The Lord is My Restorer

This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang.! Thank you for joining us. It's great to see you tonight. Glad that you are back for our evening time of worship.

! And wherever you are, wherever you're sitting, I'm glad you're here. I especially want to thank these who have taken where the youth normally sit. It is such a blessing to preach to faces and not cloth.

So thank you. It's always a challenge on Sunday nights because we're so used to our youth filling this middle portion, but when they are not with us, it's especially a blessing for people to be there.

So thank you guys for helping with that. Psalm chapter 23, as we continue in our study through this. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, there is both a danger and a delight to studying very familiar text.

The danger is to sometimes read too quickly and rush too quickly through it because it's something that we are so familiar with that we've heard so many times. The delight is to be able to ask the Lord to, through the work of the Holy Spirit, show us fresh insights and fresh applications.

The Bible, of course, each verse has one true interpretation, but the application of that is manifold. And so if we were to look at Lamentations 3, as we just sung a moment ago, that says, Great is thy faithfulness.

That has one very clear meaning. But the application of the fact that God is faithful would be as many as there are people in the congregation tonight. That the Lord is faithful and He applies that fact, that truth, that blessing to each of us right in our life, whatever we are going through.

So when we say the Lord is our shepherd, that means something. It means what it meant when David wrote it. But the application of that, that you have a shepherd who loves you and guides you, that the application is specific to you and to your life situation.

We always want to make sure that we rightly interpret the Bible first. Then, after we rightly interpret the Bible, we can apply the Bible to our lives.

And so when we say the Lord is our shepherd, we need to know what did David mean. Why did the Holy Spirit inspire David to say that? What was on his mind? And when we rightly understand what the word means there and what the promise is, then we can, with confidence, live out that promise.

So we don't want to say that because the Lord is our shepherd, that means we'll never have trouble. And then we get upset with God because He didn't keep His promise. Well, God never promised that.

What He did promise is to be your shepherd. To guide you. To protect you. To help you. To lead you. To feed you. And as we're going to look at tonight, to restore you.

So let's look again here in Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters. Just a couple of reminders from the last couple of weeks that we've already walked through this. This psalm begins with the covenantal name of God.

It is the Lord who is our shepherd. Yahweh who is our shepherd. The fact that it is the Lord who shepherds us makes all the difference in the world.

And again, as Charles Spurgeon called it, that sweet monosyllable, my. The Lord is my shepherd. He's a shepherd. He's a shepherd to all of his children.

Praise God. But that includes me. He's my shepherd. And you are no doubt blessed and encouraged that the Lord is shepherding all of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

But be reminded, He is your shepherd if you are in Christ. The Lord is my shepherd. That's the Christian life, that there is a part of the family of God that is personal.

But even that personal aspect exists within the context of a larger family. And so it's good for us to know the Lord is my shepherd.

But also to be blessed to remember that every believer in here gets to know the Lord as their shepherd. It's what binds us together as a family that we have one Father.

The Lord is my shepherd, so I shall not want. I will not lack anything I need in that moment. He will provide what I need in that moment. Now that's helpful because we don't always know what we need.

We think we do. But praise God, our shepherd knows exactly what it is that we need. And sometimes we need our faith tested. And sometimes we need our faith stretched.

And sometimes we need to suffer. And sometimes we need to be humbled. And sometimes we need to learn to trust. There are things that you go through and in those hard moments recognize that your shepherd knows what you need.

And is giving you what you need in that moment. Maybe even things you don't recognize or realize that you need. He makes me lie down.

As we looked at last week, that statement by itself is quite a statement. He makes us lie down. Understand, sheep do not lie down unless a number of needs are met.

Sheep will not lie down to rest if they are frightened. They won't lie down to rest if they are hungry. They won't lie down to rest if there is some kind of friction between them and another sheep in the flock.

And a fourth thing, sheep will not lie down to rest if there is the presence of pests around them. Philip Keller in his book, As Shepherds Look at Psalm 23, is so helpful when he explains some of those things.

He was a shepherd before he was a pastor. And he walks through the details of that. And as you read those four things that must be present for a sheep to lie down, you just can't help but make the obvious connection.

That's true for us too. You don't sleep well if you're afraid. You don't sleep well if you're hungry. You don't sleep well if you know your spouse next to you is angry with you.

