Is Something Broken that Needs to be Restored?

“He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3)

In Psalm 23:3 King David continues to give his testimony about the Good Shepherd. It is always good for someone to have a first hand testimony for the Lord that’s not borrowed from someone else. Someone is waiting to hear what the Lord has done for you. They want to hear your salvation experience, how you came to know the Lord and what the Lord means to you.

David knew what it was to have his fellowship with the Lord restored. In the fifty-first Psalm, when he is making his confession to God concerning his sin with Bathsheba David prays, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” (Psalm 51:12) His terrible sin and his guilt over it had taken the joy out of his salvation. That’s the way sin is.  We cannot sin and be joyful. However, God is in the restoration business.  He can make things right that have gone terribly wrong.

David next tells us that the Good Shepherd is leading him in paths of righteousness.  Pause here. God does not lead us in paths of unrighteousness. He never leads us down a path of sin. If He is leading and we are following where He is leading, it is in “Paths of righteousness.” And David acknowledges, it is “for His name’s sake.” All glory to the Good Shepherd. When all is said and done my testimony and yours should be about how good God is. Do you have a good word for the Lord that you can pass on to someone else?