David Seeks God

In verses 4-7 David seeks God. If you find yourself in David’s situation—learn from him. Don’t let the enemy tell you that you have removed yourself from God’s love or care. Seek God and find His help. Look at what he prays,

“Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”

Four words to consider. Spurgeon called the first 3 pleas, “Three classes in the school of grace.”

Make Me. When David says, “Make me to know your ways, O LORD,” he is literally pleading with God to help him know by seeing. This is a plea for the Sovereign work of God. There is an incredible pattern in the Scripture of the writers asking for God to make them know His ways,

· Ex 33:13, “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.”

· Psalm 5:8, “Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.”

· Psalm 27:11, “Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.”

· Psalm 86:11, “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.”

· Psalm 119:27, “Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works…”

· Isaiah 2:3 and Micah 4:2, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.”

Why do we have to have God to make us see His ways? Think about what the Word says about God’s ways,

· Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

· Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

We can’t know the ways of God unless He shows them to us, but I think a great clue for us to understanding them was Psalm 119:27, “Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works.” God teaches us His ways through the Word. You and I must daily start by asking God, “Make me to know your ways, O LORD,” but David doesn’t stop there…he takes it up a level and with each point we see a progression.

Teach Me. “Teach me your paths.” First, he pleads for God to make me to know you by seeing your ways and then he pleads for God to teach him how to live in them. The word for path is the word for a well-trodden road. God’s ways cannot be seen unless He opens our eyes to see them, but once He opens our eyes to see them, we don’t have to re-invent the wheel. We follow God just as David did, just as Abraham did, just as those who have gone on before us. We read His Word, we hide it in our hearts, we pray, we worship, we do what is laid out for us in the Word—we do what Ezra did—we set our mind to study God’s Word, to obey God’s Word and to teach God’s Word.

We need to heed the counsel of Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus says the LORD: Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” We understand the ways of the Lord and the paths of the Lord through following Jesus Christ. We don’t need to worry about finding a new trail that promises deeper relationships and new revelations—we need to stick to the ancient paths as they are revealed in the Word of God and as God opens our eyes and shows us the path, we must follow Him.

Lead Me. “Lead me in your truth and teach me.” Do you see how God centered David is? Open my eyes, God to see your ways, teach me the ancient paths so I can know you, then he confesses, but God, I can’t even walk as I should once I see the path so be my Shepherd and lead me. David is pleading for the presence of God in every aspect of His life because he knows the value of it—he says at the end of verse 5, “For you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.”

He is walking on the road of righteousness, but he knows the ancient path is not the easy path, so he pleads for God to open His eyes to His ways. He doesn’t ask God to bless David’s way—he wants to see God’s way. He asks God to teach Him the paths that lead to Him and He finally recognizes that He can’t do it alone so He says lead me and I’ll follow and until you lead me—I will wait. Wait is a word we don’t like to hear, but our failure to wait has led to many sins.

In verse 6 David asks God to remember His mercy and His steadfast love and then in verse 7 he asks God to remember not the sins of his youth according to his steadfast love and for the sake of His goodness. That’s a bold prayer, but it is within the character of God as He has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures.