Show Me Your Ways, LORD

Show me thy ways, O Jehovah; Teach me thy paths.   Guide me in thy truth, and teach me; For thou art the God of my salvation; For thee do I wait all the day (Psa 25:4-5).

He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel (Psa 103:7). 

Have you ever wished you were among those blessed Hebrew children who witnessed God’s wonders in the Red Sea and His miracles in the wilderness? They crossed the Red Sea on dry land, drank water out of the Rock, and ate bread and meat from heaven. These “were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness” (1Co 10:3-5).  They experienced His blessings and saw His wonders but did not know His ways.

When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.  Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest (Heb 3:9-11). 

David, singing in the book of Psalms, revealed to us that God made His ways known to Moses, but that the children of Israel only knew His acts. They did not know Him.

The desire of God’s heart is for us to know Him, to know His ways and to have a vision of walking with Him.  Our prayers should therefore be for Him to show us His ways.

Dedication

Lord, I want what You want;
That Your desire might be my desire;
There are many things I want to do for you;
These things are good for the gospel and great in my eyes, 
And worthy of a great course in the eyes of men;

But, O’ Most High, what do You want? 
What is Your desire, O’Holy One of Israel?
It’s You my heart seeks, O’ Desire of all nations, 
All I want is You.
I am hungry and thirsty for You;
Unto You will my heart come.
Show me Your ways O’ Lord, that I may know You.

David prayed a similar prayer in the twenty-fifth chapter of the book of Psalm saying: “Make your ways known to me, O LORD, and teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me because you are God, my savior. I wait all day long for you” (Psa 25:4-5).  

The ultimate development, in the life of any child of God, is to get to that place where he is constantly seeking to please the Father: when the individual is dominated by the pursuit of God. The Apostle Paul, in the letter to the Philippians, admonishes us to pursue that which is excellent. To pursue that which is excellent is to pursue that which God evaluates as of great importance. 

God’s intention is to bring us into the ultimate desire of His own heart. He wants to make us into a people that are completely compatible with His own heart, a people He can call His own, a people He can inhabit. Our prayers should therefore be that God would prepare us to be a holy Sanctuary for Him, a living Sanctuary that He can dwell in. God wants a habitation for Himself in us and He will do all that is necessary to get it. 

We must therefore ask: What does God desire? What is the longing of His heart? Knowing that He is the Self-Existing All-Sufficient Omnipotent One, what does He really want from us? What can we do for Him? What should we bring Him? Listen to what the prophet Micah said in the sixth chapter of his prophecy: 

Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul (Mic 6:6-7)?

Let’s turn to David, the man after God’s own heart, concerning this important subject of what God desires. If anyone should know what God desires, this man who loved God and walked closely with Him did. Here is what the Spirit of God spoke through him.

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Psalm 51:16 -17). 

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 

Purge Me with Hyssop

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice (Psalm 51:6-8).  

The Almighty God confirmed this Himself when He was rebuking His people through the prophet in the fiftieth chapter Psalm saying:

Gather my saints together unto me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness; For God is judge himself. Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify unto thee: I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; and thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy folds.

 For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. 

If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats (Psa 50:5)?

The Holy One of Israel is clearly telling us that what He is looking for is really not our sacrifices or any of the things we can do for Him.  He did not even create us to serve Him–He already has multitude of servants–but He made Man to fill a special need.  

God is telling us that what He wants from us is not our sacrifice or any great work that we can do for Him but that He desires truth in the inward part. Truth may be in our minds, and that is good, but it needs to get into our heart before it will produce for us. He is looking beyond what we present on the outside. He is looking into our hearts and desires to see us worship Him in spirit and in sincerity. He spoke about this again and again to His people through many of His prophet. Zechariah and Isaiah recorded the following:

These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: 

And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD (Zec 8:16-17).

To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 

Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. 

How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them (Isa 1:11-23).  

What Does the Lord Desire from You and Me?

What does the Lord desire from you and me? He desires truth in our inward part. He desires that we bear fruit of the spirit; for when the Lord of the Vineyard comes into His garden, He comes looking for fruits. 

God desires fruits from you and me. But let’s ask this question: What is the fruit that God is looking for?  We hear a lot of preaching about bearing fruit in these days of ours, but rarely do we hear preachers correctly teach what God calls fruit.  Is it fruit when we start a project in the name of God and it grows from a small beginning to something great?  