You don't sleep well if there's pests around you. So that's why we're the sheep, because there's a much closer correlation we probably would like to realize.

But when the psalmist says, he makes me lie down, he's saying, he is providing for me these things that I need to be able to rest.

I lie down in green pastures, and he leads me beside still waters. As we looked at last week, sheep won't drink from water that is rushing if it's moving too quickly.

And so the shepherd has to use rocks or stone or whatever is at his disposal to dam up the water, to calm it so that the sheep will drink from it. What the sheep will drink from, though, is dirty, contaminated water.

If the shepherd's not ever watchful, they will consume that which they think is for their good, but could be filled with parasites for their demise. So the Lord makes his sheep to lie down, provides what they need to rest, leads them beside still waters, and is comforting them and providing for their needs.

In verse 3, we look at these words, that he restores my soul and leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Let's look this evening with a few headings at this short verse.

First, the promise to restore. The promise to restore. Just taking this straight from verse 3, he restores my soul. There's a promise here to restore.

And the word restores here can have a couple of different meanings. When it says he restores, that can mean, one, when I am straying.

The word restore can refer to returning someone who was erring in sin. And that's important because sheep can wander off. That's what Isaiah 53 tells us.

All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each have turned to his own way. So the promise to restore is that the Lord will pursue us.

Psalm 60, verse 1. Oh God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses. You have been angry, but oh God, restore us. When you stray, we cry out to the Lord who restores.

Psalm 119, 176. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. And so there's the promise to restore when you're straying.

But there's a second aspect of that word restore, and that is when you need to be sustained. This word carries the idea not only of returning, but also of being renewed and sustained.

The Lord restores us and renews us by his word. Psalm 19, verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. So the Lord restores us by giving us his word. He renews us as we meditate on his word.

And we need to continually confess our sins. Not for salvation. You're not saved and then lose it, and then saved and then lose it, and saved and then lose it.

But we continually confess our sin because we want to have a right relationship with the Lord, a relationship where our sin is quickly confessed, that we don't harbor sin in our heart, that we would honor the name of the Lord at all times.

And what good is it to be in pastures of provision if you're walking with a hardened heart? And so he takes us to green pastures, but we confess our sin.

We ask him to restore us, to help us when we're straying, and to sustain us so that we don't wander off.

One author says this. He says, A heavy, fat, or long-fleeced sheep will lie down comfortably in some little hollow or depression in the ground.

It may roll on its side slightly to stretch out, or the body shifts so that it turns on its back far enough that the feet no longer touch the ground.

It may feel a sense of panic and start to paw frantically. Frequently, this only makes things worse. It rolls over even further, and now is impossible to regain its feet.

The sheep, if they just stay in one place, they make the ground into a rut, and they fall. When they fall, they try to get up.

They fall even further. They're on their back, and now they cannot get up. And the problem when a sheep does that is gas is built up inside its body, cuts off the circulation to its legs, and then it dies.

And sometimes people are like that. People fall over, and they don't know what to do when their life is a mess. Maybe that's you tonight.

Maybe spiritually, in the inner part of your heart, that only God sees, your life's a mess. And you don't know what to do, and you don't know where to turn, and you continue to go through the motions, but like a frantic sheep that falls on its back, it paws frantically at the ground, and all that does is make it worse for them.

Maybe you find yourself there. Obviously, still attending church, still living a life of kindness, but maybe in your heart, spiritually, you just feel so far away from the Lord.

Here's the promise. He restores us. Confess your sin, and seek the Lord, and ask Him to restore you. When I was working at a former church, this is, I don't know, 25, 26 years ago, I had, my first office, and I smile when I say office, it was a closet, that they put a desk in, and there wasn't enough room for the desk, for me to walk on the other side of it, so those of you older, like me, will remember this.

I had a Dukes of Hazzard across the desk to get into it. Well, after a couple of years of that, I got my own real office, and I was so excited to be in this new office because my old closet office was also a Sunday school room where three senior adult ladies met, and so it was off limits to me on Sunday, which wasn't real helpful.

They were really sweet ladies, but they let me know that I was using their classroom and not the other way around. So when I got my own office, I was excited, and so one of the first days I was in there, a coworker of mine was walking down the hallway, and I was in my desk chair behind my desk, and as he was walking by, I called his name and intended to say, hey, look at my office.

