Thy Will Be Done
God’s will is a fascinating topic to study. I have read books about it, studied the subject, preached on it, and come to some contrarian conclusions about the subject. David prays about God’s will in this Psalm. This Psalm is written out of a time of suffering. He is under attack and feels close to defeat. I think it is during times of distress that we most feel the need to follow God’s will. This is probably because we instinctively believe that if we can figure out what God wants us to do and where God wants us to go we will be able to get free from our problems. Of course, things don’t always work out that way. But that is how we tend to think.
David prays two things concerning God’s will in this Psalm. First, he prays that God would “make [him] to know the way [he] should go.” He asks, “Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” That is a good way to pray. It is akin to the Lord’s Prayer in which we pray, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
He follows that up with this prayer: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God!”
I think he means that it is not enough for him to know God’s will, he needs to know how to do it. James rebuked those who were hearers of the word only and not doers. David is praying that God will deliver him from that fate, from being the kind of person who only wants to know God’s will so that they can take it under advisement and decide whether or not to act on it.
Jesus, when He came into the world, said, “I come to do thy will, O God.”
David prayed that he would have that same kind of spirit. So too should we.
