Can you look back at your childhood, and I'm talking about as a kid or a teenager, and see how God used certain experiences to shape you into the person you are today.
Think back of some of the things you did, had to do, when you were growing up, that have greatly influenced the way you look at life today.
The way you do certain things.
For example, maybe you took care of a younger brother or sister when you were a teenager.
Maybe they were a lot younger than you, and it may be that you didn't really want to do all you did, but you were forced by your parents to help out.
Well, that has influenced you, maybe helped you, you would admit, to be a better parent today.
Maybe you played a sport, learned to play a musical instrument.
Or maybe you had parents who made you work around the house, do chores.
And now, looking back, you think, through those experiences, I learned to be disciplined.
I learned to complete a task.
I learned that you just don't quit because something is difficult.
And today, you can get things done.
You know, we can look at David's early life experience as a shepherd, a shepherd boy, probably a young teenager,
taking care of his father's sheep, and how that prepared him to write the 23rd Psalm.
You think about it.
David was the youngest.
He probably hated taking care of those sheep.
Being at home, taking care of sheep by himself, and his brothers out doing something important.
At least more important than what he was doing.
But God used that experience to prepare David to write what was probably the most well-known chapter in all the Bible,
and what may be the most loved one chapter in the Bible.
David wrote Psalm 23 from his experience as a boy, as a teenager, taking care of sheep.
But he wrote from the perspective of one of those sheep.
Look at it with me.
I want us to read the first three verses this morning.
The first verse is where we see David is writing from the perspective of a sheep.
The Lord is my shepherd.
God is the shepherd.
I'm the sheep.
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Last week we looked at the first part of verse three.
He restores my soul.
And we saw how the Lord restores us when we need it.
The way that we need it.
I pointed out that sometimes the Lord restores us after we have drifted away or maybe just rebelled.
We've walked away from God or we're ignoring him.
And in those kind of situations, he restores us by rescuing us from our sin.
He restores us by forgiving us.
Now sometimes God restores us.
It has nothing to do with sin or rebellion or anything like that.
Sometimes he restores us after we go through a difficult time.
Maybe when we are just physically or emotionally exhausted.
Life has just been stressful.
We've had some major responsibilities.
We've had to put in a lot of time.
We haven't got to sleep as much as we normally do.
And God just seems to come at just the right time to refresh us.
And maybe he does something to make us rest.
Maybe he helps us to see we need to slow down, rest.
Or maybe he does something to put us in a position where all we can do is rest.
But at the same time, he's helping us.
He's helping us to stop, slow down.
He's refreshing us.
Well, as we move on into the next part of verse 3, we see that once the Lord restores us, however it is that he does.
Once the Lord restores us, he then guides us in the way that he wants us to go.
Let's look at it.
The Lord guides us in the right direction.
He leads me in paths of righteousness.
First thing I want us to think about is why.
Why does the Lord have to lead us in paths of righteousness?
Well, he has to because we naturally go the wrong direction.
We are born into this world with a bent toward living life my way and not God's way.
David, he lived that out.
David knew from experience that sheep need constant guidance.
They easily wander off and get lost.
If you've read anything about sheep and shepherds, Philip Keller's book or others,
sheep are notoriously dumb animals.
Even in familiar surroundings, they'll wander off.
One might wonder and others follow.
They get lost.
Some commentators point out that in the places where David would have tended sheep in the land of Israel throughout that time period,
for many years afterwards, people walked wherever they went.
And if you walk the same path to the same place over and over again, you wear out the ground.
And so what some commentators say is that in any given area, there were many well-worn paths that might entice the sheep to go down that trail,
go down that path and get lost.
And so the point is a shepherd had to work.
In David's day, he understood, I've got to work as a shepherd to keep these sheep together and to guide them from one grazing area to another,
to the place to get good water.
I've got to work and stay at it.
Then, David, he had that experience as a boy, but then he thought about his experience as a man.
David knew from his own experience of committing adultery and murder,
that even as a man of God, and you know, he's called, he's the only person in the Bible called a man after God's own heart.
But yet he sinned, he rebelled against God this way.
Don't you?
I was thinking about this, this week.
And I thought, there are times when my picture, and you, you're no different than me.
There are times when your picture or mine could be used to illustrate this point from Scripture.
Look at this verse.
All we like sheep have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way.
