Psalm 25:4
Psalm 25:4-5 says, Shew me thy
ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou
art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Faith comes
by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. God wants to shew,
to teach, and to lead men into the righteousness which is of faith in Jesus
Christ. To learn the ways of the LORD one merely need learn the Word of God.
One of the great things about the book of Psalms is much of Psalms is a model
of what to pray to Jesus. One of the things we should pray to Jesus for is that
He shew, teach, and lead us in His truth. The mistake
that many people make is that instead of relying upon God, they rely too much
upon men to teach them. There is one mediator between God and man, the Man
Jesus Christ.
The teacher-student relationship is a two-way
relationship. The teacher must be willing to teach, and the student must be
willing to learn. First Timothy 2:4 says, Who will
have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Jesus certainly is willing to teach men his ways and to lead them in truth. We
know that Jesus is willing to teach because He has both provided and preserved
His Word without error. We know that Jesus is willing to teach because not only
has He provided His Word but he has gifted some of His children with the gift
of teaching. We know Jesus desires for us to learn truth because Jesus himself
came to this earth in the form of a man and taught us. And lastly, we know that
God desires for us to learn his ways because those who are saved have the
Spirit of God to teach them. The question is, are you
willing to learn? To be willing to learn you must be repentant of your sins. A
person who is not repentant of sin when they are confronted with sin is a
person who is not willing to learn the ways of the LORD.
Second Timothy 2:15 says, Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the
word of truth. Every day is a new opportunity. Part of the purpose of
life is to learn today what it is God wants you to learn about his Word. A person who prays to Jesus and says, Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths, is also
a person who will study Gods Word because it is through the word of God that
we learn who Jesus Christ is. It is
through Gods Word that we learn the promises of God and the practical moral
things of life.
To study Gods Word takes time. But most
importantly it takes the Spirit of God.
First Corinthians 2:9-16, As it is written,
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath
revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which
is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man,
but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but
the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given
to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all
things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the
LORD, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Do not underestimate the power and the importance
of Gods Word. By the Word of God the heavens and the earth were created. By
word of God men learn of Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God
to convict men of their sins and draw them unto Jesus. Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God. By the Bible our minds can be renewed every day and our thought patterns
can be transformed more into a Christ-like mind.
Consider these three phrases in Psalms
25: Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy
truth. Shew me thy ways, O LORD. The word shew can also be translated to know or to perceive. Genesis
3:5-7, And the eyes of them both were opened, and
they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons. Shew me thy
ways, O LORD. The way of the Lord is repentance of sin. Little
children do not understand the difference between right and wrong. But all men
reach an age of accountability where they understand the difference between
right and wrong. God created it this way because he wants to shew men His ways and He wants them to repent of their
sins. Therefore, God gives men time and prepares the hearts of men so that when
the Holy Spirit comes to shew man Jesus,
that man will have no excuse if he chooses to not repent. God is
merciful. God is gracious. God has loving kindness. The best way to be shown
the ways of the LORD is to study Gods Word and to believe it.
The tendency of men is the same as it was for Adam
and Eve who knew that they were naked and sewed fig leaves together attempting
to cloth themselves. The sinful nature of man is to be
self-righteous. The way of the LORD is the way of faith in the promises of God.
Repent of your sins to Jesus and believe that He forgives. To know means to
be consciously aware. To perceive means to see. Awake thou that sleepest and Christ shall give thee light. Jesus is the
way, the truth, and the life. Gods Word is light. Shew
me thy ways, O LORD! Teach me thy word!
Teach me thy paths. The word teach which is used here means to beat with a rod
or to train a recruit for war. This same
word is used in Psalms 144:1 which says, Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Therefore, you should
study the scriptures and you should study them diligently. It does not matter
how much you know. There is always more to learn and there is always so much to
be reminded of. Jesus said, Man shall not live by
bread alone but by every Word of God.
Even the study of the scriptures can be a
spiritual battle. The pride of man so easily leads men away from the truth.
This very problem of the pride of man is the reason so many preachers stray away
into their own ideas instead of relying upon the power of the Word of God.
Teach me thy ways, O LORD. Teach me Thy Word. If you drive by a church and you
look on the sign and you see the words of man there in a short and witty saying
instead of a verse of scripture, you have a perfect example of this mistake.
This is a falling away. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Words of God.
Not only can the pride of man lead a person astray
from reliance on the word of God, but so too can false
teaching. There are many, many false teachers, and many, many wolves in
sheeps clothing. The best way to not be led astray by false teachers and false
teachings is to pray to Christ, Teach me thy ways.
Put yourself into the word of God with the zeal and the effort of a person
training for great strenuous warfare.