I did that, but when I said, look at my office, I said, hey, come look, and my chair fell backwards, and all he heard me say was, hey, look, and I just fall backwards.

He thought I'd really lost my mind. My chair fell over, and I'm up against the window seal, and my legs were stuck under the desk, and for a minute, I could not get up.

Now, unlike the sheep, I really didn't want him coming to help me up, but I was on my back. I was stuck for a minute. Well, that's the picture of the sheep.

They fall over. They're on their back, but unlike I was able to get up, they're not. The shepherd has to come and restore them.

This is why the shepherd's job is never done. This is why the shepherd can't leave, because the sheep can so quickly and so easily make a mess of their situation.

Kind of like our lives, right? How we can so quickly make a mess of our situation. But here's the promise. Verse 3, He restores my soul.

You may have this image of God in your mind when you just think about the Lord. You may have this image that He's just in heaven, kind of always angry at you, kind of always disappointed at you, kind of always mad about what you're doing, and just kind of waiting to catch you.

For some people, that's their image of God. Scowling, angry God. And even people who see God that way might be quick to say, but I understand it because I sin so much.

I understand it because I fail so much. I understand it because I'm so disobedient all the time. But sometimes even believers have this picture in their mind of God as just angry and scowling and stern and just waiting for you to do something wrong.

Let me remind you of the promise of Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord cares for me. The Lord comforts me.

The Lord helps me to lie down and helps me to drink and helps me to eat and helps me to rest. And in verse 3, He restores me.

Now, of course, that's not to say that God is indifferent toward our sin. Of course not. But do be reminded that your Father's heart to you is as a shepherd.

And maybe somebody here tonight just needs to really let that sink in for a minute. Yes, sin is a serious thing, of course.

Yes, the Father disciplines those He loves, absolutely. Absolutely. But do remember that your Father is a shepherd to His sheep.

He cares for you. He loves you. He sent His Son to die for you.

He has saved you. He has promised you heaven not because He had to save you because He chose to save you. He cares for you.

And if you have this image of God that He's just indifferent to you or just tolerating you or just kind of begrudgingly putting up with you, just hear the words of Scripture.

The Lord is my shepherd. He restores my soul. He rescues me when I need it.

I'm straying and He sustains me. The promise to restore. Secondly, there's not only the promise to restore, but we see in this verse the path to righteousness.

He restores my soul. That's one. Two, He leads me in paths of righteousness. Now, when we speak of paths of righteousness, I want you to have two words in your mind.

One, the word direction. He leads me in paths of righteousness. This gives us direction. Sheep can easily be lost.

Even in a very familiar environment, sheep can become easily lost. So, the promise here is that the Lord will give us directions. He will tell us where to go.

Psalm 1611 says, You make known to me the path of life. It's the path to righteousness. And it's also worth noting that, as I mentioned a moment ago, sheep, if left to themselves, they will dig in and create these ruts.

And when sheep stay in the same place, they create ruts. And where there's ruts, they fall. And where they fall, they flip on their back. When they're on the back, they can't get up. So, one of the many things a shepherd has to do is keep the flock on the move.

They can't just stay in one place. If they stay in one place, they're going to end up with ruts and falling over. So, he has to keep them continually on the move. But as the sheep are on the move, it is the shepherd that's providing them direction.

It's the shepherd who is leading them. And this is a, this is a good time to remember the difference between leadership and management.

Management points the way. Leadership leads the way. Big difference. A father who just tries to manage his children is always pointing the way.

Do this. Don't do this. You ought to be disciplined. You ought to make good choices. Always barking out commands. A father who is leading is leading by example.

So, instead of just telling his children to, they need to be good with their time, the father is modeling good time management. A faithful father who is a leader doesn't just tell his children to read the Bible, he models it.

And that's the difference between management and leadership. One points the way, one leads the way. By example. And so, if the sheep are going to continually be moved, which they have to do, it's the shepherd who has to lead the way.

It's to make sure the sheep know where they are going. John 10, verse 4, when he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice.

We follow his leadership. He gives us direction. direction. But, write down a second word. It's not just direction.

Make note of this. It's the right destination. He gives us direction. That's one thing. But an even greater reality is that he gets us to the right destination.

What good is someone giving you directions if it doesn't take you where you want to go? So, last week, I was in California teaching at the seminary.

