May 8th

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Psalm 22 - 26.

Here's a couple of commentaries on some of these Psalms if you're interested...
Chapter 23 - Bob Deffinbaugh, John Piper
Chapter 25 - John Piper

Scripture
Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5

Observation
David is asking God to guide and teach him.

Application
The above referenced commentary by John Piper for this chapter is an excellent one and I strongly encourage you to read it.

He starts with a strong warning to Christians - that to accept Christ as Saviour and yet not as Lord (authoritative advisor) is to reject Him. Strong words of warning indeed! I think this is an easy trap to fall into. As sinners we recognize our sinfulness and see our need for a saviour, and yet, also as sinners, we still have the desire to go our own way, somehow thinking we know better than God what is best for our lives. The truth, of course, is that we do not. We need to trust God that His perfect will for our lives is the path of our greatest joy.

In this psalm, David struggles with fear (v2, 19), loneliness (v16), guilt (v7, 8, 11, 18) and confusion (v4-5), and his first response, as ours should be, is prayer. Taking our struggles to God seems like a no-brainer, and yet we often do not do it right away. At least, not before spending wasting time worrying, stressing and just getting ourselves even more worked out and in an even deeper hole than we were to begin with. We need to let our prayers for guidance be our first response, not our last resort.

God guides us by bringing our hearts and minds into harmony or sympathy with his own heart and mind so that when we study a situation, we discern (you might even say intuit) what path would best accord 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 and moral conformity to himself and that he would help us see all the relevant factors that relate to the decision we're about to make. (from John Piper commentary, emphasis mine)

According to Piper the steps to knowing the will of God are...
1) Confess all known sin humbly in God's sight, relying on His commitment to His own name ("for thy name's sake")
2) Fear the Lord
3) Trust God
4) Pursue holiness, not divine messages (writing on the wall)

As we study the Bible, meditate on God and His Word, as we communicate with Him, as He reveals Himself to us, as we practice discernment, as we become more like Jesus - our decisions will become clear.

Prayer
Lord, we thank You for Your compassion and mercy, for Your forgiveness and grace. You are an awesome God, You are the Creator of all things, You are the Alpha and Omega, You are Love and Justice. Lord, we trust You. We trust that Your plan for our lives is the best one. Lord we want to know You. We want to become more like You every day. Guide us in Your truths and teach us! Amen.

Tomorrow's passage: Psalm 27 - 32