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