And one evening, one of the professors and pastors at Grace Community Church invited me to his house for dinner. And so, I hadn't been to his house before and so, he texted me directions and said, you know, can you be at my house at 6 o'clock?

So, I had finished preaching and I was in the classroom for about two hours. And I had just about an hour's worth of time before my next assignment. And so, there was a store in Los Angeles I was wanting to go to.

And so, I looked to see if I had time to make it, typed in the directions, looked how far away it was, decided I didn't have time to make it, and so I didn't go. Stayed at the seminary, taught a class, and then I was leaving to go to the house for dinner.

Got my phone and I set out. Now, some of you know this about me, that I could, I live one mile from here. It's not shocking if I get lost tonight going home.

No one would be surprised by that. If I'm driving in a far away land like Yukon, I certainly am going to get lost. In California, I'm by myself last week.

I mean, it's just a wonder I'm actually back here tonight, to be honest with you. But I'm driving and I'm trying to get to his house and I've got my phone barking out all these instructions, turn left at the light, get in the right lane, all these kind of things.

And the only way I can explain this is the providence of the Lord, but as I'm driving down, something within me just thinks you're going the wrong direction. Now, I'm used to going the wrong direction.

What I'm not used to do is knowing I'm going the wrong direction. So I'm driving and I'm looking at, you know, traffic's terrible and I'm looking at my map on my phone and I'm losing time to get to his house and I just think, I don't think I'm going the right way.

I just, I don't think I'm going the right way. And I try to talk myself out and I'm like, you're in Los Angeles, you don't know the right way, you know, if it hits you, but I just get convinced I'm going the wrong way. So at one of the many standstills in the highway, I get my phone back out and open the maps out to look at the address it's taking me to.

Well, I had inadvertently put back in on the recently searched for the store that I was looking at going three hours ago.

Well, the house was this way and the store was that way and I had spent about 20 minutes going the wrong way. So I had to turn around, drive 20 minutes back, now I've lost 40 minutes, I'm going to try to get to this man's house on time for dinner.

dinner. And it's just so ironic because I had just spent about an hour and a half that morning just reading and meditating on Psalm 23, 3 for tonight.

Thinking in my mind about this distinction between direction and destination. The Lord apparently decided I needed to not just think about it but to live it and so I did.

Now here's the question. Was the map on my phone giving me the right directions? The answer is yes.

Impeccable directions. Telling me what traffic was like. Get out of the right lane, stay in the left lane, in 1.4 miles, takes exit 23B.

I mean, it was giving me incredible directions. But it wasn't going to get me to the right destination. The world's like that.

The world will tell you how to become a great athlete, how to make a lot of money, how to succeed in business, how to dress well.

The world will tell you how to save money. The world will tell you how to invest your money. The world will tell you how to adapt a new skill.

The world will tell you all kinds of things. And it will give you incredible instruction. You can gain so much knowledge. And that's not a bad thing.

Learning a new skill is good. Learning a new language is good. Saving your money is good. Those aren't bad things. But none of those things are the destination to which you most want to arrive.

You don't want to come to the end of your life and meet the Lord and say, but I was really smart. You don't want to come to the end of your life and stand before the Lord and say, but look at all these skills I accumulated.

The world will give you all kinds of direction, but it will not take you to the destination that you most need to arrive. That was my problem in the car in Los Angeles.

I had right directions, but I had the wrong destination typed in. And I can't help but wonder how many people set success as their God, success in whatever field they're in, and meticulously labor day after day after day to make it.

life. And they may do it. And they get to the end of their life and realize, I made it. But I had the wrong destination.

You maybe have heard it this way of climbing the ladder to success only to reach the top of the ladder and to realize your ladder is leaning against the wrong building. You made it to the top, you got to the wrong place.

faith. When the psalmist said he leads me in paths of righteousness, he's telling you that he will give you the directions to follow.

Even more important, he gets you to the right destination. destination. What's the destination? We'll just look ahead, verse 6.

I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's the destination. We want to be with the Lord.

We want to be with the Lord forever. forever. You need not only good directions, but the right destination to lead you.

Sometimes the world doesn't even do the directions right. You probably, like me, have had this situation where you're typing in an address you've never been to and you're looking and it tells you you're a mile away, half mile away, quarter mile away, and then the voice on your phone says, arrived.

And you're looking at an empty field. And he said, I don't think I have. And so you exit out, put the address back in, 200 feet arrived, and you're still in the same parking lot and there's no building there.

