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)

Learning To Do God’s Will

From the beginning, God has desired men to listen to His word and do as He commands. The first thing Satan challenged Eve with is whether God really meant what He said. Sin is a transgression of the law of God when the heart refuses to obey the commands of the Lord. God has shown His grace, mercy, love, and compassion and generously shares that with those who come to Him but demands those who approach Him to do so with reverence and fear. Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron and priests of God, were killed by the wrath of God for not regarding God as holy. How did they disregard the holiness of God? They did not do His will.

Israel was given a written law to follow with instructions to obey the law of the Lord, the testimonies of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord, and the commandments of the Lord. When they failed to do His will, God punished them. Jesus came into the world to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all men. The Hebrew writer quotes the psalms of David to show that Christ came in the volume of the book as it was written of the Messiah to do the will of God. Jesus was the Son of God, yet He obeyed the commands of the Father. If the divine Son of God comes to do the will of the Father, how can anyone refuse to obey?

Obedience does not remove grace; it enhances it. The religious dogmas of men denounce salvation by works accepting the false notion of salvation by faith or grace alone. What it missed is that salvation is never by works alone, but faith without works is dead. David desired to do the will of God and knew he needed to learn how to obey. He wants the Lord to teach him how to do His will. Obedience begins with learning. A child does not learn to obey by osmosis. It requires training and instruction. If a man believes he can be saved by faith alone with obedience, he becomes an empty shell of a man with faith without knowledge. True faith comes by hearing the word of God, which establishes obedience.

God has given commandments in His word and expects men to obey Him. Jesus pondered why men would call Him “Lord, Lord” and refuse to do what He said. If a man loves the Lord, he will keep His commandments. When a man refuses to follow the word of the Lord, he does not love the Son of God. He will not find joy in judgment when Jesus declares that He does not know the man. The religious world frowns on teaching obedience to the will of God. Sadly, many believers in Jesus Christ will never see eternal life because they refuse to do the will of the Father.

The spirit of the faithful seeks ways to learn the will of God. David desired to be taught the will of God, which required time and effort. His desire was based on what he had at the time and his limited knowledge of God’s plan. Now, two thousand years removed from the coming of Christ, the world has God’s complete revelation, with the mystery revealed through the Son of God. Bibles are readily available on multiple platforms and in every language known to man. Opportunities for most people of the world (many live in oppressive societies) to know the will of the Father abound, and yet the majority of ‘believers’ know little or nothing of the will of God. Pray the prayer of David. Teach me to do Your will. And then go and do His will.