We do that, don't we?
We just have that natural tendency to want to do things my way.
To go off in that direction,
regardless of the fact that God's called us to go in the other direction.
Well, David describes God's way in verse 3 as paths of righteousness,
or you may have a translation that says right paths.
That's the more literal translation.
The paths of righteousness, or the right paths,
simply mean right living.
Or holy living.
And the word holy means to be set apart.
To live like a man or woman of God.
But don't misunderstand what he's talking about.
He is not saying that living life God's way is just a matter of following a certain rule,
a certain direction.
Let's have a little review here.
When you put your faith in Jesus as your Savior and Lord,
God immediately declared, by virtue of your faith in Jesus,
that you are right with him.
He declared that you are righteous.
When you trusted Jesus in God's eyes,
immediately,
He considered you His holy child.
His righteous child.
You were right with Him
through faith in Jesus.
You became one with Jesus.
And as we've said before,
when you became one with Jesus,
His death on the cross
became your death to sin.
Penalties paid.
He died, paid the penalty for your sin.
That's credited to you.
You are forgiven.
Slate clean.
Through faith in Jesus,
you're one with Him.
His perfect, obedient life of fulfilling God's law,
that is credited to you as well.
It happens at the moment you trust Jesus.
That's why you are declared,
at that moment,
righteous,
right with God.
Another way to say it,
sometimes you are justified.
Now,
from that moment,
when God declares you to be righteous,
He starts working in you
to actually make you
live righteously.
And one of the ways He does that,
He puts His Spirit in us,
and His Spirit gives us the desire
and the ability
to obey God.
I want you to look at this
very familiar verse of Scripture.
In fact,
to be honest with you,
I look for ways
to put this
in just about every sermon.
It is this,
it is so important.
Every person who is a Christian,
look at this,
Philippians 2, 13,
for God is working in you,
giving you the desire
and the power
to do what pleases Him.
If you don't have
any desire
to please God,
you're not a Christian.
The Spirit of God
does not live in you.
If you have no desire
to please God,
no desire to put forth
the effort
and see some good results,
you have no reason
to think from a
biblical description
of a Christian
that you are saved.
Paul explains
how God works in us
to make us
live like Jesus,
live righteously.
He puts His Spirit in us,
He gives us the desire
and ability to please Him.
Now I want you to go,
I want us to go on
and look how Paul explains
what it means
to follow these right paths
in a very straightforward
and detailed way.
He does it in his letter
to the Thessalonians.
Look at this.
God's will is for you
to be holy.
That's a general statement.
He's telling those people,
God's will is for you
to be holy,
for you to be set apart
to live for Him.
God's will is for you
to be righteous,
to live that kind of life.
And now,
in writing to these people,
He's going to tell them
one specific way
that they need
to start living a holy life.
God's will is for you
to be holy,
so stay away
from all sexual sin.
There was sexual sin
taking place
in the church
at Thessalonica.
He goes on to say,
then each of you
will control
his own body
and live in holiness
and honor,
not in lustful passion
like the pagans
who do not know God
and His ways.
Look next in verses 7 and 8,
that same chapter.
God has called us
to live holy lives,
not impure lives.
Therefore,
anyone who refuses
to live by these rules
is not disobeying
human teaching,
but is rejecting God
who gives His Holy Spirit
to you.
Now remember,
the Holy Spirit lives in us
if we're Christians.
He gives us the desire
and the ability
to live this holy life
that Paul's describing here.
We don't make ourselves Christians.
God makes us Christians
through faith in Jesus.
God enables us, then,
to start living like Christians
because we have the desire to
and we have the ability to.
Now,
let's stop and think.
We're talking about path,
the right path.
What paths
have you been traveling lately?
Think about it.
Be honest.
Have you desired
to live a holy life
this past week?
Have you desired
to live a life
that pleases God?
there at home,
at work,
in whatever you've been doing?
Let's take it a step further.
Have you put forth
the effort
to please God
by following through
on those desires?
Now,
it's important to understand
when we think about this,
it's not just
what we do,
but it's our attitude.
Living a holy life
includes having
the right kind of
thoughts,
attitudes.
It also applies
to the words we speak.
All of this
is who we are.
What path,
what path
has your mind
been on this week?
What path
has your mouth
been on this week?
What path
have you been on?
