Shew me Thy ways, O Lord; and teach me Thy paths.
Divine authority upon earth
All right-minded men will agree with Matthew Arnold’s famous saying, that “Conduct is three-fourths of human life.” It will be also admitted that the professed aim of all Churches and religious societies is to regulate and improve conduct. Sometimes, alas! orthodoxy, or right opinion, has been put not merely first, but by itself alone as the one chief aim to be enforced by the clergy, and to be accepted by the laity. But it seems only fair to say that these were examples of departure from the original ideal of a Church and its purpose. The claim of Divine authority to control the minds, hearts, and lives of the people, and to interfere even forcibly with individual freedom of thought and action, was designed, in the first instance, for the welfare of society and the moral elevation of its various members, and in that light must not be ruthlessly condemned. But the principle was liable to abuse, and the mischiefs wrought by its abuse have been terrible. They have been the cause of conflict which will continue as long as the claim of Divine authority is made on the one hand, and the sense of a God-given right to individual freedom remains on the other. What is the mischief that we want to remedy? It is the belief in the “Divine” authority of that which is but “human”; and as a consequence, the separation of the human soul from personal and direct intercourse with God--the substitution, in short, of the human for the Divine. We have these objections to it which are fatal.
I. That it is false. It is sufficient to expose the fallacy of the argument by which the claim of Divine authority is defended. And nothing is easier than this. The Church of Rome asserts, without proof, that God Himself lived on earth in the Person of Jesus, who transmitted, or delegated, His Divine power and authority first to the apostles, and subsequently to the Church founded by them, and to every succeeding head or pope of that Church; and that this Divine authority extends to matters of faith, i.e. doctrines to be believed, to rites and ceremonies, and to discipline and morals. Over all these, at least, the authority of the Church is claimed to be identical with the authority of God. But when we reverently ask on what ground we must accept the alleged Divine authority of Jesus, in the first instance, we are distinctly told that we must take all that on the authority of the Church. This is arguing in a circle.
II. The claim is needless. That is to say, men would get on in all things good, in the attainment of truth, in the adoption of religious ceremonies, and in the practice of virtue, quite as well without a divinely instituted Church as with it. It is not hard to show that the absence of belief in the claim to Divine authority has not been generally followed by any detrimental results either to religion or virtue. What is true and good and useful is entirely discoverable without the aid of miraculous revelation. It may be argued, this claim is needful, because the mass of men will not, or cannot, think for themselves; and the vast majority crave for certainty in things Divine, which certainly they cannot attain without the intervention of a divinely appointed authority upon earth. Because men crave for an external authority in matters of faith and duty, does not involve that they really need the authority they desire. (Charles Voysey, B. A.)
A prayer for Divine enlightenment
The text expresses the sincere desire of every Christian. He feels that he needs a Divine Teacher to enable him to understand Divine truth and obey the Divine precepts. Hence he approaches the fountain of all wisdom with the prayer of the text.
I. A prayer for Divine enlightenment.
1. The importance of a knowledge of God’s ways.
2. A willingness to follow Divine teaching. Every Christian is a learner, conscious of his own ignorance, and anxious to be divinely taught, he is prepared to renounce everything in his creed and conduct not in harmony with the Word of God.
3. A willingness to obey Divine teachings.” “Lead me in Thy paths.” We must first know God’s will, then do it.
II. God is the Teacher of His people. How does He teach? Human spirit can speak with human spirit. Who shall dare to say that the human spirit cannot be communicated with by the Divine?
1. By His Word.
2. By His Spirit.
3. By His providence.
III. The Psalmist’s method of obtaining the Divine teaching. “On Thee do I wait all the day.”
1. Wait humbly.
2. Wait earnestly.
3. Wait believingly.
4. Wait perseveringly.
5. God’s response to prayer is certain.
Let us have confidence in God. If the greatest Being deserves the profoundest reverence; if the kindest Being deserves the heartiest thanks; and if the best of Beings deserves the warmest love, then our highest reverence, thanks, and love are due to God. (H. Woodcock.)
Taught in God’s ways
In this verse are contained--
1. The Person whom he implores, Jehovah; whom he describeth, leading him, teaching him, receiving him in favour, and nourishing him (Psalms 25:4-6; Psalms 7:1-17).
