God's Pathway for the Soul of Man
Canon Liddon. Psalm 143:8 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning; for in you do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk… : — The psalms of the rebellion differ from the psalms of the persecution under Saul, in that a strain of penitence mingles with the narrative of misfortune and suffering. That an ambitious young man should have so easily overthrown a strong government was itself suggestive. Absalom's success could not be really accounted for by his good looks, or by his popular manners, or by his splendid retinue, or by the widespread discontent of the tribe of Judah with David's domestic policy, The truth was that the old respect for him had been largely undermined by his conduct; and under a system of personal government, respect for the ruler is essential to social safety. David's own conscience ratified the tacit verdict which his people had passed upon him; and when he fled across the Jordan, while Absalom took possession of his palace and his throne, he recognized the hand, not of his undutiful son, but of his Lord and Judge. And thus, in the last of those seven psalms, which have for so many ages nourished and expressed Christian repentance, David mingles with his pathetic review of his reverses a loyal prayer for mercy and guidance. I. "THE WAY THAT I SHALL WALK IN." David was thinking, no doubt, of some path across the mountains of Gilead, by which he might hope to make good his escape in that hour of danger. But that was not all. David would be thinking also of other "ways." For the soul of man is perpetually moving, in whatever direction, through the wilds of moral and intellectual space: and the various directions which its thought, feeling, and action take, are variously characterized in Scripture. On the one hand we read of "the way of understanding, the way of righteousness, the way of truth," "the way of God's testimonies," "the way of wisdom," "the way of life," "the way of good men," "the way everlasting," "the right way," "the way of the Lord," "the way of peace"; and on the other we are told of "the way of the froward," "the way of evil men, the way of man's heart," "the way that is not good," "the way that seemeth right unto a man, while the end thereof are the ways of death." And so particular types of human life, "the way of David," "the way of Asa," "the way of Jehoshaphat," contrast with "the way of Cain," "the way of Jeroboam," "the way of the house of Ahab," "the way of Manasseh." And thus the expression comes to mean a certain moral and mental temper, or a body, or System of doctrines, or precepts, whether false or true, which claim to be, and are treated as forming the path to a higher or to a lower world. Above all, we must not forget that the spiritual sense of this expression has received a consecration which can never for long be absent from Christian thought. We know who has said, "I am the Way." II. THIS PETITION FOR GUIDANCE, LIKE ALL SERIOUS PRAYER, IMPLIES A FAITH, a faith which at once dictates and shapes it. The lex credendi is also the lex supplicandi. Two truths, at least, prompt and govern the prayer. 1. The first is, that one path enables each man to correspond with the true ideal of his life. "The way that I should walk in." One path only is perfectly loyal to the highest truth that has been placed within each man's reach. Only one path, and not many, enables each man to make the most of his faculties and of his opportunities, to develop most harmoniously his intelligence, his affections, his will, his character; to satisfy most adequately the just claims that others may make on him; to satisfy the demands of Him to whom the gift of existence itself is due. 2. And the second implied and governing truth is this — that there is one Being, at any rate, who sees and can tell each one of us what this his path should be. A clear sight of the track along which each of His responsible creatures should walk with the view of making the best of the gift of life, is the least that can be ascribed to an Intelligence that knows no bounds, and to a Will by whose good pleasure we each and all exist. A willingness to show each one of us what He thus sees to be the best for each may be reverently taken for granted in Him who is not only and chiefly Power and Intelligence, but also, and especially Goodness. III. HOW DOES GOD ANSWER THIS PRAYER? 1. First of all, and generally by the language of events, by that importunity of circumstances which, in different degrees, accompanies every human life. It matters not that the environment of every life can be traced to antecedents, and these to other antecedents that have preceded them till the long evolutionary process is lost sight of in the distant haze. It matters not because, first, we know that a point must at last be reached where no material antecedent is discoverable, and where bare existence can only be accounted for by the fiat of a Creative Will; and secondly, because the relation of each antecedent to that which precedes and follows it, the direction and law of this long evolutionary sequence — if so we must provisionally term it — itself implies, no less than its first impact implies, a presiding and guiding Mind. 2. But independently of that which belongs to single lives, there are certain broad characteristics of the pathway which God has traced for the soul of man. Man's will, as well as his understanding, needs the guidance of truth. Man's character needs the discipline of sacrifice. And He who said, "He that followeth Me walketh not in darkness," said also, "Let a man take up his cross and follow Me." What then are the characteristics of this truth which can furnish true guidance to the soul of man, and which thus is the answer to the prayer of the psalmist? (1) It will first of all be positive, and not merely negative truth. The psalmist prays God to show him, not the way in which he should not walk, but the way. in which he should. (2) Again, the truth which is to serve as the pathway to the human soul must be definite. The road that will bring us home at last must be plain to the eye, and firm beneath the feet. It must not lose itself in a forest; it must not sink away into a morass. The psalmist prays for guidance; and indefinite guidance is all but a contradiction in terms. (3) Once more, the truth which will conduct the soul heavenward must be truth which the soul knows to be independent of itself. "Show Thou me the way I should walk in." The truth that will support our steps is true, whatever we may think or feel about it. It has, in modern phrase, an objective existence. (4) Yet, once again, the truth that is to form a pathway for the human soul will be in its import specially practical; "The way that I should walk in" suggests practice rather than speculation. Christian truth is nothing if it be not practical. God's Word is a lantern unto the feet, and a light unto the path; Scripture is profitable for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, as well as for doctrine; Jesus Christ came to purify to Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Surely a Christian should not read his Bible or repeat his creed without asking himself the question, What does this statement say to me, what does it suggest, what does it command, what does it reprove in me? How can it contribute to lighten my path through time towards eternity? What dangers does it unveil, what encouragements does it proclaim, what obstacles does it remove, what efforts does it warrant? This practical instinct is always energetic in a seriously believing Christian, it is an inseparable corollary of the prayer, "Show Thou me the way I should walk in; for I lift up my soul unto Thee." (Canon Liddon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. WEB: 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.