Following the path
of righteousness
with God
as your leader?
Or have you
detoured
or just
exited
and took off
in another direction
after someone
or something
else
that appealed
to you more?
You know,
God will lead us
in the right
path of life
if we will
follow Him.
He's going to lead us.
It's our responsibility
to follow Him.
I want us to look now
at how He normally
leads us.
The Lord guides us
in the right direction
through His word,
prayer,
and the leadership
of the Holy Spirit.
That's what I want
to focus on.
But the truth is,
God guides us
in all kinds of ways
and you know that.
Some of you
have been helped
along the way
of life
by someone.
Someone has
taught you,
helped you,
explained things
to you.
Some people
have imparted
wisdom to you.
You've learned
some things
the hard way.
You've learned
some things
by experience.
Some things
just through
the circumstances
of life.
God is not limited
in how He works.
But sometimes
we fail
to look at
and utilize
these three
that I want us
to look at
right now.
Let's look at
them individually.
The Lord guides
us through His word.
The way God
does this
is by revealing
Himself and His will
through the pages
of Scripture.
The Bible's not
a magic
word,
a magic book.
The way we
get guidance
from God
by reading
His word
is as we
read the Bible
over a period
of time,
we come to
understand
better,
more clearly
who God is,
what pleases
Him,
what does
not please
Him.
See,
the effect
of the Bible
is really
cumulative.
The more we
read and study
the Bible,
the better we
understand who
God is,
how He is,
the better we
understand ourselves,
who we are,
our sin problem,
our selfish
problem.
The more we
read the Bible,
the more we
understand what
God is concerned
about that we
develop in terms
of character.
Now,
the more we
read the Bible
with the attitude
that we do
want to know
God better,
we do want to
know His way
better,
the more clearly
that way will
stand out to
us.
In Psalm 119,
there's a verse
of Scripture that
points that out
and I'm going to
guess that a lot
of people in this
room, you're
familiar with this
verse, look at it.
Your word is a
lamp to my feet
and a light for my
path.
Your word,
it lights up the
right way for me.
God is much more
concerned with our
character than
anything else about
us.
Some people think
about living life
God's way, doing
His will, and they
think about big
events, you know,
like who should I
marry, what kind of
job should I have,
should I live here,
should I do this or
that.
You know, God guides
us for sure in all
kinds of ways, but
God is more concerned
about who you are
in the house you
live in.
God's much more
concerned about the
kind of person you
are, where you
work.
God is concerned
about our character.
That's why God's
leading will always
be about becoming
more like Jesus,
developing Christ-like
character than it
will ever be about
becoming wealthy or
even healthy or
popular or anything
else that the world
says we should make
our priority.
So let's think
about this.
Are you putting
yourself in a
position to be led
by God in the right
paths by regularly
reading His Word?
I'm not talking about
reading a verse today.
I encourage you to
read through the Bible,
read through the New
Testament.
Just start, read
through a book of
the Bible.
Read a few paragraphs
a day, a chapter a
day.
Learn more about who
God is, how to
please Him by looking
at all of it.
And over time, God
will light the path of
holy living that He
wants you to take.
Day in, day out.
The Lord guides us
through His Word.
The Lord guides us
through prayer.
David is a good
example of seeking
God's guidance and
prayer as you see
there in Psalm 25.
David prayed.
He wrote about it.
Make me to know
Your ways, O Lord.
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth
and teach me.
For You are the God
of my salvation.
For You I wait all
the day long.
The New Testament
book of James tells
us, if you lack
wisdom, ask God for
it.
He's talking about
praying.
Look at it.
If any of you lacks
wisdom, you should ask
God who gives generously
to all without finding
fault and it will be
given to Him.
Are you regularly
seeking God's guidance
in prayer?
Are you asking Him?
Are you asking Him to
help you to grow in
developing holy character?
Are you asking Him to
help you to break
sinful habits?
Do you ask Him to
help you to resist the
temptation that seems to
come your way all too
often?
You know, James says
that sometimes we don't
have because we don't
ask or we ask with
wrong motives.
Look at this.
You do not have because
you do not ask God.
When you ask, you do
not receive because you
ask with wrong motives.
How much do you ask
God to guide you in the
way He would have you
to go?
How often do you pray,
God help me to develop
more patience with my
children?
