Get A Picture

“Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.” (Ps 143:10 AV)

If you will pardon me another entry from this same verse, the LORD spoke to me regarding the motive of this prayer.  There are two requests here and the motives join the requests. First, the writer seeks to learn the will of the Father and the ability to do it.  His motive is the LORD is His God.  The second request is to be led into the land of uprightness and the motive is that God’s spirit is good.  It is this second half I would like to consider.  The first half and second half can exist apart. We can seek to learn and obey the will of the LORD regardless of the quality of what we seek simply because God is God.  We can seek the land of uprightness because God’s motives are good and yet never carry on a personal relationship with Him.  But putting them together as the writer does so above, gives us a greater picture.  To have a personal relationship with the LORD and desiring to live in the land of uprightness go beautifully together.  One aspect of this verse is what I would like to consider.  That is, the desire to be led into the land of uprightness.  The desire to live right must be there or being led there is impossible.  So the question we can ask ourselves is: How much do we want to live in the land of uprightness?

Note here the ability to do the will of God and the land of uprightness go together.  There are few places in this world that I would consider absolute perfection.   In fact, I cannot think of one single place I have been where it could be said it is perfect.  But I have seen pictures and videos.  When I think of perfection, I think of untouched nature.  When I think of man-made places, I think of a solitary cabin nestled in the foothills of some lone part of the globe.  I was checking my social media accounts and one thread was posted by someone who carries a theme of ideal homes.  These homes are not fancy.  They are not vast.  They do not have many common items attached to what we would consider a home.  But one thing they all seem to have in common is they are single homes, mostly log homes, sitting on property that has no other human presence for as far as the eye can see.  There is no satellite dish on the roof.  No power lines running to the home.  No fences.  No driveways.  The homes are not overly rustic as though they have been there for hundreds of years.  They are not bare and without an indication that are being used.  They have a homey and lived-in look without being cluttered or giving the impression only the impoverished live there.  To me, that would be the land of uprightness.  The problem is, if I lived there with my modern mindset, I would bring my electronics and with them, the need for electricity, internet, entertainment, and a way to get in and out to the real world.  In other words, to live there, I would have to change who and what I am.

This is the point here.  It is one thing to desire the land of uprightness.  That is a worthy aspiration.  But to remain unrighteous is impossible.  That is why the two are together.  It is one thing to desire the land of uprightness.  Quite another to pray that God would make you upright.  To desire Christlikeness is a good thing.  That is where it all starts.  We cannot get to where we are supposed to be without a desire.   We need a picture.  We need to see what living in the will of God looks like.  We need to see the peace and serenity which can come to our souls.  We need to see the beauty of holiness as something to be desired.  To do that, we need to hate where we are presently living.  To love uprightness, we need to hate wickedness.  The two cannot co-exist.  So, the first step is to get a good picture of what uprightness looks like.  God has given us several ways in which to do that.  The first is to know the word of God.  The second is to study the life and person of Jesus Christ.  The third is to watch those around us and admire those who seem to live in uprightness.  If God is going to teach me to do His will, then I have to want it.  The best way is to get a picture of uprightness and pray for the heart to ache after it.