Well, the world can miss it one of two ways. It can either lead you astray or it can lead you to be successful just in the wrong thing. The psalmist said, he restores my soul and he leads me.

That's the direction. In paths of righteousness, that's the desired destination. So what does the psalmist remind us of?

Verse 2, the Lord gives his people rest. Verse 3, he gives his people restoration. Verse 3, he gives his people righteousness.

It says he leads me in the paths of righteousness. That word paths can be interpreted as tracks. The shepherd leads the sheep in the right tracks of where to go.

The promise to restore. The path to righteousness. And then, the third thing we see in verse 3, and that's the purpose to remember.

What's the purpose of all of this? Well, it's all done for his name's sake. What's the purpose of all this? What's the purpose of getting an education?

What's the purpose of getting married? What's the purpose of having children? What's the purpose of a career? What's the purpose of a church? What's the purpose of raising kids?

What's the purpose of being a grandparent? What's the purpose behind teaching Sunday school? What's the purpose behind owning your own business? What's the purpose behind having friends? What is all this for?

I mean, there's seasons in life where life is good, and you love your family, and you love your job, and you love the things that are happening, and you love your friends, and you love your hobbies, and you just can't wait to attack life.

And there are other seasons of life where you just say, what is this for? I mean, you get the degree, you get the spouse, you get the kids, you get the house, you get their recognition, and you just kind of look around and say, what is all this for?

You grow, you learn, you live, you die. What is all this for? One of the beautiful things about Psalm 23, verse 3, is he gives you the promise to restore you, he gives you the path to righteousness, but he also reminds you of this purpose to remember that all of this, everything about you, is being done for his name's sake.

Please don't forget that. Your life exists for the sake of his name. Your career is for the sake of his name.

You raise your children for the sake of his name. You teach children in Sunday school for the sake of his name.

You serve those who are hurting for the sake of his name. You witness to those in your life that don't know Christ for the sake of his name.

That's why you exist. For his name's sake. For the name of the shepherd.

You hear it in sports and athletics all the time when coaches will talk about you've got to play for the team on the front of the jersey, not the back of the jersey. Back of the jersey is your name. Front of the jersey is the team's name.

And when athletes care more about the name on the back of the jersey than they do the front of the jersey, that team is doomed. You've got to care about the name on the front.

That's what unites you. That's to whom you belong. If you don't know what name you're playing for, then you're going to arrive at the wrong destination.

The purpose to remember is this, that everything about us is for the sake of his name. You've probably heard the story before of Alexander the Great, one of the great warriors.

His army conquered most all of the known world. There was a boy, the story goes, that was handsome and strong in the army, one who was skilled at fighting.

But during one particularly fierce battle, this young soldier hid himself in the cave. He feared for his life. And so he broke away and hid.

A shameful thing. He didn't fight with his brothers. He hid himself to protect his name. Alexander the Great was told about this and called the young soldier in and said, Son, what is your name?

And the embarrassed soldier said, my name is Alexander. He said, Excuse me, what is your name? And the second time he said, my name is Alexander.

And the third time, the great conqueror said, Son, what is your name? And the third time, a boy with very embarrassed, sheepish look on his face said, my name is Alexander, sir.

To which Alexander the Great said, change your conduct or change your name. You're embarrassing the name. Why do you exist?

For his name's sake. If you're a Christian, you bear his name.

You've got to care more for that name than you do your own. And if you forget that your life is about his name, then you're going to question why the shepherd does everything he does.

Because if you think your life is only about you, then the answer is you need everything you want. But that's not the promise of verse 1.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want means I will not lack. I will not be without. So, when you think to yourself life should be different, and you think it's all about your name, then you're going to get really frustrated with your shepherd.

But Psalm 23 says that in any given moment or season of my life, it's not about me. it's about the name of my shepherd.

And whatever brings him glory is our greatest privilege. And it may just be that your greatest opportunity to bring glory to the name of Christ is when you are faithful right in the midst of your suffering.

Sometimes, you evade the storm. That's true. But oftentimes, you're in the midst of it.

And if you think the purpose of your life is your name, it will make no sense why you are having to stay in the midst of the storm. But if you remember the promise of Psalm 23, that this is all for the sake of his name, his glory, then the question becomes not what do I want for myself, but how can I live for the glory of his name?

