Teach Me to Do Your Will

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1. Observe

   What are the specific elements of David's crisis (vv. 3-4)?

   • Mild discomfort
   • Enemy has persecuted his soul, struck life to the ground, made him live in dark places like those long dead; his spirit is overwhelmed; his heart desolate
   • Brief inconvenience
   • Nothing serious

2. Observe

   What does David do to find footing (vv. 5-6)?

   • Withdraws
   • Despairs further
   • Remembers the days of old, meditates on all God's doings, contemplates the work of his hands, spreads out his hands, longs for God like a parched land
   • Plans revenge

3. Interpret

   What's the difference between appealing to self-righteousness vs. God's character?

   • No difference
   • Self-righteousness works
   • Appealing to one's own righteousness places the request on a foundation that cannot hold ("no living person is righteous"); appealing to God's character places the request on God's faithfulness, righteousness, and loving kindness — foundations that always hold; this changes prayer from "I deserve this" to "you are this kind of God" — which is the only prayer that can be answered with confidence, because God answers according to his character, not our merit
   • Self-merit is preferable

4. Interpret

   What's the difference between knowing and doing God's will?

   • None
   • Knowing is sufficient
   • Knowing God's will is informational possession; doing it is character formation that integrates knowledge into action — the gap between the two is where most spiritual failure occurs; David's prayer is for the deeper work of being shaped so that doing flows naturally from being; this requires the Spirit's formation (v. 10), not just intellectual instruction; the prayer "teach me to do" asks for transformation, not data
   • Doing precedes knowing

5. Apply

   What "days of old" sustain when one's spirit fails?

   • None
   • Old days don't help
   • Personal days of decisive God-encounter — conversion, an answered prayer that established trust, a season when God's presence was felt, a deliverance that proved his character; alongside these, the larger redemptive history — creation, exodus, cross, resurrection — provides "days of old" that anchor every believer; the discipline is to identify one's specific days of old and rehearse them deliberately when present spirit fails
   • Memory has no power

6. Apply

   What is the first thing one "hears" most mornings, and how to make it God's loving kindness?

   • Mornings don't matter
   • First impressions are unimportant
   • Many mornings begin with the news, social media, the day's task list, or anxiety about pending challenges — none of which is God's loving kindness; making mercy the first thing requires deliberate ordering — perhaps Scripture before screens, a brief prayer before email, a specific verse meditated on before getting out of bed, or worship music before any other input; the first input often sets the tone, so choosing the first input is a spiritual discipline
   • Mornings can't be ordered

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