Lead Me to the Level Plain
This Psalm is a cry for help.
Here in verse 10, David the Psalmist prays that the Lord would teach him “how to live to please you, because you’re
my God.” David’s strong desire was to know and follow God’s will for his life. David
wanted to do in his life what God wanted to do through his life. It was his
desire to live his life according to the will of God and not according to the
will of David.
The phrase “lead me
on level ground” at the end of this verse has a very interesting meaning in the
original Hebrew language. Translated as “lead me into the land of uprightness”
in the King James Bible, this verse literally means “guide me to level plain.” It carries the picture of a being on a hike in the wilderness with a wise and experienced guide - someone who can lead you out of the thorns and thickets and away from the cliffs and rocks and confidently into the solid level clearing. In the Scriptures, the “level plain” was a
safe and proper place for God's children to walk – the place of holiness and
righteousness and faith and obedience. It alludes to a spiritual condition in
which there is a firm foundation of solid ground underneath us – a spiritual
level ground so to speak.
David
genuinely recognized his own wretchedness and his own human inclination toward sin and selfishness. He knew
that because his heart was deceitful and his nature inherently selfish, he would
never discover God’s highest calling for his life by his own efforts or “good
intentions.” He knew he must be submitted to God’s Holy Spirit and yielded to
His teaching and guidance. Jesus said, “When
the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). Oh what a blessing it is to know that we
are not on our own trying to find out God’s will by “trial and error” in our
lives. We recognize that being led to the “level plain” is solely the work of
the Holy Spirit and that all I must do is ask Him to teach me and guide me and
then yield to His will.
David knew that if his
plea to fulfill God’s will with his life were to become reality, he would have
to be taught by God. Doing God’s will does not come from human consciousness or
our mind, intellect, reasoning, or emotions. In fact, if we are NOT taught by
God what His will is, we have no hope of discovering that will, let alone doing
it.
What about you? Do you
want to live your life according to the will of God? Do you want to discover
His highest and greatest calling for your life? If so, are you pleading with
God to teach you what that will is? Stop trying to figure it out with human
reasoning or problem solving. Simply acknowledge your own wretchedness and cry
out to Him to teach you His will and to lead you to the place of holiness and
righteousness.
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