Psalm 25:4,5 Show me Your Ways …
King David began Psalm 25 with the words, “To You O Lord do I lift up my soul.” The words of this Psalm are a cry from his heart. He calls on God for deliverance, mercy, forgiveness. He declares God’s goodness in various ways.
Verses 4 and 5 give us a glimpse into his heart. When you consider the songs he was able to write at this time of his life, we could be tempted to think that he already knew God about as well as one could hope. But David wasn’t about to stagnate in his walk with God.
I imagine that David must have prayed this prayer many times over his life. It didn’t matter how far he had gone with God, how ‘mature’ he was in the Lord, this prayer was never going to be superseded by a more up to date one. There is always more for us to know of God. There is always a greater intimacy we can enjoy with Him. There are always treasures we have not yet discovered in His Word.
So this prayer was fresh for David. It was fresh every time he prayed it.
And so it is for me.
I frequently pray verses 4 and 5 of Psalm 25 before I read the Bible. I am hungry for God. I want to know Him better. I want to be a Kingdom builder. I want to help impact my community and the world. I will do it best when my relationship with my Heavenly Father is fresh.
So before I read the Bible -I regularly ask Him to
‘Show me Your ways O Lord.
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me.
For you are the God of my salvation,
On You do I wait all the day.” Psalm 25:4,5
Show me Your Ways
Isaiah 55:8,9 tells us that God’s ways are not our ways. In fact it says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways.” There’s not just a little difference between the ways of God and the ways of man. There’s a world of difference and I will only ever be able to walk in God’s ways if I seek them and ask Him to show them to me. Most of us are so immersed in the world’s values and mindsets that we don’t realise how little we walk in God’s ways. Romans 12:2 says, “Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind ….” And Ephesians 5:26 says that we, the Church, are washed, or cleansed, by the Word. It is the Word of God alive in us that will ‘show us God’s ways’. As Christians we need to actively seek God to show us His ways and than be prepared to let God change our hearts and minds so we can become more like Him.
Teach me Your Paths
Proverbs 2:9 exhorts us to heed all that God tells us. It tells us to seek out wisdom, understanding and knowledge, and that one of the results of doing this will be that you, ‘…shall understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity, yes, every good path.”
So there is not just one path, but many, and three are listed here - righteousness, judgment and equity.
Psalm 25:10 says “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.” As we learn to walk in God’s paths, they will bring us mercy and truth.
It is the Word of God that teaches me the paths of God, and then that same Word becomes a ‘light to my paths’. (Psalm 119:105) My life may not always be easy, and I can’t usually see very far ahead, but God assures me of His guidance and His light which will keep me from stumbling as I walk in His Paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me
Recorded history reveals that for as long as man has been on this earth, he has searched for truth. People will do all sorts of things if they believe it will lead them to ‘truth’. Many have gone on long and difficult pilgrimages to ‘sacred sites’. These days, many westerners will travel to countries such as India and Nepal to sit at the feet of some ‘guru’ who has been proclaimed to be the fountain of all wisdom. Throughout history some strange things have been done in the name of ‘truth’. One man lived on a small platform at the top of a pole for many years.
However, truth is not to be found in locations, or in other humans. Truth will only be found in one person - Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God - “…grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:14)
Jesus isn’t described as having truth. He is truth itself. In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life”. It is God’s Word that will lead us to know the truth - that is, Jesus.
The wonderful power of truth is that it sets us free (John 8:32) and Jesus assured us that “If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
Truth is also one of our weapons given to us to use against the enemy. That truth is Christ, and Christ is the Word of God in fleshly form. So it brings us right back to our need to call on God to open His Word to us.
For You are the God of my salvation. On You do I wait all the day.
No-one else but Almighty God. He is our salvation. We can’t save ourselves but are completely dependent on Almighty God for all that we have, are and will be.
It does us well to remember this. He provides our needs. He cares for us like no-one else could. He is our peace, our security, our sure hope, our provision, our healer, our eternal destiny. No wonder David said, “On You do I wait all the day.”! Why would you wait on anyone else or for anything else?
If your experience is that God’s Word reads more like a text book that a book of LIFE, let me encourage you to start praying Psalm 25:4,5 - or a similar verse of your choosing - then take the time to dig out some of those treasures God has waiting for you in His Word.
Be patient and be persistent. After a while you will begin to realize that you are being nourished by God’s Word in new and fresh ways.