A text – Psalm 25:1-9
1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me.
3 Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
6 Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way.
A reflection:
In this psalm the writer extols God for teaching the right ways. The psalmist wants to be teachable. And it seems one key to being teachable is being humble. Not doormat humble (as in our reading from Philippians earlier in the week), where one blindly obeys all requests, removing one’s own soul and personality from the exercise, hiding beneath fear or dread. No, being humble in learning means deeply desiring what is being taught, not at the ready to dismantle it or correct it or pick holes in it. It also means bringing our full selves to this teachable posture, embedding the new learning into our already existing reality.
I love the stories of Jeeves and Wooster, by G.K. Chesterton, exemplified on film by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. It is completely clear that Jeeves is the servant of Bertie Wooster, and also that Jeeves is cleverer and wiser that Bertie Wooster will ever be. Jeeves knows, way before Wooster does, exactly what Wooster will need and is there to provide it. This means, of course, that Jeeves has to wait around for the inevitable disaster when Wooster realizes he needs help. This waiting requires patience and humility. To achieve a good outcome, Jeeves takes a lot of grief from Wooster, all the while knowing he has the answer his master will be seeking before long. Perhaps Chesterton created Jeeves to be the extreme example of the servant whose humble patience lifts the master.
The psalmist here (this one is attributed to David) knows God and God’s goodness. He knows God’s strength and mercy. And he seeks to be the humble person God will lead and teach. David was king. But David knew he had to be a life-long learner, with the humility to accept God’s teachings in order to serve God and the people who depended on him. May we be the same – humble learners from God in order to serve our neighbors.
A prayer:
Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for your son, Jesus, who served us by giving his life to defeat the power of death over us. Help us too to be humble enough to learn how to serve others, giving us a role in your kingdom come to earth. Amen.
