Teach Me, O Lord!

I didn't have to go far in our reading today to find the verse that jumped out at me and then stayed with me through the entirety of the material. Right at the beginning of Psalm 25 there is the declaration:

I lift up my soul. 

Then, in verse 4, there is the plea:

Make me know Your ways, O Lord;Teach me Your paths.

Maybe it is because I am already turning my mind toward a sermon and toward Bible studies that I need to prepare this week, but for some reason, that cry stuck with me. Teach me Your paths. Teach me Your paths. Teach me Your paths.

To his disciples and earliest followers, Jesus was known as Rabbi (Teacher) before he was known as anything else. One of the lessons he had to teach was who he really was. But this was not a new work of God. This was a continuation of a long work of instruction that God has been doing. As individuals and as various associations of humanity (nations, ethnicities, etc.) and as humanity as a whole, our minds are darkened as a result of our own rebellion against God (sin). We do not see God rightly. We do not understand ourselves rightly. And we do not look at each other rightly. God must teach us what is right and good.

So this morning, I lift up my soul to the Lord, and I plead with the Great Teacher to make me know the ways of life and to teach me the paths that are right.