Let’s read that beautiful psalm in its entirety. 

Psalm 23:1-6, “A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” 

The psalm is so tender because David himself had been a shepherd.  When he sought permission from King Saul to battle Goliath, the giant, we read in 1 Samuel 17:33-37, “And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.” (Read also 1 Samuel 16:11).  David knew what it was like to be a good and effective shepherd…and he acknowledged the Lord as HIS shepherd.  I encourage you to read this psalm carefully with the realization that this psalm was written by a shepherd about his shepherd…the Lord Jesus Christ.

You specifically asked about the latter part of Psalm 23:3. That says, “…he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”  Let us look at this portion carefully to answer your good question.

He leadeth me

  • Sheep are stubborn animals who want to go their own, habitual ways.
  • Isaiah 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
  • Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
    • We sometimes go our own way, but insist we are being led of the Lord.

In the paths of righteousness

  • Proverbs 8:20, “I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment.”
  • Isaiah 42:16, “And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.”
  • Job 28:7, “There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen.”
    • Job 28:23, “God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.”

For his name’s sake

  • Not because of any worth in me, but to exalt His own worthy name and to show the glory of His grace.
    • Psalms 79:9, “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.”
    • Ephesians 1:6, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” 

The shepherd is a guide. The sheep didn’t need to know where the green pastures or still waters were; all they needed to know was where the shepherd was. Likewise, the LORD will lead us along the path of truth.  He will lead us in ‘the paths of righteousness’, in the way of holy obedience.  The Lord’s desire is to display the glory of his grace. He leads us for his own glory and the praise of his grace, and not for any of our own merits. (CC)  (594.4)