Finding God’s Direction
“Show me your ways O Lord,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.(Psalm 25:4-5)
There are at least 18 petitions in this psalm. And what David does in these petitions is come to God in every aspect of his situation. David prays in every circumstance: He asks God to guard his life and deliver him from the foes (v. 20). He asks God to turn to him and be gracious and relieve his loneliness (v. 16). He asks God not to remember the sins of his youth (v. 7) but to pardon his guilt (vv. 11, 18). And in verses 4 and 5 he asks God to take away his uncertainty and confusion by making him know God’s ways and leading him in truth.
In other words David comes to God with his fear and his loneliness and guilt and confusion and pleads with God to make things right and to lead him in the way of love and faithfulness (v. 10). I suppose most of us take that for granted. Of course, that’s what you do when you are uncertain about God’s will for your future–you pray.
But take this issue of guidance for example. How does God answer that? If you face a decision, and there is no biblical command relating directly to that specific choice, should you wait for a dream or a vision or a voice in your head? Will there be some miracle in the circumstances to point the way? God can certainly use any of those means. But I think I can say that these are not His normal means of guidance in such cases. It seems to me that the Bible describes the ordinary guidance of God as the development of spiritual sensitivity and alertness to circumstances.
In other words, God guides us by bringing our hearts and minds into harmony with His own heart and mind so that when we study a situation, we discern what path would best concur with the character and purposes of God that we know from Scripture. So what we ought to be asking when we pray, “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me,” is that God would create in us a spiritual sensitivity to Himself and that He would help us see all the relevant factors that relate to the decision we’re about to make. God teaches us his way by alerting us to significant facts of the situation and by awakening us to the implications of his purpose.
Here’s three points I see in Psalm 25 to tap into in order to find God’s direction:
1) Trust: It is the first thing David says in the psalm in verses 1-2, “To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust, Do not let me be ashamed; Do not let my enemies exult over me. If you ask me, how can I know the will of God? I would say that we first need to have total trust in God.
2) Humility: “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.” (Psalm25:9) In other words a person who feels helpless in himself has one of the indispensable spiritual qualifications for discerning what pleases the Lord. The quest for guidance must be the quest for humility. If you ask me, How can I know the will of God?
I will say, “Admit all known sin and humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.”
3) Covenant Keeping: “All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.” (Psalm 25:10) What does it mean to keep God’s covenant and his testimonies? It means that you hold to His Word faithfully and in obedience.
How can you attain God’s guidance? Trust God, be humble, and keep His covenant and testimonies.
