Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! (ESV)

The book of Psalms exists in our Bible today as an example of how we should pray, how we should worship, and how we should live faithfully in the world. Scholars attribute most of these psalms to King David – a man after God’s own heart - but the book of Psalms has been carefully compiled from at least ten authors to weave a tapestry that can mirror our lives, as well as that of Israel’s. There are flowing and interlocking themes throughout the book, to include psalms of praise, psalms of lament, psalms of thanksgiving, psalms of faith and psalms of wisdom. The book is sometimes daunting because of its size, but that size also lends to its relevance in the lives of those who seek to worship God.  

‍

Chapters 13-17 of 2 Samuel describe the rebellion of King David’s son Absalom, and Psalm 143 is King David’s response to Absalom’s pursuit and persecution after he usurped him. The psalm is not necessarily unique in David’s ability to create emotions which force the reader to empathize with his grief and desperation. However, it does stand out as an example of how David argued and prayed to God. David asks God to hear him, answer him, and save him, but he also asks for guidance and that he would be receptive to God’s will.  

‍

The knowledge of God’s will comes from the Holy Spirit, and David asks for this guidance first in Psalm 143:8 - “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul,” - and then again in today’s verse. David understands that his persecution is a result of his adultery, but he is also not merely praying that God save him in the moment. He is asking God to provide him with a moral and spiritual transformation. David does not just want to go on living, but he wants to go on living for God even during persecution.

Do you ever feel like you are in a situation where you are surrounded by hostilities with no hope for peace? How do you get out of that place? I immediately think of situations in my life where I have been in tumult: relationships, jobs, stressful events or just ‘situations.’ I have often prayed simply to be delivered from them. However, David does not ask to be delivered from his situation, but he asks to be guided by God’s Spirit – the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” As Christians, we have received the Holy Spirit, and he dwells in us. What is the Holy Spirit trying to say to you in your life – in each situation that you find yourself in?  

‍

Regardless of if we realize it in the moment, we have an enemy who never ceases to attack us wherever we are at in our faith walk. The evil one seeks to destroy our faith and our hope in God – the giver of hope. We have a Helper though. How is the Spirit guiding you? What is he trying to say to you? Can you hear God calling you? Run to him and into his arms. I challenge you to pray fervently for the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you as David prayed. He asks for the Spirit to lead him on level ground, and he is praying for surefootedness where he walks – situationally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Lord, thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to help us and guide us. I pray that you let us feel your Spirit’s presence in the turbulence of life. Please give us wisdom now and the grace to continuously ask for it. Show us your light and reveal a straight, level path, that we might not stumble but walk in your will and into your arms. In Christ’s name we pray, Amen.