Right Paths

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Psalm 23:3b

I cannot on my own do any righteous act (Romans 3:10). I am totally depraved. My flesh constantly leans toward sin. But God will not leave me to my own devices. He wills my sanctification (Phillipians 1:6). He disciplines me because he loves me (Hebrews 13:6). There are two reasons for this:  first, he is my Father in heaven and wants good for me (Romans 8:28), but more importantly, as I am an ambassador for him, he wills my actions to be righteous so that he is glorified. So, it is guaranteed that I will be sanctified because of God's word and because of God's glory. I can rest in the fact that God will guide me in paths of righteousness. Yet if I purposefully stray, the hand of God is to be feared for he will not leave me there for long. His name is too glorious to allow that to happen.