He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.He restoreth my soul: He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
19 sermons cite this verse
… in our lives really happens over time he restores my soul, he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake here it is, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. I don't know how to tell you that I knew this, but I knew towards the beginning of this little journey that it was going to be the valley. Excuse me. The valley of the shadow of death, not the valley of death. The Valley of the Shadow. I will fear no evil because you are with me. There are measures of the presence of God. There are realms of his presence you can only find in the shadow. You can't find it in the party. I'm the party person. I mean, I like the breakthroughs. In 20 years, I've talked about things of this nature. I doubt a half a dozen times, probably two or three times, four at the most. It's just not what my life is about. …
He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the right paths for his name's sake. Even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. And then he says, maybe. Thank you. Your rod and your staff comfort me. You prepare a banquet for me in front of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now I want you to notice first that this psalm begins and ends with the Lord. The Lord is my shepherd. And it ends with, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This psalm is all about God. It's all about his goodness to you. If you missed any in this series, I would encourage you to go back and listen to the 12 things that God has said he wants to do for you because he is a good God. …
… than you do because he created you he made you he knows your purpose even when you don't know your purpose. So what do I do in this situation? Well, Psalm 23 verse 3 says this. He, Jesus, leads me in the right path, the right path for his name's sake. As I said, he's never going to lead you in the wrong way. And in John 10 verse 4, Jesus says, the good shepherd walks ahead of the sheep and they follow him for they recognize his voice. Now, I want you to notice something. Circle the word or the phrase walks ahead. The good shepherd walks ahead of the sheep. They follow him and they recognize his voice. In shepherding, the shepherd always goes first. Why? He's the model. He's mentoring. He's leading by example. This is very different than being a cowboy. A cowboy and a shepherd are two different things. You drive cattle, but you lead sheep. Big difference. You drive cattle from the back. You push them forward. …
… He leaves me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leaves me in the right path for his name's sake. And even when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Very good class. You all get an A and you all get a cookie. now this phrase even though i walked through the valley of the shadow of death there's actually a canyon in israel called the valley of the shadow of death i'm sure david had been through it many many times some of these canyons were very narrow at the bottom and could be 800 feet tall and so when you're looking up on either side the only time you'd get the sun is actually at noon day And so in the middle of the day, you could be in the bottom of this canyon and not see the sun because the walls were so tall and the canyon was so narrow, the sun only shines when it's right overhead and it would be in shadows most of the day. …
… He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. Now here's the verse we're gonna look at this weekend. Read it with me. He leads me in the right paths for his name's sake. As I said, because God is a good God, he promises to guide us. We're not left out on our own. God says, I'm gonna give you my guidance. In fact, listen, if you've never felt guided by God, that's a problem. Because one of the proofs or one of the evidences that you do have a relationship with God, that you're in his family, is he guides you. Look at this next verse there on your outline. Romans 8, verse 14. Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. Uh-oh. Let me read it again. Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are God's children. So it is absolutely vitally important that you learn what we're going to talk about this weekend on how do I get guidance from God or how do I be led by God's Spirit. …
… We got two passages tonight. Psalms 23 verses 1 through 4. And then Mark, put your finger in there as the old people say, put your finger in Psalms and then skedaddle over to Mark, the 10th chapter, verses 46 through 52. Thank you. when you have psalms 23 say amen amen let's read it together just verses one through four the lord is my shepherd i shall not want he maketh me to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters He restores my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Now go with me to Mark, the 10th chapter. i'll be reading from the esv version english standard version and you can just follow along it's on the screen as well and they came to jericho and as he was leaving jericho with his disciples and a great crowd bartimaeus a blind beggar the son of timaas was sitting by the roadside and when he heard that it was Jesus of Natharus he began to cry out and say Jesus son of David have mercy on me and many rebuked him telling him to be silent but he cried out all the more son of David have mercy on me and Jesus stopped and said call them and they called the blind man saying to him take heart get up he's calling you …
