Focus: My Shepherd Compels Me!

Text: Ps.23:3

"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

The shepherd feeds and leads the sheep. He provides pasture and direction. He feeds them and directs their path. In the Scripture before us, the shepherd leads the sheep in the paths of righteousness - the right paths. 

The word 'lead' here is different from the previous one used - 'he leads me beside the still waters.' The word for 'lead' used here implies a leading in which a bit of force is applied. Mark writes, "And immediately the Spirit DRIVETH him into the wilderness" (Mk.1:12). The shepherd sways the sheep in the right way. He makes the sheep fall in line and go in a certain direction. He does not leave them to their own way. The sheep have one weakness among others: they do not see clearly in daytime. They suffer from a kind of partial blindness. They totally depend on the shepherd for vision and direction. 

The Scripture says, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…" (Isa.53:6). The sheep have the tendency to straying or missing their way. So they lean heavily on the shepherd for guidance and direction, and the shepherd would, when the need arises, apply the use of force in getting them to move in the right direction. There's also a certain degree of stubbornness in the sheep to want to have it their own way. They are ignorantly stubborn and blindly heady, and for that they often lose their way. But the shepherd is always handy to ensure that they all fall in line and go the right way. The psalmist says, "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant…" (Ps.119:176).

My shepherd leads me aright. He sees where I don't. He knows where the pastures can be found. He understands the paths. He knows my inherent limitations and weaknesses. He sees my inadequacies and inabilities. He leads me aright.

Look at how He led Israel in the desert, guiding their steps and stops until He brought them safely to the land of milk and honey! Abraham's servant said, "I being in the way, the LORD LED me to the house of my master's brethren" (Gen.24:27). The Lord led Abraham's servant through the right path to the right destination. While there, he said, "And I bowed down my head, and worshipped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, which had LED me in the right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son" (Gen.24:48). The Lord will never lead His sheep astray. He will always lead His sheep to where they will find whatever they are looking for. Abraham's servant was guided by Abraham's God to where he found the right woman for Isaac.

Concerning the desert journey of Israel, we read, "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to LEAD them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night" (Ex.13:21). God applies His mercy as He leads us. In the song of Moses, we read, "Thou in thy MERCY hast LED FORTH the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast GUIDED them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation" (Ex.15:13). 

He leads and guides, and as He does so, He shows us mercy.

The Lord declares through Isaiah the prophet, "Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which LEADETH thee by the way that thou shouldest go" (Isa.48:17). He leads us in the way we should go, not in the way we want to go. The interesting thing is that Christ does not just lead us; He's the way. In the book of Acts, the Christian Faith is known as The Way, and God's people are known as the people of The Way. Paul talked about his "ways IN Christ." Let your ways be in Christ, not outside of Him!

The psalmist says, "LEAD me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face" (Ps.5:8). He leads us in the paths of righteousness. The Shepherd compels us to living rightly and righteously. We cannot live righteously without the powerful help of God. The psalmist declares, "For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake LEAD me, and GUIDE me" (Ps.31:3). He says again, "O send out thy light and thy truth: let them LEAD me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles" (Ps.43:3). 

He leads us by His truth and guides us by the light of His word. He brings us to the rightful place - His holy hill and His sanctuary.

Let us read more Scripture and see how the Shepherd leads His sheep. The psalms has a lot to say to us. He prays, "From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: LEAD me to the rock that is higher than I" (Ps.61:2). The word 'govern' is used in Ps.67:4 for our word 'lead.' So to lead means also to govern. Leadership is about governance in general. We read, "Thou shalt GUIDE me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory" (Ps.73:24). Divine guidance ends in divine glory.

I pray for all of God's sheep to allow God to lead them. We will never regret it. The psalmist says, "Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron" (Ps.77:20). He says again, "And he LED them on SAFELY, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies" (Ps.78:53). He safely leads us. We lose our fears when He leads and our enemies are confounded and drowned in the sea of confusion. Moses says, "So the LORD alone did LEAD him, and there was no strange god with him" (Dt.32:12). 

God leads us in such a way that we lose interest in idols and strange gods. We part ways with them and stick to our God and shepherd.

Our Shepherd takes us through the right paths. In guiding us He takes His name - what He is - into consideration. His reputation is at stake when He leads us. God has absolute regard for His holy and excellent name. I remember Moses saying something like this to God in the desert, 'Lord, think of what the surrounding nations would say if You destroy these people in this place or fail to bring them into the promise land! Destroying them would put a dent on Your own character. It means having Your own name soiled and Your reputation damaged. It would make You look powerless in the eyes of all the nations around us, and they would conclude that You were unable to do as You had promised.'

The name of God connotes that He is what He is. Our God will always maintain His honor, not soil it at any time. And for that, He compels us to go the right way and do the right thing all the time. He leads us, insisting, persuading, prodding, propelling and persisting. Let's follow His lead!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter