Show me your ways, Lord,
Teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
For you are God my Savior,
And my hope is in you all day long.
- Psalm 25:4-5

David describes the Lord in three different, but interconnected, ways in today’s passage. Can you identify them?

The first is that God is our Guide. He makes a way for us and leads us. We follow him. We follow him like sheep follow a shepherd, like children follow a parent, like an apprentice follows a master craftsman. The earliest Christians weren’t actually called “Christians” but were instead called “followers of the Way.” God our guide shows us not only how to live (ie. ethics) but also how to believe (ie. theology) and how to worship him (ie. doxology).

The second image of the Lord in today’s passage is the image of Teacher. The Lord reveals to us the truth about the world, about ourselves, and about him. He gives us knowledge and ever-increasing insight, even though we will always find ourselves surrounded by things we don’t understand. He also teaches us how to live, how to believe, and how to worship him. In this way, the Lord’s qualities as Guide and Teacher link themselves together.

The last image in today’s passage is the image of Savior. Writing hundreds of years before Christ, David still knew he needed a savior. He needed someone to rescue him from his enemies that hemmed him in to the left and the right. He needed someone to cleanse him of his sin and free him from his bondage to his baser impulses. He needed someone to give him hope.

In today’s psalm, David links the Lord’s identity as Savior with his identity as Teacher and Guide. He is all of these for all of us. We can’t have him as just our Teacher and not our Guide, because he teaches us his paths (v. 4). We can’t have him as Guide and not Teacher because he guides us into his truth (v. 5). And we need him to be our Savior because we all need hope to follow God and learn from him.

Which of these three facets of the Lord’s identity do you need to explore today? Take some time to think about what it means for your that the Lord is your Guide, your Teacher and your Savior. What one thing can you do differently today to lean into the Lord’s guidance, teaching and salvation?