The Shepherd leads the sheep in the PPOG, Psa 23:3

Ps 23:1-3

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside quiet waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness

For His name's sake.

 

We are now ready for “He guides me in the paths of righteousness.”

 

Righteousness in this context is the experience of the position that every believer possesses in Christ. Therefore we call it experiential righteousness.

 

One should differentiate it from positional righteousness but never separate it from positional righteousness.

 

We are not here gaining our own +R nor is God leading us in something that He didn’t first give to us at salvation.

 

OT saints possess +R and so do NT saints. NT saints possess a double +R by being in union with Christ.

 

Every believer has been called to +R at the moment of salvation, and after learning enough doctrine he will then be able to walk in that calling.

 

But here we see that we are not alone in that walk. We have the help of the good shepherd in leading us down the only path of righteousness, which again is putting into application the righteousness of God that you already possess.

 

Phillip Keller points out in his book that sheep are notorious creatures of habit. If left to themselves they will follow the same trails until the trails become ruts; graze the same hills until they turn to desert wastes, pollute their own ground until it is corrupt with disease and parasites.

 

A beautiful green pasture will turn into a wasteland if sheep are allowed to graze it without being under the management of the shepherd.

 

The point is that although we as sheep possess the very righteousness of Christ, if we are left to ourselves, not only will we not live in that righteousness, but we will end up polluting ourselves to the point of looking and behaving like the worst unbelievers.

 

We cannot be left to ourselves and so although the Shepherd sits at the right hand of God, the position of highest authority, He has not completed His constant care for us as our Shepherd.

 

No class of livestock takes more handling than sheep. Because of their behavior, sheep will continue to go to their same favorite spots to graze until the place becomes infected with parasites.

 

This soon infects the other sheep and the whole flock can become infected.

 

We too as human beings are creatures of habit. If we are not managed by means of the word and the Spirit we will return to our own vomit again and again until we are utterly infected.

 

But just like the shepherd in the natural realm is aware of this, so is TLJC aware of our nature. Remember in Psa 103 God says that He understands our frame and He knows we are made of dust.

 

The solution to this problem for sheep is to keep them on the move. In other words, they are not to be left on the same ground for too long.

 

There must be a predetermined plan of action, a deliberate, planned rotation from one grazing ground to another in line with right and proper principles of sound management.

 

The shepherd constantly looks at the health of his flock and the health of the pasture they are on and when he concludes it’s best for both the sheep and the pasture to move them on to another pasture he does so.

 

The shepherd also has intimate knowledge of the pastures available to him and he knows how much they can take and he makes a predetermined cycle to maximize the health of the sheep and the land.

 

The Lord, unlike human shepherds, is of course perfect and He knows the precise timing of when it’s time to get us on our feet and get us moving.

 

The Lord knows you intimately, and He knows intimately those you are intimate with, He knows everyone you contact intimately, and He knows every part of the world that you may touch all with intimacy.

 

Therefore, in perfect timing the Lord knows when it’s time for you to rest and when it’s time for you to be on the move. He knows when it’s time to learn and when it’s time to be applying what you’ve learned.

 

He will call you to do something when the time is best. And like the sheep who prefer their favorite spots you may resist at first, but then the business end of His staff comes out and you are very encouraged to move.

 

This is what David recalls as a shepherd when he says, “He guides me in paths of righteousness.”

 

The Bible is crystal clear in its summation of us in our flesh as stiff-necked and stubborn. We stupidly prefer at times to follow our own way rather than the Lords. No one is excluded from this stupidity, PSA 53:6

 

   

ISA 53:1-6

Who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

And like a root out of parched ground;

He has no stately form or majesty

That we should look upon Him,

Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

3 He was despised and forsaken of men,

A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face,

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,

And our sorrows He carried;

Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

And by His scourging we are healed.

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all

To fall on Him.  

 

Humans have such personal pride and self-assertion that they will go on unbelievable self-destructive paths. Sometimes they even know they are wrong but they almost take pleasure in hurting themselves.

 

Young people who cut themselves do this. All people who destroy themselves with substances do this. All people who spit on others no matter who they are so they can gain power do this. It’s a whirlwind of self-destruction.

 

This is what sheep do who do not have a good shepherd.

 

I don’t think any of us have any idea as to how many situations our shepherd has saved us from. We may know a few, but I’m convinced that we don’t know the half of it.

 

Prov 14:12

There is a way which seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death.

 

Prov 16:25

There is a way which seems right to a man,

But its end is the way of death.

 

Maybe Solomon forgot that he wrote that the first time, or maybe he, more than most people, understood the destructive power of rejecting the plan of God for your life.

 

In great contrast to the independent, self-destructive lifestyle is the life that Christ came into the world to give.

 

In our main passage in John 10:

 

John 10:10

"The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.