The Good Spirit

Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness. Psalm 143:10

Two things King David asks of the Lord in this verse: first, to be taught by the Lord to do His will, and second, to be lead by the Lord in the land of uprightness. Many years later in history, I and many like me ask those very same things. How does our spiritual ancestor, David, think to ask these things of the Lord?

David claimed the Lord as his God. This is serious business, for in order to claim God as his, he first had to acknowledge that God is. Many in this world refuse to do even that seemingly small step. Others will claim an easier way: that is, to manufacture a god or a bunch of them and live the way he imagines those deities would be pleased with were he in their place; which, he really is since they do not exist in the first place. To live with God, one must accept His word, and that word has much to say about our need for God and His salvation. It is in this word where we find David asking the Lord to teach His will. Therefore, David also acknowledges that God's will is better than his own will for living this life. There is a lot of serious business going on here!

Then, David makes a claim on God's Spirit: that it is good. I am glad for that because to submit to a god whose spirit is mean, or petty, or cruel, or worse, evil, would be the very worst thing imaginable and then some! Such important words to study and believe for us too: "For You are my God; Your Spirit is good." Our entire life to that moment of death hinges on this truth, and eternity is assured on it too. For if our God is not good, then we are doomed. Like David did thousands of years ago, we ask for these two things because of the other things in this verse. It would be perverse for us to ask this of a god who was anything less than good. It is from this verse that we say, "God is good." And may we always remember this verse in full and thank God for His eternal goodness.

God is good, and, He loves you!
Bucky