Show Me Your Ways

“Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.” —Psalms 25:4

This is a prayer worth memorizing. It puts us in a posture of humility before God’s wisdom and keeps us open to God’s generosity— a posture vital to a life of abiding.

I think of the classic joke that if you ever get to ask a genie for three wishes, your first wish should be infinite wishes! You actually get nothing from the first wish other than the extension of the chance to ask for a wish. Still, this would undoubtedly be more valuable than anything you could ask for with that first wish. I’m not trying to say that God is a genie, but rather frame this idea that what you have access to is greater than what you possess.

Would you rather know a few incredible things about God or walk with him by your side and experience him living within you? The good news is that we get to have both of those things. We have the revelation of God’s word and the power of the Holy Spirit living within us.

When David composed Psalm 25, he did not have the infilling of the Holy Spirit that we have access to. He was longing for understanding and direction from external influence. Perhaps he would experience the descending presence of the Holy God while ministering in the temple, like when the spirit of prophecy overcame Saul after Samuel anointed him. Maybe there were supernatural moments in his life, like defeating Goliath, but God was still wholly separate from his people, contained in the boundaries of the holy of holies.

God certainly moved through his Holy Spirit in the Old Covenant, but he didn’t live in his people. We experience today the fulfillment of David’s longing.

When we pray, “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths,” we invite God into an active and intimate encounter of growth and transformation. We must acknowledge that to pray such a prayer means to embrace the council of the Holy Spirit within us. It means to ask God to take the truth we’ve received from the scriptures and apply it to a life of holiness and godliness.

How much more wonderful is it, then, that the Holy Spirit lives with us in every moment? Not just in the secret place of prayer or in the sanctuary of God’s house, but washing dishes, mowing the lawn, changing diapers, driving to work, meeting a friend for coffee, shopping online, paying your bills, calling a friend… God is present in all things.

When we ask him to lead us and teach us, we are leaning into a life of abiding that never ends. Will you be bold enough to pray this prayer today?