God of mercy, as we enter into Lent, may your spirit guide us to places we might not necessarily want to go. We turn to you because you, O Lord, have the words of life. Help us to hear what you have to say and grant us the courage to live it out. This we pray in Christ's name. Amen. repent and thou shall be saved. Is that what you came here to hear today? I mean, is life going well with you? When you look out at the world, is it as it should be? Do you find yourself crying out to God in fear or because of injustice? Do you hope that God would finally come and fix all that is broken? You wonder, when will the day of the Lord get here so that we can have peace and justice for all? be careful what you wish for the prophet Joel proclaims that the day of the Lord is coming and is near however he goes on to describe the day as one of darkness and gloom on that day there will be a great and powerful army but it is not to bring liberation and freedom to the oppressed. …
… the new King James version. It says, 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. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for the truths that are contained in this psalm, this powerful and simple declaration of who you are. Lord, I pray that you would open our eyes today to see just how you want us to enjoy you, to interact with you, and to be led by you. I pray that you would speak through me and touch lives and change lives today. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. We've titled this message, hold on wait for it a rested development that's very important the space is very important a rested development some of you heathens are like oh arrested development like the tv show and you could quote bees and banana stands and all of that not today not today it's a rested …
… and know that we are not just wandering aimlessly, but the Lord who is my shepherd, I shall not wander. Uh-oh, there's a revelation. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Uh-oh, uh-oh, wait a minute, wait a minute. This recolors Psalm 23. Because in Psalm 23, we claim a lot of promises. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for you are with me. you will prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies you will anoint my head with oil and my cup will overflow goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life you will restore my soul wait a minute wait a minute we claim those promises but don't realize the context the context is in Psalm 23 and 1 where it says the Lord is my I wish somebody would catch it to say the Lord is my shepherd is to confess that I am a nomad To say the Lord is my shepherd is to say I am bought with a price. …
… He restoreth my soul. he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. I want you to notice that. The psalmist in this beautiful passage saying, God, you are leading me. You're leading me like a shepherd and I am your sheep. You know, I'm one of your lambs. Lead me. This is the prayer of a Christian. We invite Christ to lead us. So to be Lord, which is what we call Jesus, is a central title for Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus is Lord. Lord means master, sovereign, ruler, leader. And so at the very heart of our lives, the very essence of who we are, we seek to be led by Jesus, who incarnated, who put flesh on God. And so we're people, if we're a follower, if we're a Christian, we're people who've said, Jesus, I will follow you. You remember Jesus' invitation to his disciples when he began preaching and ministering, he said to his disciples, he'd come to them and say, come follow me. That's the central invitation he gave, come follow me. And so he invites us today to follow him. If you're a Christian, you've said, I'm following Jesus. He's the Lord. He's master, sovereign, ruler. …
… Doesn't that sound like orientation? He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his orientation. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. but here comes the disorientation. Verse 4, I walked through the valley of the shadow of death. I didn't want to go in the valley, but I needed the valley because I'm going to learn something in the valley I didn't see on the mountain. Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Here comes the reorientation for 13 of y'all that's going to shout. Thou preparest a table before me, not outside the presence of my enemies, but while them jokers are looking right at me. He anoints my head with oil. Surely, I used to wonder now I can say surely I used to have questions now I can say surely my faith was depleted But now I can say surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life Somebody ought to thank God for your seasons of disorientation Because they taught you how to trust God like you've never trusted him before Go on and take a few seconds and thank God for your challenges Thank God for your tears the songwriter said if I never had a problem I wouldn't know he could solve them and that's what's going on in the text today with the author behind this text is David and to appreciate Psalm 3 up to appreciate this content you've got to understand the context and to appreciate what David is wrestling with …
… He leadeth me. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. His rod and his staff. But now when he's in the valley, it's no longer talking about him. He's talking to him. Thou art with me. There's nothing that will bring you face to face with God valleys of life. But when you get in the dark valleys of life, you're going to know what he meant when he said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I will be with thee always, even to the end of the age. There is the presence of the shepherd. Now who is the shepherd? Jehovah. The ultimate is my intimate. Think about it. Think about it. I won't have to cross Jordan alone. I'm not going to have to die alone. I tell you when I come to die, our Lord is there with us. The shepherd is there. There is the presence of my shepherd. But not only is there the presence of my shepherd, there is the power of my shepherd. …
