Teach Me to Do Your Will
11/11 Reading Portions: 2 Kings 24; Hebrews 6; Joel 3; Psalm 143
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
11/11 Reading Portions: 2 Kings 24; Hebrews 6; Joel 3; Psalm 143
Psalm 142:10
Teach me to do Your will, for Your are my God! Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
TAUGHT
As perfect Man, the Lord Jesus prayed this prayer being the righteous thing to do. This verse, and others like this help us to understand His learning obedience in His humanity by His incarnation (Phil 2:6-8; Heb 5:8). Jesus also prayed this prayer on our behalf, because often our attempts to do God’s will are corrupt, fall short of God’s glory, or end up being an endeavor to do our own wills in Christ’s name. Yet, now saved in Christ Jesus, this has become our prayer too. Verses such as the one from our psalm today helps to give us insights to understanding why the law now is obsolete (Heb 8:13; check out last year’s devotional on this verse). The law, though “obsolete,” that is, “worn out,” was fulfilled by Christ for our sakes (Matt 5:17-18). Jesus, who walked the perfect life that we could not possibly walk, and doing so on our behalf, and who also paid a debt upon the cross by suffering God’s wrath for sins He did not commit, paying our sin debt that we could not pay, and redeeming us by His substitutionary suffering and death, we respond to His gift of eternal life with grateful love and godly fear. What does that mean and look like? To demonstrate our loving gratitude, we would therefore want to please our God and Savior. Therefore, we ask Him to teach us His will. We want to know how we may have the guidance from God’s Word that we may carry out those things that please and honor Him. We still will not do these things perfectly. That’s what Christ’s imputed righteousness is about. That’s what salvation by grace is about. We ask the Lord Jesus to teach us His will, and when we live our lives according to His will, from those truths found in the collected work of His Word— the Bible—the Holy Spirit will lead us and empower us to carry out His will, as much as a sinner saved by grace is able. Hallelujah! What a Savoir!
Teach me, O Lord, to do Your will,
To honor You with love;
And lead me by the Spirit’s pow’r
With mercies from above.