Psalm 25—The Lord Is My Teacher

We reach a turning point with God when our “show me” changes from a demand for proof to a humble request for guidance: “Show me 

your roads, Lord! Teach me your ways” [v. 4].

“Show me” (hodieni) is the causative form of the verb “know.” Cause me to know, Lord, bring to awareness, apprise me, cause me to be 

concerned about, inform me, and—a last connotation—give me the signal.

“Remember not the sins of my youth,” sounds expected; the parallel, though, is not a request to remember my virtues but to, “Remember 

me according to your love (chesed) Lord; for the sake of your goodness, Lord” [v. 7]. Not our goodness, but God's, saves us.

This goodness connects to God's teaching: “Good and honest is the Lord; therefore (God) instructs sinners in the road.... guides the 

humble in justice...teaches humble ones (God's) road” [vv. 8-9]. 

Love shows the way.

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What way is the Lord showing me now? And what way can I show God my love?

1. How does God show you things? [vv. 3-4]. Give 2-3 different examples.

2. Have vv. 7-12 and vv. 15-21 dialog with each other. What is the result?

3. How would you experience vv. 5-6, 15-19 as having been heard? How would you know you were forgiven and remembered?

©1997, Patricia Caplan Andrews; limited license to reproduce for use in licensed congregation only. Published by LeaderResources.

The Halfway Meditation

"And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet...." Ezekiel

Made me think of the invalid by the pool on the Sabbath (in John) and the sermon I heard about it last Sunday. And now today, the Scripture delivers life.

I identify with the pool man and have written about him before. He showed up to the pool. If he hadn't been there, presumably Jesus would not have spoken to him. I too am perpetually halfway there. I sometimes think I lead a halfway life because of chronic pain and negativity. Sometimes I have to force myself through each next thing; and so imagine this invalid had to drag himself out of bed. "Oh, do I really want to go to the pool today?" 

So the man got there to the pool, and Jesus said, "Get up!" the same thing he said to the little dead girl in--Mark? Matthew? "Talitha qum!"

I'm always fascinated that Jesus didn't help the man into the pool; he just told him to get up. And the outcome was definitely a healing, as proved by the fact that the Sabbath legalists got mad. It's not forbidden to just talk to someone on the Sabbath, to have a conversation. But even Jesus' enemies could see that a healing had occurred.

Last Sunday's sermon on that healing talked about the stirring. The stirring of the waters shifted to a stirring within the invalid. The sermon must have penetrated because I thought about it all week.  Get stirred up, the preacher said.

Hmmmn. Not that I believe obstacles can be swept away by a positive outlook (although Jesus did say that with faith you can make a mountain jump into the sea). Even though my own circumstances are good today, I see and know they can be crushing. For example, when my little sister first came down with her mysterious crippling ailment, my father told my mother,  "No matter what the doctors say, I know she'll recover." Well, she didn't. Not in this life at any rate.

It turns out the above is a digression. The point is love, the things we do for love. Love stirs us up. It is Christ who stirs me. He stirs me with his words; the Spirit enters. How important it is, then, to be present so we can hear the words that heal; How important to drag myself halfway there/here.

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