Today's Reading:

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Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
Psalm 143:10

Taking the Scripture piece by piece:

• "Teach me…” David did not say, “make me”, or “force me” or try to figure it out on his own. He humbly asks God to be his Teacher. His heart knew he did not have all the answers, but he was willing to learn.
• “…to do your will…” He did not just want head knowledge. He wanted to actually do what pleases God, not just know it. This was a prayer for obedient living, not just good feelings.
• “…for you are my God.” This is the reason David could ask. He belonged to God. Because God was his God, David had the right and the confidence to ask for help.
• “…may your good Spirit lead me…” David did not want to be led by his own ideas or emotions, or by other people. He asked for the good Spirit of God to guide him. The Holy Spirit is gentle, wise, and always points us toward what is right.
• “…on level ground.” “Level ground” means a smooth, safe, straight path; no stumbling, no cliffs, and no tripping over sin. David asked God to lead him to a place where he could walk in His ways.

David did not pretend he was okay. He told the Lord that he needed Him to teach him how to live right and to send His Spirit to lead him. That is where grace meets us, when we stop trying to lead ourselves and let the Holy Spirit be our Teacher and Guide.

In what area of your life right now do you most need God to teach you and lead you? Are you willing to lay down your own plans, ideas, or stubbornness and pray David’s prayer — “Teach me to do Your will… may Your good Spirit lead me”?

From the hard lesson in 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Chronicles 21, where David’s prideful census brought a horrible plague, we see a king who learned to trust God’s mercy rather than human strength. In the following chapters of 1 Chronicles 22–29, David spent the last of his years preparing for the temple, the one he did not get to build. Through direction from God, he organized the Levites, priests, musicians, gatekeepers, army divisions, tribal leaders, and royal overseers so everything would be done exactly and in order for Solomon, his son. Even though the Ark of the Covenant already existed, God gave new plans for larger golden cherubim, showing His desire for something greater and more glorious. David humbly passed the torch to Solomon, encouraging him to keep his devotion and giving, reminding everyone that all that we have comes from God.

Mixed throughout the chapters were the honest cries of the Psalms: David’s humility in Psalm 131, his confidence in God’s exalted Word in Psalm 138, the intimate knowledge and redeeming grace of both Psalm 139 and Psalm 68 (with its silver wings of redemption), and the heartfelt prayer in Psalm 143:10, “Teach me to do your will… may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Together, these chapters and psalms give us the image of a man after God’s heart who went from pride and failure to humble repentance, ordered worship, generosity, and a dependence on the teaching and leading of God’s Spirit.

Today's discussion question: 

In what area of your life right now do you most need God to teach you and lead you? Are you willing to lay down your own plans, ideas, or stubbornness and pray David’s prayer — “Teach me to do Your will… may Your good Spirit lead me”?

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