Lead me in thy truth. This word lead means to tread. The idea is that of
consistency and thoroughness and accuracy. Consider these verses in which the
same word is used. Job 24:11, Which make oil
within their walls and tread their wine presses, and suffer thirst. Deuteronomy
1:36, Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see
it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his
children because he hath wholly followed the LORD. First
Chronicles 8:40, And the sons of Ulam were mighty men of valour, archers,
and had many sons, and sons sons, an hundred and fifty. All these are of the sons of Benjamin. This word
lead is even translated archers. This brings out the idea of accuracy.
Jesus said in John 17:17 when He prayed, Sanctify
them through thy truth, thy word is truth. First John 4:6 says, We are of God: he that knoweth
God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the
spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. The spirit of God will not
lead you into false doctrine but into truth. You can be certain when you pick
up a King James Bible that you have the best translation of the Word of God in
the English language. You can be certain that Gods Word is without error and
preserved. It is Holy. It is perfect. You can be certain that everything it
says is true.
Lead me in thy truth. Think of it this way:
God took the time to give man His Word. He carefully planned out and provided
for it by using holy men of God over the course of several thousand years. You
should take the care and the planning, and you should give of your time to be
lead into the careful study of the scriptures because faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. And the words of the LORD are pure words as
silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times.
Lead me in thy truth. Lead me in thy word, O
LORD Jesus. Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy
truth. Pray to Jesus to help
you know the truth. To know, to train for war, to tread thoroughly: this is the
kind of effort that should be given in the study of Gods Word. Not all men are
called and gifted to be preachers. But all of Gods children should study His
Word. Jesus said, Man shall not live by
bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of
the mouth of God. Second Timothy 2:15
says, Study to shew
thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
In these verses the word teach
is repeated. Remember this word means to beat with a rod or to train a recruit
as for war. The two most important things you can do as a Christian to walk
with the Lord and to train for spiritual warfare is prayer and studying the
Bible. Here in Psalms 25 both are synonymous. Perhaps Psalms 1 sums up best
these ideas when it says, Blessed is the man that
walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the
scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he
meditate day and night. In His law doeth He meditate
day and night. Psalms 25:5 says, Lead me in thy
truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait
all the day.
The first and most important truth to learn is the
Gospel of Jesus Christ: ..for thou art the God of my salvation;.. Who is Jesus and what is His Gospel? The Word
Gospel means good news. The good news is that Jesus, the Son of God, came to
this earth and died for sinful men and rose again. Even though the Gospel is a
very simple story there is much to learn about it. Even though God calls and
uses men to teach and to preach, we live in the last days. There is a falling
away. There are many anti-christs. There are many
wolves in sheeps clothing. The best thing for you to do is not to rely upon
others but to rely upon the Spirit of God to help you understand the Holy
Scriptures.
If you want to really know who Jesus Christ is,
then you should put forth the time and the effort it takes to study Gods Word.
And you should pray to Christ, Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy
truth, and teach me. Who is Jesus?
Peter the apostle gave a sermon to the Jews on who Jesus was, and Peter said in
Acts 2:22-35, Ye men of Israel, hear these words;
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and
signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves know: Him,
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have
taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up,
having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be
holden of it. For David speaketh
concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right
hand, that I should not be moved.
Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my
flesh shall rest in hope: because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither
wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt
make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak
unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead
and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his
throne; He seeing this before spake of the
resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh
did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed
forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the
heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my
Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes
thy footstool.
Who is Jesus? Jesus is the only begotten Son of
God. Jesus is the God-man. He is the son of man. He is God, who having come in
the flesh, died for the sins of the world on the cross of Calvary and rose from
the grave 3 days later defeating death. Who is Jesus? He is the fulfillment of
all the promises God has made both to the children of Israel and to the
gentiles. This is why Jesus Christ is both the Savior of the World and the
Messiah. There is only one Jesus Christ and you can learn about Him through His
Word, the Holy Bible. Who is Jesus? He is the king of Kings, the king of Glory.
Psalms 25:5 says, Lead
me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do
I wait all the day. On thee do I wait all
the day.
A big part of being a follower of Jesus is simply learning to wait on him. The
primary thing that the children are waiting for is the fulfillment of Gods
promises. God has given many promises to His children, most of which have yet
to be fulfilled. Ephesians 1:10-14 says, That in
the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in
him: in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all
things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of
his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that
ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of
promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the
purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
On thee do I wait all
the day for the redemption of the
purchased possession. You will never learn to wait on God until you
first repent of your sins and turn to Jesus for Salvation. And then you will
only learn what it fully means to wait on God by turning to His Word and
studying it consistently day by day like a man who traineth
for war.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2012 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved