The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1890-05-07
"SHOW ME THY WAYS"
A Cry In Times Of Perplexity-TheP Pro
Attitude Towards God.


David's prayer, ''Show me Thy ways,
0 Lord; teach me Thy paths" expresses
the intense desire OF the soul for divine
guidance. The frequency with which
it recurs in the Psalms indicates the
prominent place it has in Christian ex-
perience. 1t is tone heard through all
the strains of life's song. Lead me, o
Lord, in Thy righteousness because Of
mine enemies; make Thy way straight
before mine eyes," cries the soul in the
presence of evil, and conscious of its
own weakness. Teach me, 0 Lord,
Thy way, and lead me in plain path, J"
springs from the heart in time of per-
plexity. ''Teach me Thy way, o Lord,
and will walk in Thy TRUTH" is the
language of humble surrender to God.
The one hundred and nineteenth Psalm
is the true breathing of spiritual life,
prayer for guidance mingling with every
thought.
Regeneration by the spirit brings us
into new relations to God, but it does
not so lift us out of the ordinary life as
to deliver us from anxious questions as
to our duty. There are times when we
are in great perplexity as to what we
should do. A perplexity intensified by
the consciousness of our relation to God,
and often reaching to the point of dis
tress. This may arise in several ways.
There are different lines of action before
us, each one right in itself, and we must
choose the one to be taken. In which
one does duty lie?
The choice may involve the greatest
issues, but we must make it for our
selves, or the way may be closed to us;
and yet we must 60 forward, for life
does not stop even for moment We
are driven by the providence of God, but
the burden of responsibility rests upon
us. At other times legitimate personal
considerations are met by the interests
Of others; at what point and to what de-
gree should the sacrifice be made? And
then again, we live amid so many COM
plicatiOns, under laws so little under
stood, subject to forces we can not meas
ure, exposed to dangers we can not
avert, with ASPIRATIONS and longings
reaching into the infinite: and therefore
out of our weakness and helplessness,
out Of the greater depth Of love, we look
to Him whose favor is life, and whose
love fills the soul, and say: "Show me
Thy ways, o Lord; teach me Thy
paths" The desire is to know the paths
that we may walk in them; to know the
will Of God that we may do it, We are
more than creatures dependent on God;
we are servants, and look up for instruc-
tions; we are children, and the great de-
sire is to do what is we'll pleasing in cur
Fathers eyes.
This is the proper attitude towards
God. 1t is the attitude of reverence and
love. He is our rightful Lord, and in
obedience to Him we fulfill the purpose
of our being. Our life is in Him, and
from Him it receives it's fullness, and
therefore it is only in the knowledge Of
His will that we can serve Him accept
ABLY, and, coming into harmony with
Him, "be filled with all the fullness OF
God" Hence, tho prayer: THAT ye
may be filed with the knowledge Of His
will in all wisdom and spiritual under
standing; that We might walk worthy Of
the Lord unto all pleasing, being faith.
full in every good work, and increasing
in the knowledge of God" We love
God, and because we love Him, desire tc
know His will, that we may do it. The
more intense the love, the more habitual
and reverent the waiting, and the more
earnest the prayer: 81 wait upon Thee
all the day; teach me to do Thy will"
This attitude and this prayer TO,
knowledge and guidance imply that the
will of God may be made known to us
that we are in close personal relation t.
God, near to Him so that we may LOOK
to Him, and He near to US so that He
may instruct and lead us. THE carnal
mind" the mind ruled by the spirit o.
the world, can not so come to God
THE natural man"-the soul unquick
ened by the Spirit Of ''receiveth
not the things Of God; he can not knoa
them for they are spiritually discerned
When we have received the Spirit o.
God. We can know the things that arr
freely given to us Of God" And Hi.
promise is: 81 will instruct thee and
teach thee in the way which thou shall
go; will guide thee with mine eye"
The divine guidance does not set aside
the exercise Of our Judgment. 1t is MOI
. power that cousVains US without efforI