The disobedient prophet in 1 Kings 13

Various spots in the bible contain strange stories that don't seem to fit within the larger narrative. But those stories are there for a reason!

One example occurs in 1 Kings 13. A prophet is sent to deliver a dire message to the wicked king Jeroboam. God evidently has told the prophet that, after delivering the message, he is to refuse any and all offers of food or drink and return to his home.

But during his journey home, an elderly prophet hears of the visit by the first prophet and invites the visitor to his home to eat and drink. When the first prophet says that he cannot, because that goes against God's orders, the elderly prophet offers the following lie (1 Kings 13:18, KJV),

An angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.

The reason for the deception is not clear, but the first prophet, evidently convinced, follows the elderly prophet to eat and drink. That act of disobedience displeases God, who then sends a lion to kill the first prophet.

But why is the first prophet punished? Doesn't fault lie with the elderly prophet who lied about speaking with an angel?

The point, it seems, is that the first prophet already had his orders from God. He should have trusted and followed those orders without question. Instead, he was lead astray by another person's interpretation of right and wrong.

We all risk being lead astray is similar ways. After all, we have the bible, God's word, which unambiguously lays out what is right, what is wrong, and what we are to do. But then when something earthly, be it a person or institution or societal norm, tries to interpret right and wrong in a manner that contradicts God's word, we don't have any excuse for ditching God to conform to that earthly source.

Therefore, we must pray without ceasing, so that our actions and thoughts remain consistent with God's will.

The Songs of Degrees

Immediately following the monster Psalm 119 (the longest psalm, and the longest chapter in the bible) comes the Songs of Degrees, also called the Songs of Ascent. Comprising Psalms 120-134, those fifteen psalms were sung by the ancient Israelites as they made pilgrimages to Jerusalem to worship at the Temple.

We're no longer required to physically transport ourselves to a temple structure, because, as the bible makes clear, Jesus himself now supersedes any physical structure (John 4, 21:24). But the Songs of Degrees still serve a useful purpose as we attempt to "ascend" to an improved relationship with God.

In particular, those fifteen psalms make a great fifteen-day bible study plan. Each of those psalms is a prayer, and dedicating a day to each over an (approximate) two-week period is a great way to force the bible into our hands, while also kick-starting our prayer lives.

David repents again

Despite being referred to as "a man of God's own heart," David, of course, was far from perfect. His most scandalous episode involved his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband. But, following that episode, David famously repented, and had his sin washed away.

Note that David's confession does not take the form of some complicated speech to God, nor does it involve deep philosophy. He just repents.

Another depressing episode, appearing toward the end of 2 Samuel, has David ordering a census of his kingdom. The census, itself, was not sinful. Rather, David's haughty attitude in wishing to quantify his power showed a disregard for God's role in the accumulation of that power.

Yet, when David become aware of his sin, he follows the same script as the Bathsheba affair -- his just repents (2 Samuel 24:10, KJV),

David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

David's life, both the positives and negatives, serves as a prime example of how we should approach God. Let us do likewise.

Canst not tell whence it cometh

The bible includes several passages that emphasize our inability to understand heavenly matters. One example occurs in the book of Judges, when an angel announces to Samson's parents that they will have a son. Samson's dad asks the angel his name, to which the angel replies (Judges 13:18, KJV),

Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

The Hebrew word translated as "secret" means something close to "incomprehensible."

Another example occurs in John 3, when Jesus is dining with Nicodemus. Nicodemus expresses confusion about people being "born again" with the spirit of God. How can that actually happen? Jesus responds (John 3:8, KJV),

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Jesus says that, although we hear the wind, we neither know where it comes from nor where it goes. And the same goes for the spirit of God.

Passages such as these serve to remind us that we should adopt a humble attitude toward spiritual matters. The point of faith is not to understand everything. Rather, the point simply is to believe and trust in God.

