Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 174, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1917 — Divine Guidance [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Divine Guidance

By REV. JAMES M. GRAY, D.D.

Dean of Moody Bible Institute, Chicago

TEXT—He leadeth me in the paths of; righteousness for his name’s sake.—Psalm; 23:23. —; ■“ ~

Every word in this sentence is weighty. 1. Think of that personal! pronoun “he.**

“He” leadeth me. It contains a de- 1 nial of both atheism and material-; ism, since it as--serts the existence of a personal God who is distinct from and independent of the created uni-: verse. It denies deism, too, de-, daring not only, for a personal, i self-existent God,’ but for one who' is the controlling:

presence in the universe. 2. He “leadeth” me. “To lead” means to guide or to conduct as by, the hand; and it is blessed that God; allows us to think of him as occupying) such an attitude towards us. “I have! called thee in righteousness,” said he, “and will hold thine hand, and will! keep thee.” “To lead” means “to go; before,” as when a shepherd leads his; sheep to pasture. And by his incar-; nation in the person of Jesus Christ,; God has actually gone before us in “the flesh in suffering and glory, “leaving us an example that we should follow his steps,” “To lead” means to persuade, ast when one is driven by necessity to dpi a certain thing. And here again we see the analogy to spiritual truth. “It was good for me to be afflicted,” says' the psalmist, “before I was afflicted I went astray, but now havei I kept thy law.” “To lead” means to draw, to allure, as when one’s desires and affections are stirred in a given direction, and he then willingly and ardently pursues it. As it is written, “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance,” and again, “We love him because he first loved us.” It Is thus that he leadeth us. A Personal Interest 3. He leadeth “me.” We have dwelt upon the importance of the first; pronoun, but the second is like unto it. Indeed, without the second the; first would lose much of its value. It; is one thing to know that a personal God is interested in us, but even better to know that he is interested in us personally.' David says, of all beings in the universe, he leadeth me, and his own history must have convinced him of this beyond a doubt. But he said it no more confidently than we can, say it if we are the Lord’s. Shunned; by the world, we may be; ready to cover ourselves with dust and ashes at the sight of our own shortcomings, but still there is one to whom we are as dear as his own life’s blood, and whose arms are clasped around us as though there were not another being in the world. 4. He leadeth me in the paths of! righteousness. “Righteousness” is the qualifying word of the sentence so, far as its application to man is concerned. Who are those that he leads? 1 They who are in the paths of righteousness. The unrighteous therefore; he does not lead. But the “righteous” from Gospel point of view are noti the externally moral people merely, t but those who have submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God, the righteousness which is by faith. They are found in the paths of righteousness, because they are found Im Christ. But being found, they are; now led therein. This leading is equivalent to their growth in grace, the significance of that preposition“in.” He leadeth me in the paths of; ’•ighteousness. Not “into” them but “in” them. He leads us into themin the first place, since without his regenerating grace we would never have been found in them. Leading While In the Way. But it is a different thing to be ledl “in” them after we have been led' “into” them. The paths of righteousness would themselves become paths; of error to us, if God were to withdraw his personal leadership. Hei must not only make us Christians,; but he must keep us Christians, if wel are to remain so. And the importance; of this continued leadership is em-* phasized by the word “paths.” Not one, but many. Sometimes they are* paths of bodily affliction, of peril, bereavement, poverty, strong temptation,! mental darkness, desertion, opposition, doubt, but in all these paths he; leadeth me. By his word, by his providence, by his spirit, and by the example of his own life in the flesh 11 For His Name’s Sake. 5. He leadeth me in the paths ofl righteousness “for his Name’s sake.” 1 It is wonderful how many and howl great things God has done for, us andj promises to do for us in his Na™®’* sake. This is a humbling truth, since it takes frojn us all thought of personal right or merit, in the matter. But it is also an inspiring truth. For if God leads us in the paths of righteousness for his Name’s sake, the honor of his Name is involved in his leading; us to the very end, and up (to the* throne of glory.