He restores my strength. He leads me down the
right path for the sake of his reputation.
My rough translation from Hebrew:
My breath, my vitality, the image of He on me is restored,
from the inside out. (There seems a kind
of play on words here…literally it says His breath breaths into me again, as it
did on the day man was created). He guides me on the track, the entrenched circumvallation,
cleansing and clearing, justifying and vindicating me, with the goal and
purpose that I heed, and testify and respond as visible, earthly witness and
sign of His renown, of His loftiness.
Greek:
My life he returned, he guided me upon roads of
righteousness because of his name.
Drawn from various commentaries:
The psalmist is confident that God takes him down paths that
will ultimately lead to something beneficial, not destructive.
The ways in which God guides me in life – both the “resting”
and the “changes” – are intended not only for my physical well-being, but also
for my spiritual and moral welfare; thus, “He restores my soul.”
“He restores my soul” also refers to Torah study, as David
also wrote: “The Torah of Hashem is whole, restoring the soul” (Psalm 19:8).
It is known that the Torah emphasizes justice for both the
individual and society. It is therefore not surprising that David proclaimed:
“He leads me on paths of justice for His Name’s sake.”
The Hebrew word for justice in this verse is tzedek –
a word which also refers to righteousness.
“Hashem will establish you as His holy people, as He swore
to you, if you observe the requirements of Hashem, your God, and you walk in
His ways. Then all the peoples of the earth will see that the Name of Hashem is
proclaimed over you, and they will revere Hashem – because of you.”
(Deuteronomy 28: 9,10)
We, the people of the Torah, are to live our lives in the
spirit of this Name. Our Shepherd leads us
on the paths of tzedek for the sake of the compassionate, loving, and
life-giving attributes associated with His Name.
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