He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psalm 23:3
Going through life, our souls tend to get damaged. Sometimes they just get burdened down and sometimes they get wounded; sometimes they get marred by sin, and sometimes they get weak. But the Lord, referred to in this Psalm as our Shepherd, restores our souls. It is he that heals the broken hearted and restores our souls to fellowship with Him.
He leads us in the paths of righteousness and He does that for His names’ sake. He isn’t going to lead us down a dead end road. How often do we see other people (or even see ourselves) headed down a dead end road in life? We can see that the direction they are going is only going to produce heartache and despair. We can see that they are headed in the wrong direction, and yet they (we) still stubbornly insist on going that way. So many people seem completely and totally intent on destroying themselves. I know that I have been there. I have been headed down a dead end road in life; I am just thankful that I serve a merciful God who is “my Shepherd”. I am glad that the Shepherd didn’t abandon this sheep to wander in the wilderness of sin, but came looking for me to bring me back to Himself. I am glad I have a Great Shepherd who is able to restore my soul. I am glad He is leading me in the paths of righteousness. Oh, that we would just allow Him to lead us in that path of righteousness! Follow Him!
Justified Freely 
Posted by Eden on April 26, 2010 at 9:00 pm
” He isn’t going to lead us down a dead end road.” Thank you for this, I needed to hear that. God bless,
Eden
Posted by justifiedfreely on April 26, 2010 at 10:33 pm
Thank you- I know I’ve led myself down a few dead end roads, but never when I’ve been following Him. You’ll never get lost following Him- that’s something I need to pound into my heart and mind every day.
Posted by Debbie Feller on April 26, 2010 at 11:03 pm
I like your response to Eden . . .that we’ll never get lost following Him! What a great thought to get stuck on! Blessings! deb
Posted by justifiedfreely on April 27, 2010 at 7:07 am
Thank you for the encouragement!
Posted by Linda Kruschke on April 28, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Your post reminded me of this quote from C.S. Lewis: “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.” It is our Shepherd who turns us around when we are on the wrong road. Peace, Linda
Posted by justifiedfreely on April 29, 2010 at 2:28 am
That is a great quote and a great truth. There have been many times in my life that I have been on the wrong road and needed the Shepherd to turn me around. When we aren’t following Him as we should be, it becomes easy to wander down the wrong road. I’ll have to remember that quote- Thank you!