In Psalms 16:11 David writes of the Lord that “You make known to me the path of life.” In Psalm 23:3 David writes “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.”
I’ve been defining righteousness as having two aspects. First it is found in how we view others. It means seeing them through God's eyes which is to see them as so very precious that it cannot be measured. Then it means treating them accordingly. Obviously that is going to entail doing everything we can — day and night — to see to it that they enter into the fulness of God's purpose for them.
However, I find it interesting that in Psalm 23:3 David refers not to “a path” but to “paths of righteousness.” What I see there is this. When it comes to walking in righteousness — treasuring people and seeking out God’s best for them — there isn’t just one path upon which to go about it. Every person we know is unique. Their way of seeing life and all reality is distinctive. If we are committed to work with Jesus to reach them, I think we’re going to discover that Jesus has all kinds of different ways to go about it — paths of righteousness. Consequently, growing our capacity to listen to him for what he signals us to think, pray, do, or say, in our work with him is beyond important. We might say that such listening is the path of life upon which God leads us in paths of righteousness.
