Note: In Meditation
posts, I will be sharing the lessons and insights I have personally gained from
studying and meditating on God’s Word. Please note that these are from my
personal viewpoint. I am aware that God may reveal many different insights to
different people from the same verse or passage. That is what makes the Bible
alive! So don’t stop searching for God’s own personal revelation to you.
Verse three: He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the
paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
“He restoreth my soul.” Here, David
continues expressing the refreshing experience the Lord gives us. The word
“restore” means “to bring back to an original or former condition; to return to
a state of health and vigor.” We will grow weary spiritually from time to time.
As I have had only seventeen years of life, I may not have yet experience what
it would be like to be spiritually weary. But I expect that I will, because we
all will.
When we start
feeling unfulfilled in our careers, discouraged, depressed, low-spirited, and
like we’re dragging our feet, the world will tells us things like, “Maybe this
is not what you should be doing in life,” “It’s time for a change in
direction,” and “Stop doing what you’re doing and look for something else that
makes you happy.” However, there are two problems. First, it’s not always
possible to drop our careers or other activities to start from scratch
somewhere else. Second, God may not want us to leave our current paths, even
with the struggles heading our way. But whether He wants us to stay or move
elsewhere, He wants us to turn to Him for refreshment, because that’s the
answer to the fundamental problem. There is no career or activity in this world
that will keep us happy all the time. We will face periods of discouragement
and pressure, and we will have times when we feel like we cannot go on, no
matter how passionate we are of the work. Our souls will get weary, and no change
of environment will keep us up for long. What we need is the Life-giver, the
One Who restores our souls to a state of vigor and renewed passion. Isaiah
40:31 tells us that “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and
they shall walk, and not faint.”
“…he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name’s sake.” The Lord leads me in righteousness. He
guides me in righteousness. He instructs me in righteousness, because I can
never properly walk in the way of righteousness on my own. I can try to, but I
can never do it successfully. I need God to guide me on the right path.
The implications
in the phrase “for his name’s sake” in
this particular verse can be perplexing to some. It was to me, for a while. So
I was very excited when I figured it out! This phrase can be rephrased as, “for
his reputation’s sake.” If that doesn’t ring a bell yet, look at it this way:
When we pray, “Lord, please help this person, for Your name’s sake,” what we
mean is that, should God answer your prayer, all the glory will go to Him. In
other words, we are saying “For Your glory.” Now, we should be able to
understand what the psalmist meant when he said, “he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name’s sake.”
What I believe he was trying to say is that when I am able to walk in
righteousness, I will point to God to give Him the glory, because I cannot do
it on my own. When He guides us, we will succeed, and He will get the glory.
Blessings,
Nathanael Chong
Nathanael Chong
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