God reaffirms our faith

Judges 7 finds the Israelites facing the large, intimidating Midianite army. (Their count was "without number"!) Gideon, the Israelite leader, has an army of only 300 men, so things look dire! But God tells Gideon (Judges 7:7, KJV),

I [will] save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand.

Gideon, faced with such improbable odds, probably struggles to really believe this. But then a member of the Midianite army has a vision in a dream, and an interpreter conveys the meaning that dream to Gideon (Judges 7:14, KJV),

This is ... the sword of Gideon ... for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host.

Gideon, encouraged by this message, proceeds to worship God and eventually defeat the Midianites.
 
The amazing part of the story is that, rather than punish Gideon for his (understandable) doubt, God seeks to boost his faith by sending Gideon a reaffirming message. And this is after God has already told Gideon that he will defeat the Midianites.

The larger message, as it seems, is that God understands our day-to-day weaknesses in faith. And, if we keep our hearts open to him, he'll send reaffirmations to boost our faith.

...asked not counsel of the Lord

Life, of course, is not always easy. Jesus acknowledges as much when he says (Matthew 6:34, KJV),

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

But we don't have to confront those daily troubles alone. God not only offers his help, he requires that we seek his help.

Turning to Chapter 9 of Joshua, we find the Israelites entering into an ill-advised treaty with the Gibeonites. God already has forbidden such treaties, but the Gibeonites present a convincing, albeit deceptive, case for establishing a peace treaty.

When confronted with a morally ambiguous situation, the Israelites should have consulted God. They didn't have to make that decision on their own. Instead (Joshua 9:14, KJV),

[They] asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD.

And, ultimately, the Israelites' habit of acquiescing to their neighbors -- against God's explicit orders -- resulted in spiritual rot and the eventual demise of the Israelite kingdom.

Let us not follow that path. Whatever difficult scenarios we encounter, let us "ask counsel at the mouth of the LORD." We can do so through never-ceasing prayer! 

A command near to us

God's main command to us is explicitly stated in Deuteronomy 30:16 (KJV),

I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply.

In the same chapter, God emphasizes that this is not some distant, esoteric diktat, but rather a command that we already know and understand because it has been written in our hearts (verse 11-14, KJV),

This commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven ... neither is it beyond the sea ... But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

This is why sin causes such guilt and shame; it goes against the very spirit put into us. We must listen to that spirit, and that is achieved through never-ceasing prayer!

Jesus removes the "Legion"

In Mark 5:1-20, Jesus encounters a man possessed by many demons. The man seems in especially rough shape (verse 5, KJV),

Always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

When Jesus asks his name, the demons answer (verse 9, KJV),

My name is Legion: for we are many.

Jesus then orders the demons out of the man and into a herd of nearby pigs. The pigs, now possessed, proceed to drown themselves in a lake.

It's a strange story, and I can't claim to completely grasp the full theology of the event. (The role of the pigs especially confuses me, although perhaps their "unclean" label holds some kind of importance.)

The larger message, as I see it, centers on the fact that we, as sinners, are in a similar state to that of the demon-possessed man. Like him, we are beset by our own legion of sinful behaviors. And they are many! The path to freedom from those demons comes not from our own power, but from the mercy of God.

After Jesus removes the legion, the people (verse 15, KJV),

see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind.

And thus the reward for trusting in that cleansing power! We, too, can find ourselves in our "right minds," and the path is easy. Just believe.

Lessons from Philemon

Owing to its brevity and personal nature, Paul's letter to Philemon is easy to overlook. But closer inspection of the letter reveals some important spiritual insights.

In the letter, a slave named Onesimus has wronged his master Philemon and fled to Paul. (The letter does not specify Onesimus' wrong -- much to Paul's credit -- but the transgression must have been relatively serious to warrant Onesimus' running away from Philemon.)

The letter basically is Paul's appeal for Philemon to forgive Onesimus and take him back. But Paul pushes a step further, by requesting Philemon to accept Onesimus not as his former slave status, but as an equal (Philemon: 15-16, KJV),

He ... departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever; Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved.

