“Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me” (Psalm 25:4-5). The word “shew” means “make me know.” David had a desire to know God’s ways and paths. The word “teach” comes from a word used for “beating with a rod, to chastise, especially beasts of burden.” Imagine David requesting to be treated like a beast of burden so that he would be made to know God’s paths.
The Hebrew word for “ways” comes from a root verb meaning “to tread, to trample with the feet.” It is used to describe where the ground has been walked on again and again, forming a beaten path. God’s ways are paths that have been well walked by the righteous before us. They are paths that Jesus walked in order to leave us an example.
The Hebrew word for “paths” comes from a verb that means “to decree, to appoint.” This means that God’s paths are a fixed pattern according to His will.
Putting it all together, we see that we should desire God to make us know His paths through this life. Further, we should be thankful for His chastisement to help us learn and live His decrees. Decrees indicate that there must be truth, and that is exactly what verse five states: “lead me in thy truth.”
David knew that to be righteous, he could not just claim he believed in God. He also knew he could not have God apart from a doctrinal truth. Today, we cannot just claim to follow Jesus. We must walk the paths that He left for us, and we must obey His commandments.
Study your Bible. Obey Jesus. If any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.
