Of Trust and Direction

Psalm 23:1-6, Psalm 37:23, Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 8:14

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters (Psalm 23:1-2, NKJV)

I know I am not the only one who has prayed for direction before, and the word CLARITY is the new term I have heard people use a lot (I am guilty of this, too) – such a fancy word. I love the word. I love what it means because the truth is that with clarity comes so much confidence and control. Given that there is a lot of uncertainty in the world, this is not such a bad prayer, and I, like every other Christian, pray for clarity. Don’t get me wrong; I am not saying you shouldn’t pray for direction; there is something else in the fray that the Lord pointed out to me as I prayed for direction. Let us start with the opening text in Psalm 23.

This Psalm of King David is such a beautiful saying, and I would like you to pay attention to the method of writing. King David is not writing in the future tense, as though this is happening in the future. No. He is writing in the present tense, meaning that he is referring to something happening in the present, an experience he was having. In verse 2 of Psalm 23, Kind David uses the simple present tense, “makes”, a tense form used mainly for a fact or a habit. I’d like you to keep that in mind. Why is this important? Well, that’s because King David just gave us a peek into a fact of the nature or habit of the Lord, Who is his Shepherd. Hence, as the Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:8 (NIV), “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” In Malachi 3:6a, the Lord tells us about Himself, “For I am the Lord, I do not change…” We can infer that the Lord does not change, and He is the same yesterday, today and forever; it means that we can also assume that whatever King David’s experience was in Psalm 23 is a habit that God can replicate today in the life of a believer. This is mind-blowing.

Notice in verse 2b, he says, “He leads me…” and in verse 3b, he says “He leads me…” This repetition is not coincidental. You must understand that in ancient Hebrew, repetition was for emphasis. The Bible says, “A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” (Deuteronomy 19:15b,NIV). Hence, King David is drawing your attention here to the habit of God to provide “leading”, “direction”, or “clarity”. This tells us something important.

Did you also notice that this was not a prayer like other Psalms King David wrote? This sounds like a journal entry, an observation, if you like, of God’s nature. King David draws from his shepherd experience and could see the Lord acting in the same way. This is vital if you understand the sheep’s nature and the Shepherd’s relationship with his sheep. You see, sheep are highly dependent on the Shepherd for survival and protection from predators, and as such, it is the Shepherd’s responsibility to provide “direction” as it is in his best interest to do so because he does not want to lose his sheep. It is also the Shepherd’s responsibility to lead the sheep regardless of whether the sheep likes it or not or asks for it.

Verse 3b of our text says, “He leads me in the path of righteousness for his name’s sake (Psalm 23:3b, NKJV); this places the responsibility of direction squarely on the shoulders of the Shepherd. King David also points out something vital about the nature of the Lord to lead in Psalm 37:23, NLT, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” Like a shepherd, the Lord directs the steps of the godly. He does this of His own volition, purely out of love. He takes pleasure in every detail of their lives. That’s so refreshing and comforting, isn’t it? However, this does not mean that the sheep does nothing in the relationship with the Shepherd.

King David, writing to His son, King Solomon, in Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT, said, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Notice that trust in the Lord will precipitate his shepherdly nature of providing direction. Most notably, the poster child of this kind of trust is the example of Abraham, the father of faith, who, without having “clarity” of where to go, trusted and followed God step by step, one foot in front of the other, one milestone after the other, until God brought him to land He promised to show him. You see, Apostle Paul in Romans 8:14 (NASB) said, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God.” This translation follows the train of thought in our discussion. Notice it is using a present continuous tense “being”, indicating that as sheep of the Lord’s pasture, we must trust Him, in real-time, more than our need to know where to go and how to get there.

Finally, it is our Shepherd’s job to know where to go, how He wants to get us there, what He wants us to do, and how He wants us to go about it. This is where faith comes in because we walk by faith, not sight. We follow behind as the Lord leads in front. God already wants to lead us far more than we even want to be led, and trusting Him means we can expect our steps to be ordered and directed correctly in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. He takes pleasure in every detail of your life, so take the pressure off yourself and trust that when the time is right, He will lead you into the right career, relationship, ministry, etc., because true to His form, He makes all things beautiful in His time. I hope this stirs you. May the Lord help us. Amen.