This seemingly personal story has corollaries to our relationship with God. Like Onesimus to Philemon, we are subservient to God and dependent upon him for survival. Also like Onesimus, we sin against our master, which brings us far away from him. But rather than destroying us, as we deserve, God forgives us, and even restores us to a higher state as heirs to his kingdom!

Paul's letter does not report what happened when Onesimus returned to Philemon, but assuming Philemon followed Paul's advice, Onesimus must have expressed his heartfelt thanks. Let us do likewise toward God for his forgiveness.

A simple prayer of contrition

An important part of a life of prayer is continually asking God for forgiveness. To many people, that part of prayer might sound depressing. But if done frequently and from the heart, it is incredibly liberating and joyful. Paul touched upon this when he said (1 Corinthians 1:18 KJV),

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

For a simple, easy-to-memorize prayer of contrition, consider David's words in Psalm 25:18 (KJV),

Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.

Especially toward the end of the day, let us reflect upon the ways in which we might have disobeyed God's commandments, and then let us cite this simple prayer. It's more fulfilling than it sounds!

On the effects of prayer

(Note: This post borrows insights from a sermon recently delivered by Tom White.)

Hannah's Prayer stands as one of the Bible's most famous examples of prayer. It takes on added Messianic import owing to its similarities with Mary's Magnificat. But, with any prayer, it's tempting to ask, "What's the point?" More specifically, what did Hannah's prayer accomplish?

It doesn't seem likely that Hannah's prayer changed God's behavior. After all, the birth of Hannah's son, Samuel, for which her prayer gives thanks, had already happened. More than that, Samuel's life and purpose were already preordained.

But just because the prayer didn't alter the will of God does not mean that the prayer had no effect. For one, it affected Hannah, in that it forced her to acknowledge God's compassion and power. And that very acknowledgement surely affected her subsequent actions, as any prayer acknowledging God's power tends to do.

But perhaps more importantly, the prayer affected Israel, and, ultimately, people's understanding of the magnitude of Jesus. The existence, and wide distribution, of the prayer alerted Israel to the importance of Samuel, who eventually became Israel's kingmaker. And as Israel's kingmaker, he eventually brought a lowly shepherd, David, to the heights of power. And then from David's genetic line emerged Jesus.

Without Hannah's prayer, it's not obvious that Israel would have recognized Samuel authority. And without Samuel's authority, it's hard to imagine David's meteoric rise to power. And without the establishment of the Davidic genetic line, from where would Jesus have emerged?

Of course, Hannah's probably wasn't considering those larger ramifications. Rather, she was merely offering her thanks and praise. But to what great effect! Our job, then, is to follow Hannah's lead. Let us offer our thanks and praise, never knowing what profound impact our prayers might have.

Becoming enticed by the world

The location of ancient Jerusalem had immediate, literal implications for that time, but the location also has symbolic ramifications for us now.

Ancient Jerusalem was located in a busy part of the world, a location that, during the first century, became crucial in quickly spreading the message of Jesus. God says (Ezekiel 5:5, KJV),

This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.

But due to its central location, Jerusalem was beset on all sides by trouble, whether hostile nations or temptations to sin. It was important that the ancient Hebrews avoid that trouble by remaining obedient to God. Instead, (Ezekiel 5:7, KJV)

[Jerusalem] hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.

But we commit the same sins today! We are placed "in the midst" of the rest of the world, yet we are asked to be obedient. When we're not obedient, then we're conforming to the world.

Being "sojourners," as the Bible puts it, means staying on constant guard against the troubles and temptations of this world. That is hard work, which requires praying without ceasing.

Rend your hearts

Proverbs 30:32 (KJV) reads,

If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.

The implication, of course, is that our sinful actions or thoughts should be followed by shame. This is what James (4:9, KJV) is referring to when he advises us to

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

Although God hates sin, he understands our human weaknesses, and is eager to forgive us. But he seems to really detest when we don't show shame for our sins (Jeremiah 6:15, KJV),

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush.