2. What he seeks. God’s ways.
3. By what means? Teach me, and lead me.
4. The reason. Because Thou art my God, and I trust in Thee. So should pastors do. Who would be a good master, let him be a good apprentice; and this same should all private Christians desire, that God would teach them that way which will please Him best, even His own ways. (A. Symson.)
The knowledge of God in His ways
Two ways in which we may understand this Psalm. The writer may mean it as a prayer for direction, that he may be taught what to do, how to walk so as to please God. Or that God would declare Himself to the petitioner, and manifest to him what he is doing; that God would show His own ways to David, and teach him the issue of the hidden paths in which he was walking towards Him; not the paths the writer ought to follow, but those which the Almighty was pursuing. Consider this latter view. Such petitions and such complaints are common in the Scriptures, and natural to the heart of man. They are found in the secret thoughts, and not seldom in the expressed prayers of experienced and advanced Christians. Job was no common adept in the use of grace, and yet he earnestly begs, Show me wherefore Thou contendest with me. Jeremiah was a deeply exercised man, yet he could plainly perceive the difference in his own mind between belief and faith, between principle and practice. He says to God, “Let me talk with Thee of Thy judgments.” In the text the Psalmist appears to have the natural feeling more subdued. He cannot tell what God is doing. It is all dark and mysterious, and probably he thought that on that account he could not learn any lesson of wisdom from it: a conclusion which does by no means follow. It is not, “Show me Thy way, O Lord,” but ways; plural, not singular, not as though it were one and definite. What is mysterious, but intricate and manifold, often crossing one another, and apparently inexplicable, on account of seeming contradictions; not merely such as we do not understand on account of our ignorance, but such as seem impossible to be explained, because of their contrariety in themselves. And in very deed this is often the appearance of the ways of God. They are not only so plural, but so infinite in their plurality; so intertwined with and intersecting each other that there is reason to believe that if they were fully laid open to our view we would not be able to understand them, so intricate is their network. There is not a circumstance that occurs to ourselves or to others that is not an organised part of God’s instrumentality for bringing His purposes to pass. Consider the ways in which God deals with a soul in mercy.
1. In awakening, warning, and opening the eyes.
2. God’s ways in securing to Himself the heart of His child on earth are oftentimes perplexing. Discipline may succeed when love fails.
3. The ways in which a soul is led to feel after and find the Lord. No one can tell beforehand of another or of himself what will be the effective way, or what will fail.
4. It is the same in the teaching and building up of a soul. (G. Jeans, M. A.)
David’s desire in the time of trouble
I. The petition. David may have meant, “Show me Thy ways, O Lord, in Thy providence.” He may have wished a clearer insight into the great ways of God in His grace. He may have desired to know more distinctly the path in which he should walk. See how earnestly he urges his plea: he has every sort of motive in it. There is the plea of blindness, of ignorance, of utter weakness.
II. The plea.
1. “Thou art the God of my salvation.”
2. It is the God of my salvation.
3. He says, “On Thee do I wait all the day,” that is, throughout the whole day. Points for consideration. See what the true mark of a spiritual man is. See that God’s ways are always deep. His providence--how often it is intricate. The administrations of His grace--how profound they are.
4. See the humbleness of sanctified affliction. Sanctified affliction, because it is quite a mistake to suppose that all affliction is blessed to a child of God. It may ultimately tend to good, but there are many afflictions that are not immediate blessings to him. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)
O Lord, teach me Thy loaths.--
The Lord’s path
The wicked say to God, Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways; the good man acknowledges God in everything, and he commits himself entirely to His guidance and guardian care.
I. The prayer. The subject of the prayer--“Lord’s paths.”
1. Paths of Divine providence. Often dark, mysterious--always wise and right and good.
2. Paths of grace. Way of holiness, happiness, etc. Way through the desert to Canaan. Sometimes obscure and clouded. Pillar of cloud necessary.
3. Paths of duty. “Lord, what wouldest Thou have me to do?” Duty and ease, duty and interest, duty and desires, often at variance.
The prayer itself is for Divine teaching--“Lord, teach me.” Here is an admission of ignorance, of insufficiency, of anxiety, and of application to the right source. “Lord, teach me”--
1. Clearly to understand Thy paths.
2. Heartily to approve of them.
3. Constantly to walk in them. Notice--
II. The importance of this prayer. It is important to our intellectual and spiritual improvement. To grow in knowledge, path shine more and more, etc. (2 Peter 1:5). (J. Burns, D. D.)