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Level Paths

             Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. (Psalm 143:10)

                A level path doesn’t go up and down, lean from side to side, or have lots of ruts or rocks. So, no mountain tops, no deep valleys. Easygoing but probably boring and generally not a description of reality. Life is full of ups and downs, twists and turns, off-balance moments, and ruts and rocks that seem to appear from nowhere just as you put your foot down.

                God can make our path perfectly flat and boring, but He usually doesn’t, and as a result, people sometimes get angry at a God who seems to have lied to them. The reality is that God makes no promise to guarantee level ground. That’s the plea of the psalmist. Once again, David’s enemies were making his life miserable, and he remembered wonderful times he had with God in the past and asked that God teach him God’s will and lead him on level ground.

                The first part of the request deals with David’s behavior, and ours. Seeking to know God’s will is generally personal. We don’t usually ask God what God’s will is for someone else. David also didn’t seem to expect God’s will to be automatic and easy for him to do. He needed God to teach him what to do and how to do it. He also asked for a level path. That might mean he wanted God’s will to be something that wasn’t too difficult, or that he wanted his relationship with God to be level. David’s life might have been rocky, but if his relationship with God was good or level, that would mean one less big, important, significant thing to worry about.

                I think I ask God the “are we good?” question too often. But it’s as David suggested. Our relationship with God can only be good if He is teaching us His will, and if He is teaching us His will, then our path with Him will be level, even if other paths we’re on at the same time are a disaster area. 

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