THE RIGHTEOUS ONE [Part 4]
by REVD 'REMI TEJUMOLA
THE RIGHTEOUS PATHS
PSALMS 23: 1-6 (KJV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside
the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
4 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.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
I know that many times Christians all over the world recite this 23rd Psalm daily during their devotion and also during church services. Of course, if while you recite this Psalm, your heart reaches out to God or Jesus, there is this good feeling that will come upon you and will cause Goosebumps feelings to break out on you. You will feel good!
But I realize that there is more to this Psalm than the good feelings that you get out of it.
‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want’ can also be read this way: ‘Because the Lord is my shepherd; I will have all my needs met’. So the most important thing about this Psalm, to the reader, is to ensure that the Lord is his shepherd. If the Lord IS YOUR SHEPHERD, it means and indicates that the Lord owns you and that you belong to Him. It also means that He rules in the affairs of your life and He has the responsibility of taking care of you in everyway possible. Until this is in place, all the other things that should happen in your life from the 2nd till the 6th verse will never really be fulfilled in your life – if you like, you can quote it from sunshine till sundown, it will do you no good. It may make you smile, but that’ll just be about the only thing it will do for you. The next time you read through this Psalm, ask yourself if the Lord is your shepherd, and if this is so, the promised blessings will begin to manifest in your life just as it is written.
‘He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake’ means He will show you what to do and where to go for His name sake. One other most important thing is that if the Lord is your shepherd He will guide you in all the affairs of your life and He will do this in the paths of righteousness. The paths of righteousness are the ways in which God’s kingdom is run. There are ways by which things are done in the kingdom of God. These ways are revealed to us in His Word. This is the reason why the Apostle Paul told us in the book of Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3: 16).
Many people have made the mistake of thinking ‘Once I give my life to Jesus, I am ok’. But that is a terrible mistake. You give your life to Jesus and begin to learn from the Bible how to walk the paths of righteousness so that all may be well with you. I tell you, when you begin to give yourself to the reading and study of the Word of God, as a child of God, your life will progressively change for the best!
If at the point of getting born-again you didn’t make any commitment to get into the Word of God, a time will come when you will not be able to tell whether there is any change in your life when you compare it with your life before. The knowledge of the Word of God will change you; the truth of the Word will sanctify you (John 17: 17). The Apostle Paul called it transformation (Romans 12: 1-2).
by REVD 'REMI TEJUMOLA
THE RIGHTEOUS PATHS
PSALMS 23: 1-6 (KJV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside
the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
4 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.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
I know that many times Christians all over the world recite this 23rd Psalm daily during their devotion and also during church services. Of course, if while you recite this Psalm, your heart reaches out to God or Jesus, there is this good feeling that will come upon you and will cause Goosebumps feelings to break out on you. You will feel good!
But I realize that there is more to this Psalm than the good feelings that you get out of it.
‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want’ can also be read this way: ‘Because the Lord is my shepherd; I will have all my needs met’. So the most important thing about this Psalm, to the reader, is to ensure that the Lord is his shepherd. If the Lord IS YOUR SHEPHERD, it means and indicates that the Lord owns you and that you belong to Him. It also means that He rules in the affairs of your life and He has the responsibility of taking care of you in everyway possible. Until this is in place, all the other things that should happen in your life from the 2nd till the 6th verse will never really be fulfilled in your life – if you like, you can quote it from sunshine till sundown, it will do you no good. It may make you smile, but that’ll just be about the only thing it will do for you. The next time you read through this Psalm, ask yourself if the Lord is your shepherd, and if this is so, the promised blessings will begin to manifest in your life just as it is written.
‘He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake’ means He will show you what to do and where to go for His name sake. One other most important thing is that if the Lord is your shepherd He will guide you in all the affairs of your life and He will do this in the paths of righteousness. The paths of righteousness are the ways in which God’s kingdom is run. There are ways by which things are done in the kingdom of God. These ways are revealed to us in His Word. This is the reason why the Apostle Paul told us in the book of Colossians, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” (Colossians 3: 16).
Many people have made the mistake of thinking ‘Once I give my life to Jesus, I am ok’. But that is a terrible mistake. You give your life to Jesus and begin to learn from the Bible how to walk the paths of righteousness so that all may be well with you. I tell you, when you begin to give yourself to the reading and study of the Word of God, as a child of God, your life will progressively change for the best!
If at the point of getting born-again you didn’t make any commitment to get into the Word of God, a time will come when you will not be able to tell whether there is any change in your life when you compare it with your life before. The knowledge of the Word of God will change you; the truth of the Word will sanctify you (John 17: 17). The Apostle Paul called it transformation (Romans 12: 1-2).
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