Is the fruit that God is looking for produced in us when we perform miracles in His name or when our congregation doubles or quadruples?  Is it fruit when we start a business in His name and it prospers?  Is it fruit when we receive the gifts of the Spirit and we perform mighty works in His name?  Are these fruits? From man’s point of view these are great fruits, but from God’s point of view, they are not necessarily fruits. Some of these may have fruits in them, and we really hope they do, but more often than not, they are chaffs and may or may not have any fruits associated with them and are among the things that are discarded when the Husbandman comes looking for fruit in His garden. Some of these great works may cause fruits to grow in the inward parts of those that are involved in doing them, but none of these are fruits in themselves. To the Husbandman, only the fruits are important and by their fruits, the Lord Jesus said you shall know them.

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Mat 7:21-23).

Without any fear of opposition one can clearly infer from the above that the Lord Jesus is telling us that doing many wonderful works in His name does not constitute the fruits that God is looking for. In fact, according to Him, it is possible to do many wonderful works in His name and still not be known of Him. But if one bears fruit, such a one will be known of Him and “ye shall know them by their fruit.” This fruit is the precious grain that is hidden in the ear.  It is truth and sincerity in the inward part. 

The fruit that God is looking for is not the product of our laborious effort.  It is not the product of our mental ingenuity or physical prowess. It is not even the product of our religious sacrifice but the fruit of the spirit that grows out from abiding in the vine. 

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples (John 15:5-8 ). 

He Has Shown You, O Man

Man looks at the outward fruits but God is concerned with the state of the heart. He’s searching for truth in the inward part. He’s seeking for a people with a contrite heart and broken spirit who will obey His words and submit to His will.

Apostle Peter, by the unction of the Holy Ghost, affirmed this in his epistle when he stated that anyone who lacks the fruits of the spirit is blind and cannot see afar.  Let’s go through the passage: 

And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  

For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (2Pe 1:6-10).

The Holy Spirit is actually teaching us in the passage about the fruit of the spirit which was earlier taught in Galatians 5:22.  He admonishes us here that if we abide in the vine and bring forth these fruits, we shall never fall.  It will lift us into the zero-failure realm, where Love never fails and we continuously live in the realm of the supernatural.  Living in the realm of the supernatural does not necessarily refer to spiritual gifts which may be sporadic, but constantly abiding in the realm of God, in the light of His Shekinah glory.  This may be apparent to the natural man and may be salient to the natural mind but herein lies the power of God.  This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

God is seeking for those who are meek and lowly in spirit, and of a contrite hear to make His abode with them. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones  (Isa 57:14 -15).

God’s desire is to burn off all the chaff from us so He can see the fruit that He’s after. Yes, we all know that in the day of harvest, the husbandman gathers all the tares and burns them in the fire; but we often forget that it’s not only the tares that are burnt but also the chaff. The stalk and chaff were once part of the growing plant, once cherished and nurtured while the grains were being formed. But once the grains are fully developed, the chaff, which are dry bracts enclosing mature grains of wheat, is removed during threshing and burnt. These are not part of the tares; they are part of the plant that brought forth the full corn. The tares are those planted by the enemy.  The tares He will burn.  But the stalk and the chaff, which once was nourished by God, will also be burned of so that the pure grain might remain, for it is fruit that God desires. He desires truth in the inward part. 

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:6-8).

O Dear Lord help me to endure and trust you

As you bring me to the threshing floor,

As you remove from me all the chaff of the senses;

Help me endure even if with tears, as you burn

All my wordly chaff in the Refiner’s fire

That the fruit might come forth of me,

For I know You desire fruit of me

You desire truth in my inward parts.

Behold, He will come. The Husbandman will suddenly appear in His garden for the harvest of His crops.  He will come looking for His fruits at the time of harvest. At which time He will burn off the tares and the chaff and gather the full corn into His barn.

Come, Lord Jesus, and remove all the chaff from our life.  
Come and burn off from us all that corrupts and everything that is not the fruit You desire.  
Come, even one more time, and shake everything shakable that the unmovable may remain. 
Even so, Come, Lord JESUS.