… afterward, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of what? righteousness. He restoreth my soul, he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. Before I was afflicted, David said, I went astray. Old Jacob worshipped leaning on his staff, and that sheep that had that broken leg never wanted to stray away from the shepherd again because he had broken, but he had healed. And he had wounded and torn, but he had bound up that wound. Thank God that the shepherd knows exactly what he is doing. Now, dear friend, you can, when it comes, that's the first thing you can do. You can despise it. I'll tell you what else you might do when it comes. You can faint under it. Look again in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 5. And the Bible says, And have you forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children? My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Don't despise it and don't faint under. Have you ever seen people faint when chastisement comes? I have. They're stubborn and mulish. They get away from God. God brings chastisement and they just drop out. They just throw up their hands. They just quit. They become spiritual dropouts. That's a terrible thing. God is not doing that to draw you away from Him, but to draw you back to Him. Now don't despise it and don't faint under it, but be exercised by it. Notice verse 11. The Bible says, we are exercised thereby. God has a …
… And I can tell you that the three truths that I want to give you today from Psalm 23, verse 3, are three tremendous truths that will get you right and keep you right. All right? The very first one I want to mention is what I'm going to call the ministry of the shepherd. The ministry of the shepherd. Now, David thought of himself as a sheep and the Lord as his good shepherd. You know, Jesus is the good shepherd. Now, let me mention three things the Lord Jesus does when his sheep stray. And incidentally, there are three kinds of sheep that need to be restored. First of all, there's what we call the stubborn sheep. You know any stubborn sheep? You might go home and look in the mirror and you may see one. Stubborn sheep. Now, what are stubborn sheep? Stubborn sheep are sheep that just want their own way. Now, we think of sheep as being gentle and docile and easily led. Not necessarily so. …
… That is Jehovah Shalom, my peace. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Who is that? That's Jehovah Sidcanu. That is Jehovah Sidcanu. That is the Lord, our righteousness. And then thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Who is that? Well, my friend, that's Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, then shall the Lord hold up a banner before him. I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Who is that? Jehovah Shammah, the Lord ever present. What David was saying is this, that the Lord is my shepherd, not the things that he gives me. The things he gives me are only a representation of who the Lord is himself. self. Now, question, is the Lord your shepherd? Is the Lord your shepherd? Well, I'll give you clues to how you can find out. You really want to know whether the Lord's your shepherd or not? I'll tell you how you can find out. Is the shepherd your Lord? That's the way. You see, the only way that you can say the Lord is my shepherd is for you to be able to say the shepherd Lord. Not everybody can just stand up and quote the 23rd Psalm and claim it for their own. …
… He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me. In the presence of mine enemies, Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth 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. A beautiful psalm. We're only going to look at the first verse. And it will be a marvel really if we even touch on the truth that's in the first verse. We could take every word in the first verse and just emphasize each word. The Lord. Not a Lord, but the Lord. When David wrote this, the Egyptians had 360 primary gods, one for every day of the week. The Canaanites, in whose land the Israeli came to live, they had many gods. …
… he says. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet or still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me or leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou noughtest my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness or mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Well, what I'd like to do is I'd like for us to look at this passage of Scripture in the light of that whole idea that God is a caring God, that He cares for us, and He cares for every single detail of our life. There's not anything about you that is not important in the eyes of God. …
… where he says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul, and He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. And yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil. Why? Because the shepherd is with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me." It's interesting language there in the Psalm where David is recalling his own days as a shepherd. You remember when he was still a boy and the troops of Israel were faced against the armies of the Philistines when the giant Goliath came into the valley and called out a challenge for there to be a champion to come forth from Israel who would take on this giant in hand-to-hand combat where winner takes all. Whoever wins the fight wins the day for his army. And Saul looks around, and he can find none of his warriors who are willing to go up against Goliath. …
… He leads me beside quiet or still waters. He restores my soul. He guides me or leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou notice my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness or mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Now, how many times have you read that passage of Scripture? Where did you usually stop when it says, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil? Well, what about this table? And what about the anointing of my head? And what about goodness and mercy following me all the days of my life? This passage of Scripture is God's psalm to us, showing us and demonstrating to us how much He cares for us. …