Psalm 23 - He leads me in paths of righteousness (7)

By the Spirit's guidance we walk in obedience to the Father, in the footsteps of Christ.


Many paths

When David was writing this psalm, there were no highways in the desert, but simply the visible tracks of previous travellers. Several of these trails of footprints would run parallel; many paths, but one destination. So it is with the Christian walk; as those around us follow Christ they leave trails for us to follow. As we are all running the same race, all these paths end at the throne of grace.

In our lives these trails are often barely distinguishable from the multitude of trails that sooner or later meander away to destruction. What a joy and a relief to know that we are led by God himself!



Led by God

By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. - Exodus 13:21

In his immense love for us God does not leave us stranded in this world, but provides us many means by which we can live righteous lives. He has revealed himself in scripture and in Christ, and so as we meditate on these things we come to know the will of God. With our intellect and our conscience we can prayerfully discern his will for our lives, by his Spirit we can live this out faithfully, and by his grace he will lead us back whenever we should wander astray.



Escorted by Christ

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. - 1 Peter 2:21

Jesus is more than a teacher and a good example. He is also the lamb that was slain, and he is our great high priest. Nevertheless we are called to follow him, to imitate him, to join him in his death and resurrection, and to be conformed into his image [Matthew 4:19, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Romans 6:5, Romans 8:29]. 

We can walk in paths of righteousness because Christ first walked in them. And as we enter in his death by dying to self and picking up our crosses, we also participate in his resurrection life - with resurrected bodies in the age to come, and in obedient living until that day. 

We therefore were buried with him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life. - Romans 6:4

Guided by the Spirit

God has chosen you from the beginning to be saved by the sanctification of the Spirit and by faith in the truth - 2 Thessalonians 2:13

This participation in Jesus' life is realised in part now by the 'sanctification of the Spirit' that all Christians undergo. Spurgeon writes, "...to a thoroughly renewed heart this is one of the sweetest gifts of the covenant." 

On the cross Jesus absorbed God's wrath against us and we were fully justified and set free from the penalty of our sin. But there is an ongoing work of the Spirit in us that purifies our very beings, that we might be set free from our sin itself - and in the long run from even our desire to sin.

By the Spirit we are being made holy, so that we will seek out paths of righteousness. Praise God for keeping us on the narrow path, that one day we may be able to say with Paul,

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.    - 2 Timothy 4:7