For His Name’s Sake

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. 

Psalm 23:3 

God gets the glory. Christ, the Good Shepherd, acts toward us in every way to do us good. He provides for all our most basic necessities. He sees to it that we lack for nothing. He gives us food, water, rest, and restores our depleted souls. He leads us along the right path to our desired haven. Why does He do all these things? He does them, ‘for His name’s sake.’ Because God is God with all that entails, He is worthy of all the glory for all He does. The psalmist put it this way, ‘Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth.’ This includes all the ways in which He deals with us. Our natural inclination is to want some of the credit for our own self-care, preservation, or inclination toward spiritual things. David understood that the reason he could survive and thrive was because Christ was his Shepherd. Apart from Him there is no thriving or surviving. In our most spiritual moments we want God to have the glory He deserves. We want all the saints and angels to worship Him. We want to behold Christ, sitting on the Throne, high and lifted up. We know He is worthy. Therefore when we come to a text that tells us He does what He does, ‘For His name’s sake.’ Our response is, ‘Amen.’ We want Him to have all the glory He deserves both now and forever. 

Our Glorious Living God, 
we rejoice at what You do for Your Name’s sake 
We praise You that for Your Own glory, 
You will lead us to a good end. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning