Lord’s Day Meditation – The Path of Life

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path (Ps. 142:3).
Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths (Ps. 25:4)

The Christian walk may be characterized by four key qualities:

• Faith in God and His Word, as opposed to unbelief
• Obedience to God, as opposed to disobedience
• Godly wisdom, as opposed to folly (This has to do especially with having spiritual and eternal values and priorities, in contrast with temporal and material ones.)
• Love (for God and others) as opposed to selfishness and sinful lust

My Path

These qualities are absolutes in themselves (for example, we either obey or disobey). However, they are not absolute in the believer’s life as a whole. None of us lives in perfect obedience and faith, perfect wisdom and love. Perfection is found in Christ alone. In us, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh…so that [we] do not do the things that [we] wish” (Gal. 5:17). Paul expresses his dismay and frustration with his own imperfection. “What I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do” (Rom. 7:15).

It is this circumstance to which Ps. 142:3 can be applied. “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path.” Whatever our uncertainty and frustration with our own doubts, weakness and failure, we may be sure that the Lord knows exactly where we stand, what we are going through, and what we need. Even when we seem to have lost our way, He has not lost sight of us.

His Path

Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths (Ps. 25:4). Here is a prayer that the Lord would teach us the right way to go, so that we might follow it more consistently. And II Tim. 3:16-17 spells out the practical functioning of the Word of God to accomplish this. The rough sketch below shows how it works.

1. The Word is profitable for doctrine, to teach us the right path.
2. When we get off the path, the Spirit of God uses the Word for reproof.
3. But the Lord not only tells us where we went wrong, He shows us how to get back on track, with correction.
4. Finally, there is instruction, or training in righteousness. It is as though God erects some fences along the path to keep us from getting off course the next time.

The end goal, the destination in practical terms, is Christian maturity, and equipping for service for the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is why we need to be daily in the Scriptures, allowing the Spirit of God to apply its truths to our lives. May each of us commit ourselves to this vital discipline of life.