Now, the storm doesn't have to be removed for your purpose to be realized. You just seek to live for his name no matter what. The Bible tells us that he created us for his glory.

Another way of saying for his name's sake. Psalm 106, Ezekiel 20, he redeemed his people for his glory. John 12, he gave his son for his glory.

Isaiah 48, verse 11, for my own sake, for my own sake, I act. My glory, I will not give to another. All things are for his glory.

Now, here's the good news. The book of Romans says, from him, through him, and to him are all things, and to him be glory forever and ever.

His name will be glorified forever. And if that's your greatest aim, then your greatest desire will be met forever and forever.

If you're living for the glory of your name, then your life is on a collision course with the purpose of God.

God. But if your life's greatest aim is that his name would be glorified through you, then here's the good news.

His highest goal, the glory of his name, is also your greatest good, because that's where you find the truest sense of joy.

God. So everything about our life hinges on our recognition of these final words of verse 3 that everything is done for the sake of his name.

He restores you when you're straying. He brings you back. When you need sustained, he comforts you.

He leads you in the paths of righteousness. He gives you the right direction, but also takes you to the right destination, all for the purpose of the sake of his name.

The best thing for you is to be satisfied in the provision of God, having been restored by God, and walking in the steps that he has left for you.

Now, what do you do when your life's a mess? I mean, sometimes life's a mess because we just do foolish things.

Sometimes we just create our own problems. That's true. If that's true for you, then you need to confess your sin and repent, and if there's someone you've done something wrong to, and that's why your life is miserable, you need to go make things right.

As much as depends on you, Romans says, live in peace with all men. If you've got someone that you're not in peace with, and there's something that you've done wrong, or something you've not forgiven, or something you've not tried to fix, then you need to do that.

But other times, life is hard, not because of something you've done, but because of something someone's done to you. And if that's the case, then you need to seek to reconcile with them, and as best you can to forgive them, and as best you can to see if you can come to understanding, and sometimes you can, and sometimes you can't.

But if, even in those moments, if the most important thing to you is your name, then you're never going to forgive. If the most important thing to you is your name, it's going to be about you getting revenge, or about you being proven right.

But this, in our life, is for his name's sake, not our own. But most of the time, most of the time for us, where we struggle, is not the storms because we've made life a mess, and most of the time, it's not because someone has hurt us.

Most of the time, our pain and our struggle is because life is hard. And maybe a part of that is somebody else's decision, is somebody else's sin.

But some of that's just because the body breaks down, and that hurts. It's hard. And it's because businesses have to let people go, and people lose their jobs, and that's hard.

And earthquakes, and tornadoes, and fires are real, and property gets destroyed, and that's hard. And there are times we go through storms, and there's no one really to blame, and it's not even our sin, it's just, this world is hard.

And in those moments, you say, the purpose of my life is to bring glory to his name. And the good thing is, you can do that in any circumstance.

Wealthy, or poor, well-known, or obscure. You bring glory to his name when you follow in the paths of righteousness.

Jesus. And knowing that that's what glorifies him, and knowing that's the purpose for you in every situation, frees you to just say, Lord, whatever you bring my way today, I have one purpose, and that's to glorify your name, to live for your name's sake.

And so whether I glorify you in victory, or in defeat, if I glorify you in prosperity, or with very little, I just want to live for the sake of your name.

And if I glorify you because you healed me, I will praise your name. And if you call me to be faithful in the midst of the sickness that does not go away, I will glorify your name, and I will follow the paths you lead for me to walk in righteousness for the sake of your name.

And when everything comes to an end, as God's children, we arrive not only in the direction that was left for us, but in the right destination as we dwell with the Lord forever.

And understand the sake of his name is not just some temporary thing. This will be our theme through all eternity as we join our voices with the heavenly choir declaring, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.

His name is praised on earth. His name is praised in heaven. So whatever we face, here's what we know. The Lord is with us.

The Lord restores us. The Lord renews us. The Lord leads us. For the sake of his name one day, he will call us home. And that's the promise of the Lord as our restorer.

The Lord mind is of the Lord.

The Lord has of the Lord. The Lord has of the Lord. The Lord has of the Lord. The Lord has of the Lord. The Lord has of the Lord. The Lord has of the Lord. The Lord has of the Lord. The Lord has of the Lord. The Lord has