“He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way.”
– Psalm 25:9
Obviously, the key word repeated twice in this verse is humble. This picture of humility and the promise to those who have it. He leads the humble in what is right. Like who of us doesn’t want to be led by God in what is right. He teaches the humble his way.
The key to being led in what is right and being taught the way of God is humility.
Who of us doesn’t want to be taught the way of God so we can walk in it? So the key to being led in what is right and being taught the way of God is humility, which makes sense. Pride which is in a sense at the root of sin, a desire to do things our own way instead of God’s way. Our desire to redefine what is right according to our standards instead of God’s standards. So as a result, the proud are not led in what is right. And the proud are not taught God’s way because we’re rebelling against God’s way and we’re walking in what we may think is right but not what God has said is right.
Psalm 25:9 Helps Us Cultivate Humility in Our Lives
So Psalm 25 verse 9 just leads us then to pray for, seek out, and cultivate humility in our lives. This is something we all need more of. If you don’t think you need more of it, that’s probably a sure sign that you do because it sounds like you’re pretty proud that you’re apparently humble enough already. It would make no sense. We all need more humility, we all need to grow in humility.
C.S. Lewis basically talked about it like the great unattainable. He talked about how you work and you work and you work to be humble, and then once you get there, you’re proud of it and you have to start all over again. But it’s not unattainable. It’s possible in Christ, because we see this in him, Jesus was totally humble. He humbled himself, became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Philippians Chapter 2 says for all those who are in Christ, if Christ is in us, then humility is possible for us, but it must be sought, it must be cultivated.
This Verse Encourages Us to Live Life with Humility
So we pray, God, make us humble. And I pray for my life today. I pray that for people who are listening to this right now. Help us to be humble. God, we humble ourselves before you right now and we want to be led in what is right and we confess that we’re prone to redefine what is right. We’re prone to set new standards and to say, “No, this is right for me, or that is right for me, regardless of what your word says.”
So, God, we humble ourselves before you, please lead us in what you know is right. We trust in you, your word, what you have said, your spirit to lead us based on your word. Lord please, we humble ourselves before you, lead us what is right and teach us your way. God, I want to be taught your way. Lord, I want to know what you want me to do in my life. I wanna be led by you, I wanna be guided by you. I pray for this for others who are listening right now. Lord teach them your way. Cause humility to grow in them. Cause humility to grow in me.
Let’s Pray Over Psalm 25:9
God we ask for humility. Rid us of pride we pray. Save us from ourselves, from our own way, and from our own definition of what is right. God, we humble ourselves before you, help us, lead us in what is right and teach us your way, we pray in Jesus name, Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
