Psalm 143:7-12
Teach Us to Follow

Hurry to answer me, Yahweh.
      My spirit fails.
Don't hide your face from me,
      so that I don't become like those who go down into the pit.
Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning,
      for I trust in you.
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
      for I lift up my soul to you.
Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies.
      I flee to you to hide me.
Teach me to do your will,
      for you are my God.
Your Spirit is good.
      Lead me in the land of uprightness.
Revive me, Yahweh, for your name's sake.
      In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.
In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies,
      and destroy all those who afflict my soul,
      For I am your servant.

World English Bible

As we read the Old Testament accounts of the life of David, we see repeated challenges and adventures from his adolescence to his old age. He was the youngest son of Jesse, fighting wild animals as he tended the sheep, and using those skills to kill Goliath. We see David fleeing from an enraged King Saul, and living in the wilderness, exiled from his homeland. We repeatedly find David in battles, even as King, and even when the battle is against his own son, Absalom. Certainly, then, of all the Biblical characters, we can believe David would understand what to do in a crisis.

In this psalm, David is deep into a crisis. He's struggled with this unnamed threat for so long, he's running out of options, his spirit has fallen, and he's "as good as dead" if help doesn't come. In this circumstance, David is praying to God for deliverance, not out of desperation but out of confidence that God will deliver him, even though it has taken longer than David would have preferred.

For most of us, there are levels to the crises we face. At the top level, things are "bad," but we can see a way out of them if we work at them hard enough. At the next level down, things are "really bad," but we still have a plan to get out of them if we can get enough help. When we hit the bottom, though, things are completely desperate, our plans are useless, our efforts are futile, and all we can do is pray to God to save us.

There is a purity of focus when we get this desperate—extreme circumstances make it easier for us to let go of anything that isn't completely important. This is a perspective we aren't brave enough to consider when we are comfortable and the situation is normal, but it is a perspective we need to remember and sustain once we stumble into it.

In David's desperation, he repeats his focus three times: "teach me the way I should go," "teach me to do your will," "lead me." David has gone past "bad" and "really bad" to the point where David sees the futility in following his own plans, and what he wants most of all is to follow God's plan. It won't be enough for David to follow God's plan simply out of the crisis, for he wants to learn how to follow God's plan always and to learn how to set aside his will for God's will. There's a simplicity and trust in his prayer, not that God would point out the direction and send him on the way, but that God would lead him. There is a liberating humility in denying ourselves the knowledge of the long term direction and following the steps of our Guide. It frustrates our selfish tendencies not to "know," and at times, we can sound like children in the back seat of a car on a long journey, asking every fifteen minutes, "are we there yet?"

David, in the deep end with this crisis, no longer cared about the destination, and found contentment in simply following the Guide. We all need that contentment, too, to let God's good spirit lead us on a level path. Let that be your prayer in good times as well as crisis times, that God would teach you how to simply follow as God leads.