"He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake" (Psa. 23:3).

God’s name is very important to Him; He has commanded us not to take it in vain (Ex. 20:7). May He give us grace in these difficult days to consider, and to know, if we are obeying this command. 

The Lord leads His sheep in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. He is very jealous for His name. He does all that He does for His name’s sake (Ezek. 36:22, 39:25). He says His name is "the Lord, the Lord God, merciful, and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation" (Ex. 34:6-7). 

We are His sheep and He is our Good Shepherd. Are the people around us seeing how well He takes care of His sheep, or do they see us full of disease, sickly and not eating well, full of discord, butting each other, cast down, almost at death’s door?

If we are not spiritually well, feeding on the Lord daily, trusting in Him in all situations, believing His promises, loving Him above all, serving Him and praising Him in all things and for all things, then we are dishonoring His name, shaming Him before an unbelieving world, saying by our disobedience, our murmuring and complaining, our lack of joy – "Our Shepherd is not merciful, gracious, and forgiving, not longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth. We don’t like the way He is taking care of us. We can do a better job of it ourselves."

He has marked our ear with His name - "THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jer. 33:16). Let us live that truth to His glory and then it shall be to Him a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all the nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that He does to us (Jer. 33:9). 

Oh Lord, lead us and guide us in the paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. Make us to lie down in pastures of tender grass; lead us to still waters of rest. Declare Your name to us, that we may be able to manifest Your love to the glory of Your name, forever (Jn. 17:26).