God help me to not be such a
reactionary and get mad and
frustrated at the least
little thing.
God help me not to lust.
God help me to shut my
mouth and not say everything
that comes through my mind
and not put down everybody
that I think is not doing
exactly the way I think they
ought to.
How often do you pray,
God help me in these
kinds of ways more than
God help me to get over
this ingrown toenail and
junk like that?
I think a lot of our prayers
are truly a waste of a lot
of breath in the way that
we neglect praying about the
more important things of life.
We neglect praying about
things that the psalmist
prayed about, that Paul
prayed about, that Jesus
prayed about, the glory of
God, developing personal
character, seeing someone we
know and love come to faith
in Jesus.
That should be some of the
things that we are praying
and asking God about.
The Lord also guides us through
his Holy Spirit.
And we've talked about that
a lot.
We have talked about that
today in terms of how he
works in us to give us
desire and ability to please
God.
I want to point out something
different today, something new,
a little bit new.
John Piper, he had what I
think is a very helpful
explanation of how God works
both through his word and
his spirit, outwardly and
inwardly.
Look at what he says.
We must not only have
revelation from outside,
namely the Bible.
We must also have transformation
from the inside by the Holy
Spirit.
The word of God, the spirit of
God, together provide the
leadership we need.
The word and the spirit team
up to transform the mind.
And in that way, God leads us
in paths of righteousness.
Notice this next sentence.
He gradually shapes our
thinking and molds our
emotions.
This happens over time.
Nobody becomes holy overnight.
God declares us to be holy
when he saves us and then it's
a lifetime process of actually
being that.
And Piper, it's good that he
points this out.
He gradually shapes our
thinking and molds our
emotions so that when there is
no explicit command in the Bible
to guide us, we weigh all the
considerations with the wisdom
and the love of God and we are
drawn to the path of
righteousness.
There's so many things that we
got to make decisions about
that the Bible does not really
teach us.
That's why it's important for us
to understand the principles of
the Bible.
That's why it's important for us
to understand God's wisdom and
then pray and ask God to help me
take what I do know of God's
ways and apply it to this
situation where there is no word
from Scripture.
And through his spirit and his
word, God will guide us even in
those ways.
Piper then describes how we should
learn to cooperate with God as he
works in all of these ways.
The word, prayer, and the Holy
Spirit.
Look at this.
He says, so I have learned to do
like David.
Meditate on God's word day and
night and pray continually for the
work of the Holy Spirit in my heart
and mind.
Do you want to be led by God in the
right paths?
What Piper's talking about is what
we've got to do.
That's a requirement to know God's
ways so that we can follow them.
Now, let's look at why the Lord
guides us in the right direction.
The Lord guides us for the ultimate
purpose.
He leads us in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Now, the Lord guides us in the right
paths for a whole lot of reasons.
Not just this one.
We've looked at some and various other
studies.
He guides us for our good.
Romans 8, 28.
That's what that verse is talking
about.
Look at it.
And we know that in all things, God
works for the good of those who love
him.
God does works in our lives, guides us
in the right way we ought to go because
he loves us.
He wants what's right and good for us.
God guides us for the good of other
people.
God works in our lives so that we can
take what he does, what he gives us, and
spread it around.
I want to give you one example from
Paul's life, 2 Corinthians 1, verses 3
and 4.
He says,
Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies and the God of all comfort, who
comforts us in all our affliction so that
we may be able to comfort those who are in
any affliction with a comfort with which
we ourselves are comforted by God.
God wants to use you to bless others.
And we need to understand that it is some of
our painful experiences where we really
experience God's comfort that God most wants
to use us to be a source of comfort for someone else.
There are some people in this church who have told
me, not a secret, it's widely known, people in our
church years ago lost a child to death as a little
child.
And they went through that awful experience and
experienced the comfort of God.
So today, when they hear about someone who has lost a
child to death, they want to seek to be used by God as a
source of comfort in that couple's life.
That's the kind of thing Paul's talking about.
You've been, some of you, many people in this room, you have
been through some very painful experiences in your life.
And if you did experience the comfort of God, you need to
think, now I have a responsibility to share that, be a
source of comfort to others.
God comforts us for all kinds of reasons, but the ultimate
reason is this, He guides us for His name's sake.
To say that God guides us for His name's sake means that He guides
us for the glory and reputation of Himself, of His own name, of His
honor.