Pulling this all together, Joel 2:13 (KJV) succinctly summarizes how we should respond to our own sins,

Rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God.

Philosophizing with God

During prayer, it's tempting to try to explain things to God. For example, we might try to explain why we sinned, or we might attempt to explain why we need his help.

But God already knows our deepest workings (Jeremiah 17:10, KJV),

I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins.

Why, then, do we try to philosophize with God? After all, God has already emphasized that his depth of thought is infinitely beyond our grasp (Isaiah 55:9, KJV),

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

Rather than philosophizing when we pray, let us follow the example of David. First, when confronted with his sin with Bathsheba, David simply says (2 Samuel 12:13, KJV),

I have sinned against the Lord.

And, later, in 2 Samuel 24 when David recognizes his sin related to the national census, he simply says (2 Samuel 24:10, KJV),

I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.

Note the complete lack of explaining or philosophizing. Just simple, but honest, prayer. Let us follow those examples.  

Misinterpreting earthly success

The seven "letters" in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are chock full of amazing material. We should read those letters periodically, because they're written to us. Some of the material in those letters is encouraging, and some of the material is alarming, but all of it points toward God's mercy, in that, at several points in those letters, Jesus offers opportunities to repent of wrongdoing.

In this post, I'd like to highlight a section written to the Laodiceans, who evidently enjoyed considerable economic prosperity. The problem, however, was that they had let that prosperity numb their spiritual zeal. Jesus warns (Revelation 3:17-18, KJV),

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed.

It's a warning that appears many places in the Bible. We must not conflate early successes with spiritual progress; sometimes those are linked, but often they are not. Instead, we must seek heavenly "gold tried in the fire," and we must clothe ourselves with "white raiment" of obedience.

Psalm 119, and repetition of praise

Psalm 119 is fascinating, in part due to its length. (It's the longest chapter in the Bible!)

As one reads through Psalm 119, a striking feature is its repetition. Nearly every verse praises God's commandments --  using synonyms like "statutes," "laws," "testimonies," "judgments," etc. --  and expresses the joy inherent in obeying them.

And that continues for 176 verses! Do we really need the same point made that many times?

Of course we do! Even the Bible's most faithful characters, from David to Peter, suffered embarrassing lapses into doubt and sin. And if those great figures can succumb to earthly behaviors, how much worse must we be! To counter our earthly tendencies, we must engage is repeated and frequent praise.

The beauty of Psalm 119 is that each of its 176 verses is relatively self-contained, meaning you can read just a verse and come away with the main message of the Psalm. But then we tend to forget that message. So return to Psalm 119, find another verse, and refresh that message. And then do that continually, and we're getting close to praying without ceasing!

"Scarcely be saved"

The Bible speaks repeatedly of our need to "fear" God. For example, Psalm 2:11 (KJV) reads,

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

This idea of "fearing" God can feel uncomfortable and disconcerting, but that's exactly how it should make us feel. After all, the Bible also advises against finding ourselves at ease, because that sort of comfort tends to breed spiritual stagnation.

But perhaps more than anything, a proper sense of spiritual fear helps to humble us before God. Consider Peter's comment (1 Peter 4:18, KJV),

And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Focus especially on the part before the comma. The righteous shall "scarcely be saved"??? That should really instill in us a sense of fear, especially because none of us is righteous!

Peter's line highlights why we should fear God's power, which then should lead us toward spiritual humility. Simply put, nothing else matters besides God's salvation, which we don't deserve, and which we only scarcely possess through our shaky faith.

Paperback bible from SermonAudio

I stumbled across an interesting project from SermonAudio.com. The website now has a "paperback bible," where users can download PDF files of the King Jame Bible for free. Of course, the Internet already has many free PDF Bibles, but this "paperback bible" offers a few advantages:

• Users can download individual books.
• The files include wide margins, complete with lines for note taking.
• The format is in "paragraph form," rather than one-verse-per-line form.
• No distracting footnotes or cross references.

