For His Name's Sake

"He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake" (Ps. 23:3, ESV).

Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, restores our soul.  When we enter into his  fold, he provides us with what we need, makes us lie down in green pastures, and leads us beside still waters.  He is a fierce protector of his sheep.  He will strike his enemies with crushing force.  Not one of his sheep will be snatched away by the wolves.  He restores our soul, in part, through his atoning sacrifice.  His grace is the entry point of our salvation. We are saved by grace, through faith.  Jesus continues the process of restoring our soul through the ongoing work of sanctification wrought by the Spirit in our lives.

The reason he restores our souls, the reason he leads us in paths of righteousness, should grasp our attention.  He does this for "his name's sake."  That is, the Lord leads us in paths of righteousness, so that his name will not be defamed.  Through the glorious work of grace in our lives, the Lord's name is magnified.  He is the gracious Redeemer, the Just and the Justifier, the Holy One, and the list goes on.  His strength can not only make a people for himself, but also rescue them from the penalty of their sin.

As he brings us to righteousness, through the application of the gospel to our hearts by the enabling work of the Holy Spirit, God demonstrates that his holiness is unquestionable.  His eyes are to holy to look on sin, so sin must be punished.  God, in his grace, allows the guilt to be paid by substitution, but that substitute must meet his holy standards.  So in Christ, we find our holy substitute.  His life was given as a ransom for our sins.

As he works holiness in our lives, through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, God demonstrates his strength cannot fail.  The people that he chose as his own, cannot be snatched from his hands.  He will not, nor could he be compelled to, let them go.  If God were to let them fall away, it would appear that he was unable to keep them.  This he will not do.

The Lord is serious about his glory, and rightly so.  We tend to hear the echoes of egomania when hear that the Lord is jealous for his glory, but this is nonsense.  God is not a man, full of imperfections and weakness.  His is God-perfect, holy, just, righteous, gracious, merciful, and kind.  Were he to allow something to become greater than his own glory, he would be sanctioning idolatry, the very thing he loathes.  There is nothing greater than God, and thus there is nothing greater than his glory.

He restores our soul.  He brings it back from its wanderings.  He cleanses it of its disease.  He purges it of its disloyalties.  He brings it back to life.  He leads us in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  He wants to make his name known throughout the world through us.  He wants the nations to revere his name.  He wants drawn them, through his glory, to himself.  He redeems us for his purposes, so that we can make him known in the world.