Teach Me Your Paths
“Make me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths” (Psalm 25:4).
Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
One of
the things that I appreciate most about the psalms is their transparency and honesty.
The psalmist speaks to God, directly and openly. Though they aren’t always
right with their initial understanding of their situation, the psalmists lay
their souls bare before God, honestly describing life as we live it every day—its
highs and its lows, its joys and its sorrows, its triumphs and its struggles, its
proud moments and its shameful ones. In the psalms, we learn what it’s like to
live in a close relationship with God—someone we can talk with about our
deepest hopes and our darkest secrets. And we learn what it’s like when that
relationship is strained—when its seems God has turned His back on us, or we
wish that He would leave us alone. As we consider our psalm this evening, we
will find that many of the thoughts expressed here are our thoughts, too.
David,
the psalmist, has experienced life’s ups and downs, its challenges and joys.
Here, in Psalm 25, we find his praise to God. And we also find requests that he
is making of God as well. David is facing hardships. Sometimes loneliness
catches up with him. Sometimes, he’s overcome by grief and sorrow. In the midst
of life’s messiness, David is trying to figure out God and His will. He wants
to live according to God’s Word. So we find him openly confessing his sins
before God. Confident of God’s mercy and grace, David also humbly lays his other
requests at God’s feet.
Psalm 25
is basically a prayer. It asks for three things from God:
1)
Deliverance
from enemies
2)
Guidance
for godly living
3)
Forgiveness
for sins
David
begins: “To You, O Lord, I lift up my
soul. O my God, in You I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies
exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for You shall be put to shame; they shall
be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous” (Psalm 25:1-3).
What a picture of prayer we have in these words! On
our own merits, none of us would dare approach God with our petitions. But
commanded and invited by God to make our requests known to Him in the name of
His Son Jesus Christ, we do so, fully expecting Him to answer us in a way and
at the time He deems is best for us. “God tenderly invites us to believe that
He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all
boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.”[i]
So, dear Christians, we lift up our soul to Him,
who has made us His own. Like smoke rising from an altar, our prayers ascend to
the Lord, our God. They ascend not because of any innate worth in us. We are
like the ashes left on the altar. Our prayers ascend because of Jesus. Like the
fire that sends up the smoke, so faith that trusts in Jesus burns in our
hearts, lifting up our soul in prayer. And just as faith is much more than
outward words claiming to follow Jesus, so also prayer comes from deep within.
It comes from our soul.
We lift up our souls in prayer with that hope that
eagerly waits for the Lord to answer. Yet sometimes, we wonder: The Lord seems
slow in keeping His promises. Did we misunderstand? Has our trust been
misplaced? Will we be left feeling ashamed that we counted on the Lord?
You might find this surprising, but at times, David
also struggled with those same doubts. Maybe when you think of David, you
picture the young David facing Goliath. Against impossible odds, he faced that
giant trusting in the Lord alone. And by the end of the day, people were
celebrating his victory. Not much waiting there. Instant gratification. Total
victory.
But there was more to David’s life, dear friends,
than that quick victory. Samuel had anointed young David as king. But it was
years until he actually ruled over Israel. And how did David spend those years?
Like a yo-yo. One moment he’s in the king’s court, treated like part of the
family. The next, he’s almost pinned to the wall by Saul’s spear. Then there were
years of running like a fugitive, hiding in caves, never staying too long in
one place, separated from his loved ones. David ended seeking asylum among the
Philistines, the very enemy from which Goliath had come. How upside down it all
seemed! Don’t you suppose that there were times when David wondered if he would
ever be king? Would he even survive? In whom could he hope? In whom could he
trust?
But as he lifted up his soul in prayer, David knew
the answer. The Lord is faithful. David’s trust in the Lord would not be put to
shame. For the Lord never fails those whose hope is in Him. As David prays, he
thinks not only of himself and his troubles, he prays for all of God’s people. “None
who wait for You shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly
treacherous” (Psalm 25:3).
