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“He Leadeth Me in the Paths of Righteousness
Psalm 23:3

 

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

Lent Service V—March 29, 2017

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“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 restoreth my soul.” 

We continue our sermon series, “A Lenten Look at Psalm 23”: “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

Sheep are notoriously creatures of habit.  If left to themselves, they always travel the same, favorite sheep paths.  As a boy I used to spend hours exploring the pastures in the countryside, following along similar, well-worn cattle paths.

Sheep will wear such deep ruts into the soil that their paths will become difficult and even dangerous for them to walk in, especially when it rains and the paths become deep, impassible gullies.  But, even then, those sheep are so stuck in the same old ruts that they can’t stop themselves, they’ll still attempt to go the same old way and get hopelessly mired in the muck.

Oh, those dumb sheep!  But, how often we walk in the habit-forming paths of sin.  We may even want to turn and go a different way, but we have gotten so stuck in a sinful rut that we can’t get ourselves out.  Phillip Keller writes about this in his book, "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23”:

“It is no mere whim on God’s part to call us sheep. Our behavior patterns and life habits are so much like that of sheep it is well-nigh embarrassing.

“First of all, Scripture points out that most of us are a stiff-necked and stubborn lot. We prefer to follow our own fancies, and turn to our own ways. As Isaiah declares, ‘We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.’ And this we do deliberately, repeatedly, even to our own disadvantage.

“There is something almost terrifying about the destructive self-determination of a human being. It is inexorably interlocked with personal pride and self-assertion. We insist we know what is best for us, even though the disastrous results may be self-evident.

“Just as sheep will blindly, habitually, stupidly follow one another along the same little trails, until they become ruts that erode into gigantic gullies, so we humans cling to the same habits that we have seen ruin other lives.

“Turning to ‘my own way’ simply means doing what I want. It implies that I feel free to assert my own wishes, and carry out my own ideas. And this I do in spite of every warning.

“Christ the Good Shepherd comes gently and says, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’  The difficult point is that none of us wants to come. We do not want to follow. We do not want to be led in the paths of righteousness. Somehow it goes against our grain. We actually prefer to turn to our own way, even though it may take us straight into trouble.”

God knows our predicament, as Proverbs says, “A man’s ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths.”  The Lord promises in Jeremiah, “I will lead them . . . on a level path where they will not stumble.”

“He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE.”  In the ancient world a name defined who a person was and what that person did.  Like the English names “Smith” which originally meant a blacksmith, or “Miller” which meant one who mills grain.  In a prophecy about the Messiah, Jeremiah says, “This is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord Our Righteousness.’”  That is one of our Good Shepherd’s names: “The Lord Our Righteousness.” And he lives up to his name.

A good shepherd pulls his sheep out of the ruts they are trapped in and gently guides them so that they change their paths and go the safe way.  Our Good Shepherd shows us which paths are wrong, forgives us for straying, and guides us in the right way.  He leads us in the paths of righteousness FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE.  Not because of anything good or meritorious we have done, but for his name’s sake, because of who HE is: “The Lord Our Righteousness.”  As another psalm says, “Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and atone for our sins for your name’s sake.”

“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 restoreth my soul.  He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

We close with a prayer of David from the Psalms: “Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path. . .  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” 

Amen.

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