Obedience as a Blessing

Scripture:
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Psalm 23:3

Observation: David writes Psalm 23 as a prayer pronouncing God's blessings in his life. These blessing include ... patient guidance, rest, comfort, protection from evil and danger, presence, food and drink, companionship, honor, abundance, goodness, mercy, and eternal life. Verse 3 also includes the idea that being led in righteousness - for the honor of God's own name - is also one of these blessings.

In other words, being shown a correct and honorable life, guided in the way that is proper behavior, and doing so explicitly because one has faith in God and thus behaving properly honors the Lord, is a blessing. Righteousness is therefore no more a "burden" than rest, or good food, or comfort is a burden. Being taught righteousness, and obeying for the honor the God, should be a an element of life that fills our lives with gladness and peace and joy.

Application: Psalm 23 is a short 6-verse psalm that many people memorize, yet it is this verse 3 that trips up many including myself. We get the imagery of God as our good shepherd, watching over us as we sleep, guiding us through the valley of death, protecting us from evil, feeding us a meal, and showing us "goodness and mercy all the days of my life". Yet ... telling us to be obedient to righteousness for his honor is part I and others would easily gloss over.

Logically, I have learned that right behavior is in fact a blessing. It is the lifestyle that will honor God, which he in turn will honor. However, it doesn't always seem easy in the world today. I even know that openly honoring the Lord can lead to persecution - sometimes in the extreme - in the modern world. Yet this most comforting and gentle of the psalms is here to remind us that being led by our Father on his path, obeying his words, and doing so explicitly for his honor and his glory, is a privilege and a blessing to me.

Prayer: Lord, Abba, today I desire your blessings in all their fullness and all their circumstances. I wish to be protected, to be devoid of want, to be fed made comfortable. And I wish to be led along your path, by you, in righteousness, for your glory and honor and praise. You are the Lord, the one God, maker of heaven and earth, provider and ruler and instructor. You are love and mercy and justice. May I honor your name by obeying your word. Amen.