# 51. 2017 Dev. Ps. 25:4-5. Teach us your ways! Read all of Ps 25. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
Psalm 25:4-5 “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long”.
Ps 25 is a free standing alphabetic acrostic Psalm, not part of a group of Psalms. It is a Psalm of David and is a prayer for mercy, for forgiveness, for God’s grace, for God’s goodness and for God’s guidance.
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been concerned with responding to God’s grace and to His call. In this Ps. David appears to be struggling with opposition, or the result of sin in his life. His first words are: “To you O Lord, I lift up my soul;” This is found in the NIV 2008 update and not found in other versions that start with “In you Lord my God I put my trust”. Here we see that it is more than trust, David lifts up his very being to God, complete dependence, complete trust and dependence on the Spirit. Perhaps David thinks he has lost his way or wandered off the right path. Verses 4,5 asks God for direction, to teach David the right way. Verses 6 and 7 remind God of His mercy and love and asks God not to remember his sins or David’s “rebellious ways”. While verses 8, 9, 10 and 11 talks of God’s goodness. Verses 12-22 shows us all the types of people who receive God’s goodness.
The prayer of vs. 4 and 5 must be prayed everyday, there are values, and life styles, unacceptable in the past, that are now accepted in churches, and by those claiming to be Christians, such as same sex marriages, lesbian and gay people accepted as leaders; deacons, elders and pastors in churches. Truly we need the power of the Holy Spirit to be able to discern God’s will. We all have sins in our lives but God forgives and remembers them no more when we repent and change our ways. When we do not change our ways we become law breakers and Jesus tells us (Mt. 5:17-20) that law breakers will be least in the Kingdom. It is not a matter of salvation but there are ramifications in this life and the life to come when we hold on to areas in our lives that do not please God. Take note!
How then are we taught God’s truth as David requests from God? As long as people believe in God as their Lord and Savior they are our brothers and sisters in Jesus, Amen! While we accept them as such, the church or Christians must not normalize sin and or life styles that do not please God, whether they are able to help themselves or not. Certainly, they should be welcomed into the church as communicant members but positions of leadership must be judged by Biblical standards. Therefore, those not able to show ongoing repentance do not qualify for leadership in the Church of Christ.
There are two important issues that go along with the normalization of values that God clearly rejects in Scripture. First, what are we teaching our children? Are we teaching our children the ways of God as we read it in Scripture? Second, Is the world influencing the church or must the church set direction in the world? I think we all know the answer to those questions. Further, it high lights David’s prayer: “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.5 Guide me in your truth and teach me”. Holy Spirit guide us and guide your church Amen.
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