"Teach me to do thy will; for thou are my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness."
Psalm 143:10
Our Lord, our Creator, wants us to know Him. Without His Word, the Bible, our knowledge of God would be incomplete. He will teach us from His Word as we take the time to read it and meditate on it.
“Teach me to do thy will.”
“How childlike.” Notice we didn’t say “childish,” for that speaks to a whole other issue that needs maturing to remedy. But childlikeness points us back to when we had faith like a child. And that child’s faith lets its possessor do anything that our Savior asks of us. Like David, our hearts should be crying out to the Lord to “teach me to do thy will!”
“How childlike – “teach me”! How practical – “Teach me to do”! How undivided in obediences – “to do thy will”! To do all of it, let it be what it may” [1] (Spurgeon).
There is no better teacher than our God. He is the source of all knowledge, His lessons are that of holiness, and He gives us a right spirit and a loyal heart as He teaches us His will.
How many believers speak of God’s will? His will is not just a topic of conversation, but it is to be done – this is what the mature believer does in love and obedience. Talk is cheap, but compliance, doing His will, is what God expects of His child. That’s where the great value is. Lord, teach us to obey your will!
“For thou art my God.”
Here’s the reason for our obedience to His will. We belong to God. We are His. But please get this, He is my God! And I have no other. He has taken me out of the pit and my feet out of the miry clay and set them on a rock! Therefore, He is my God. I will live for Him all my life!
“When the heart can sincerely call Jehovah “my God,” the understanding is ready to learn of Him, the will is prepared to obey Him, the whole man is eager to please Him” [2] (Spurgeon).
“Thy spirit is good.”
Of course, He is!
“The spirit which guides those who trust in thee; the spirit with which “thou” dost guide people. That spirit is wise, prudent, judicious, reliable. It will not lead astray” [3] (Barnes).
The Old Testament saints looked for a guide to lead them.
“Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst” (Nehemiah 9:20).
The fact that God is willing to lead and teach us, as He did Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and the other Old Testament saints, shows us that He is good. We who live at the end of the New Testament times see how His Holy Spirit indwells all believers since Pentecost. He guides and teaches us, truly He is good!
“John Trapp noted this from Cyril of Alexandria (A.D. 378-444): “Cyril gathereth from this text, that the good Spirit is God because none is good but God” [4] (EWC).
“Thy spirit is good.” God is all spirit and all good. His essence is goodness, kindness, holiness’ it is His nature to do good, and what greater good can He do to us than to hear such a prayer as that which follows” [5] (Spurgeon)…
“Lead me into the land of uprightness.”
God’s people have always longed to be in the place of His protection and blessing.
“Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies” (Psalm 27:11).
“The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just” (Isaiah 26:7).
“God, who is good, can best conduct us to the goodly land. There is no inheritance like a portion in the land of promise, the land of precept, the land of perfectness” [6] (Spurgeon).
Ultimately, our desire is to be led by God and become citizens of that heavenly country and His heavenly City.
“But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:16).
“Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!”
Quote: “O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works” (Psalm 71:17).
[1] TOD – C.H. Spurgeon. Treasury of David, the electronic version in eSword.
[2] TOD, ibid.
[3] BNB – Albert Barnes. Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[4] Trapp’s quote is borrowed from EWC – David Guzik. Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[5] TOD, ibid.
[6] TOD, ibid.