One of the challenges of the information age is that there is too much information out there. Take financial planning for instance. How do you plow through the plethora of advice, information, experts, would-be experts, financial strategists that all claim to have the best strategy for your retirement account. Many of us have learned the hard way that the advice was not always what it was advertised to be.

In Psalm 23:3 we read this promise from the Lord who is our Shepherd. “He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” Or as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, “you send me in the right direction.” In our complicated world with competing worldviews what we need to know is the “right direction.” And David says God will never let us down in that regard.

What is interesting about God’s direction is that it is often the opposite of what we are told we should do. For instance, God says that by being generous with Him and others we gain true wealth. He says that to become great we must become small. To experience real life we must die to ourselves. To get ahead in His kingdom we must act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. All of these are counter intuitive and counter to the practices and advice of our day.

In all the mumbo jumbo of our day, there is only one guide who will not steer us wrong and it is our shepherd. In fact, his says are paths of righteousness which are the paths that He himself has laid out for us. Just as a good shepherd would never steer his sheep along unsafe paths that would lead the flock in the wrong or dangerous direction, our shepherd will never do that. 

The key, though, is that sheep need to trust their shepherd. Sheep wander. So do we. The classic definition of sin is found in Isaiah 53:6,  “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” That is the ultimate problem we have. We like to go our own way, do our own thing and make our own rules but ultimately it comes back to hurt us.

As we pay attention to our shepherd and His teaching, we will learn to walk in paths of righteousness which will never hurt us and always protect us - even from ourselves. That is a great promise. He will only lead us in paths of righteousness that benefit us and keep us off the wrong paths. It is also why he says that he brings peace to our souls. That peace is found not in our own wisdom but in God’s wisdom. By ourselves we bring chaos to our souls. He brings peace.

Father. Thank you that I can trust you to lead me in paths that are best for me because they are your paths of righteousness. Remind me each day to look for your paths and not my own. Amen.