You know, in David's day, it was important for a shepherd to
have a reputation for being faithful, taking care of his
sheep, not ignoring his sheep.
It's always been important for God to have a reputation for being
faithful and responsible in the way He cares for and guides His
people.
Now, I want you to think about this.
If you claim to be a Christian, all of us in this room, if we claim
to be Christians, the name of both God the Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ are on the line wherever we go, whatever we do.
The way we follow our good shepherd is a reflection on Him.
The way you act at work, the way you act in this community, because
people know you're a Christian.
You are a reflection for good or bad on your Heavenly Father and
Lord Jesus Christ.
The name of the Lord is honored or dishonored by the way that we
live.
What do people who know you, know that you're a professing
Christian, what do they think about the Lord by being around you,
listening to you, observing you, do you think about in the way you
do your business, the way you treat people, the way you act under
stress, do you ever think about this is a reflection on God, on the
Lord?
When I was in high school, I did not live a faithful Christian life,
but I didn't get into trouble either.
There were two primary reasons why I didn't get in trouble.
I didn't want to raise the wrath or face the wrath of my parents.
Throughout my high school time, my dad was the chief deputy in
Anderson County Sheriff's Department, and I knew if I got in any kind of
trouble, he would find out.
My dad was not a mean man.
He was not a harsh man.
But if I had crossed certain lines, I'd be afraid of what would
happen.
And so I didn't do some things because in some ways I was afraid of
Clyde Stone.
And I was equally afraid of Dot because she'd wear me out in a
heartbeat as well.
I also stayed out of trouble because I didn't want to disappoint my
parents and grandparents.
My grandparents were close like other parents to me, live close by.
I can honestly say that I didn't do some things because I loved my
parents and grandparents, and I respected them enough to not hurt
them or embarrass them or disappoint them.
I say that to say it is not unheard of for us to do or not do some things for the sake
of somebody else.
It's not unheard of to behave yourself, to do the right thing out of respect for
another person.
There is no one more worthy of us honoring and respecting than our Heavenly Father, is
there?
And our Lord Jesus Christ.
Stephen Lawson makes a helpful point about how living for God's glory will affect our
lives personally.
Look at what he says.
Whatever most glorifies God results in our greatest good.
These two realities, God's glory and our good, are never at odds or in competition with each
other.
They work in perfect harmony with each other.
That which most glorifies Him is what works for our greatest good.
Following God along His chosen paths for us, that does bring glory and honor to Him.
But it also benefits us.
God's way is the best way for God's children.
It makes sense, doesn't it?
If you're a Christian, you can be confident.
God is constantly seeking to guide you in the right paths of life.
The question is, are you following Him?
Are you wanting to be led?
Are you regularly reading His Word and then obeying it?
Do you, as a matter of routine, pray and ask Him to help you better follow Him?
To live His way and not your way?
And are you really seeking to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's presence in your life?
And then obey Him as He teaches you, prompts you, directs you?
You know, it could be that as we've gone through this message, God's convicted you.
You're far from Him.
It's not that you're not following Him this morning.
You exited a long time ago.
You took a detour.
And it may be what God wants you to do this morning is just admit that, confess your sin,
humble yourself and come back to Him and let Him restore you.
Let Him restore you to fellowship with Him.
Let Him restore you by putting you on the right path and following Him.
It could be that you just have to admit, I'm not a Christian.
I've professed to be, but I'm not.
There's no desire within me to please God.
And I certainly don't put forth any effort.
But God's convicted you of that.
And you don't want to leave here that way.
Good.
Admit it to God.
Humble yourself.
Turn from your sin.
Change your mind.
Put your trust in Jesus truly.
Call upon Him to save you.
Call upon Him to become the Lord of your life.
And follow Him as your good shepherd.
Know this as you leave.
Our good shepherd desires to guide us through the paths of life for His glory and our good.
And if we follow His leadership throughout our life on earth, when death comes, it's not going to be that big a deal.
We're just going to follow Him on into heaven.
Where we'll enjoy Him and His good life forever and ever.
Let's pray together.
Father, show us now how we should respond.
What we need to do so that when we leave here, we leave here following your leadership.
As you guide us in the right direction.
For your glory and our good.
Let's just listen to the Lord and respond to Him.
Let's pray together.