That includes you, dear Christian. Because of
Jesus, your hope is in the Lord. Since Jesus and His promises are the
foundation of your trust, your hope stands firm and sure. Remember that as you
face the long trials of life. Don’t build your hope on empty promises dreamed
up by the world or your own imagination. God has not promised an easy life, a
successful life, or even a pleasant one. But He has promised to protect your
soul as you rely on Him and finally to deliver you from this world of sorrow, by
bringing you to His heavenly home. Until that day the journey can be rough and
hope may appear dim, but in the end, you will not be put to shame as long as
you hold on to Jesus.
So you pray with David, “Make me to know Your ways,
O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are
the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long” (Psalm 25:4-5).
Let’s expand those first three phrases. We pray
with David, “Make me to know Your ways, O Lord. Let me see on the pages of
Scripture, how You revealed Your saving plan. Throughout the ages, since You
first promised Adam and Eve a Savior to crush Satan’s head, Your Word has
unraveled that mystery until Jesus and His cross fulfilled what You had
promised. How marvelous is Your way of salvation, O Lord! Let me see it as I
study Your Word.”
We keep praying with David: “Teach me Your paths.
Let me not only see Your plan of salvation, but engrave it on my heart and
mind. Teach my inmost being so that false doctrine does not lead me astray nor
Satan’s lies deceive me. Teach me Your paths so that I may contemplate them day
and night and meditate on them as I wait for You, O Lord.”
“Lord, lead me in Your truth and teach me for You
are the guide of my salvation. Guide me to walk the road of my life according
to Your will, which I can only know from Your Word. Keep my footsteps from
sinning. Make me a blessing to my companions along the way, so that all I do
glorifies You.”
Do you see, dear friends, how prayer that comes
from deep within is also prayer that cherishes God’s Word? For true prayer can
only sprout up from His Word that’s taken root in our heart. So we pray: “Make
me to know Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.” And the Lord answers as You
study His Word.
Having asked God for deliverance from his enemies
and guidance for his life, David moves to his greatest need, something only God
can give—forgiveness! “Remember Your mercy, O Lord, and Your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my
transgressions; according to Your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of
your goodness, O Lord!” (Psalm 25:6-7). Notice how David does not excuse past sins or
claim that they were not sinful. Rather, he confesses that sin has affected his
entire life and he is in desperate need of forgiveness.
We cannot
earn God’s forgiveness. He must teach us how to be forgiven, how to receive His
blessings. He must show us the way. He must do it for us. He must tread the
path before us.
The path
that Jesus walked went from His baptism to the wilderness, to ministry and
suffering, through cross and grave, to resurrection and paradise. At His baptism,
Jesus received the Father’s affirmation and the Holy Spirit’s blessing, even as
He identified with us sinners. In the wilderness, Jesus overcame all the temptations
the devil could throw at Him using only God’s Word. During His ministry, Jesus took
up our infirmities into Himself and suffered the indignities and calamities that
come with living in the fallen world. On the cross, Christ paid the ransom for
the sins of the world, your sins, my sins. Rising from the dead, He proved His
power over our greatest enemies: sin, devil, and death. Now ascended to the
Father’s right hand, He lives and reigns to all eternity.
Jesus’
path goes through suffering, temptation, and death; but it ultimately leads to
forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.
Yours
does, too! You follow in the Lord’s footsteps, walking down the path Jesus
first trod. It begins in the water and Word of Holy Baptism, where you receive
God’s Holy Spirit, the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. From there
you go to the wilderness of this world, a time of testing and temptation, of service
and suffering, of taking up your cross, putting to death your old Adam by daily
contrition and repentance, that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live
before God in righteousness and purity forever. Your Good Shepherd leads you in
paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. And even though you know you must
one day walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you do not fear, for He
is with you all the way leading you and protecting you and bringing you to
Paradise. One day, the Lord Jesus Christ will return to raise you and all the
dead and bring you and all believers to live with Him forever.
Therefore, we pray with David: “Good and upright is
the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in
what is right, and teaches the humble His way. All the paths of the Lord are
steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep His covenant and His
testimonies” (Psalm 25:8-10). Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding
keep your heart and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English
Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[i]
Luther, M. (1991).
Luther’s Small Catechism
with Explanation. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.
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