The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the
path of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Psalm 23:1-3

In Psalms 23 David likens himself to a sheep and God to a Shepherd. In verse 3b he wrote, “He guides me along the path of righteousness”. Studying this verse, my attention is always drawn to two words: guide and righteousness.

When you stop and think about the word guide, what comes to mind?

For me, I think of the reasons I would need a guide. I would need a guide if:

1) I could not see, or

2) I did not know the way.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m more likely to pull up the GPS on my phone than I am to consult a human guide, but I also have to admit that at times, especially in large cities or in very rural areas, my phone’s GPS fails me and I end up on one way streets or on roads the phone claims don’t exist.

Isn’t life like that too sometimes? We’re just trucking along following what the college counselor told us would bring success or traveling down the path that others in our profession or our family or social circle have travelled, and then suddenly we hear “Recalculating!” (You heard it in your GPS’s voice didn’t you!?) and realize we ended up somewhere that we don’t belong, don’t know, makes us uncomfortable. This is what happens all too often when we set our life compass on the voice of man. We get turned around, tripped up, lost.

BUT God – our glorious Creator, the ultimate cartographer – God isn’t a computer or a man. He doesn’t get things wrong. He knows every road, every twist and turn, every pothole and pitfall, every section with guardrails and every section without. He knows exactly what we’ll encounter in our lives and He’s already mapped a way through it for us. His way leads us on the path of righteousness.

Which leads us to ponder, what does righteousness mean? When I consider all of the Biblical uses of righteousness and the dictionary definitions, I come up with:

Righteousness – acting in agreement with divine law, saying to God, “You are right Lord.”, and following His instruction.

A deep dive into scripture related to the words “way, guide, path, and righteous” reveals that God has already given us everything we need to follow His way. All of His instruction for living a life of righteousness is contained within His Holy Word. It is universal, unaffected by time, perfect, and good. Granted, it doesn’t say, “Take this job” or “Marry this exact guy” BUT God – the Author of Humanity – God recorded exactly how we should live, how we should treat others, what love is, what faith is, and so much more.

For every crossroads in our lives, He has perfect guidance.

When we walk in His way, we are never alone, never lost, always protected, and always guided. We may “feel” lost or uncomfortable at times – especially if God’s path doesn’t take us along the traditional line of those before us or, if you’re like me, and like to have the whole set of directions laid out in advance – but we should know by now that “feelings” are not reality. The reality is that living in one accord with God, in agreement with His teachings, in step with His guidance, is how we stay on the right path.

And sweet friends, the path of righteousness is a path that grows brighter each moment as we follow the Shepherd, as the lamp of His Word reveals the way before us so brilliantly that even if the whole world were enveloped in darkness, we would still walk in the full light of day.

Oh friends! Who enjoys tripping and stumbling and bumbling about in the dark?! Certainly not me. I’ll put a big wager on not you either. How wonderful would it be to rest assured that whatever comes, you already know the right step because He is the right step and He is guiding you?! We can have that assurance! We can walk in that security today and every day! It only takes four words, “You are right Lord”. It only takes one step at a time in His way.