What that means is that, whereas many Bible readers hesitate to write notes in their nice leather-bound Bibles, these files are perfect for underlining, highlighting, or otherwise marking up Bible passages. As with any learning experience, such note taking activity can help stay engaged while studying parts of the Bible.

A painful, indicting verse

In Luke 6:46 (KJV), Jesus poses a question that should make us feel shame and guilt. That verse reads,

Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

Note that this verse is directed at people who call out to him -- that is, people who pray! This is an uncomfortable verse, and one that calls for much painful reflection. It's a verse that harkens back to the topic of praying without blemish.

Most importantly, this is a verse that should humble us, and make us realize our dependency on God's righteousness, rather than our own perceived righteousness.

Focusing on today

Many self-help type philosophies emphasize focusing on today, rather than worrying about the future. But that concept also has spiritual roots put forth in the Bible. For example, Proverbs 27:1 (KJV) reads,

Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

And James 4:13-17 (KJV) expands upon this idea,

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow ... For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

This is simple advice, yet difficult to put into practice. Perhaps a good place to start is Psalm 118:24 (KJV),

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

This is a short, easy-to-memorize verse. Let us use that as our anchor as we aim to focus on today.  

Prayer without blemish

In the system of animal sacrifices commanded by God in the Old Testament, he stresses that the people should not take short cuts by offering "blemished" animals (Deuteronomy 17:1, KJV),

Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the Lord thy God.

Jesus, by presenting himself as the ultimate and eternal sacrifice, does away with that system of animal sacrifices. But we still offer "sacrifices" in the forms of our prayers. And to that end, the same warning applies: Our prayers should not be "blemished." That is, our prayers must not be phony, or boastful, or half-hearted.

Unfortunately, we're all guilty of occasionally offering "blemished" prayers, which speaks to our sinful natures. To avoid those blemished prayers, let us try to follow the advice in Psalm 95:6 (KJV),

O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.

How to live, and how to repent

In Colossians 3:17 (KJV), Paul gives clear, concise advice regarding how we should conduct our lives,

Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

It's not complicated advice, but we seem to fail to heed it every day! What to do when we fail to live according in that manner? We must repent, and Psalm 79:8 offers a model for how to do that,

Remember not [our] iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily [come to] us: for we are brought very low.

This prayer, like Paul's instruction, is not complicated. God does not require that we be complicated! Rather, he requires that our hearts be aligned with his. Let us use the two verses posted here as guidance for how to live, and how to repent.

Avoiding being at ease

My previous post covered the pursuit for spiritual joy. But in this post, I want to mention the need to avoid earthly comfort. That does not mean we should avoid earthly successes, but we must avoid letting those earthly successes crowd out our pursuit of spiritual joy.

Consider, for example, Job, who, at the beginning of the book, has tremendous earthly possessions and successes. Then, as part of a spiritual test, God allows Satan to take it all away. At one point in his lengthy discourses, Job laments (Job 16:12, KJV),

I was at ease, but he hath broken me asunder: he hath also taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces, and set me up for his mark.

For many of us, when we find ourselves "at ease," our spiritual zeal can begin to wane. Heavenly afflictions might serve to refocus our spiritual efforts, but let us attempt a spiritual quickening before those afflictions arrive. We can do so by praying along the lines (Psalm 143:11, KJV),

Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake.

Trying to achieve spiritual joy

Sometimes it might seem like other people have found a plane of spiritual joy that we, ourselves, cannot find. At those times, it is helpful to know that David, with his heart seemingly aligned with God's, struggled with the same thing!

To illustrate, consider David's words in Psalm 70:4 (KJV),

Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, Let God be magnified.

In those words, David articulates the mindset of one who experiences spiritual joy. But in the very next verse he says (verse 5, KJV),

But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying.

Evidently, David struggled to achieve the spiritual joy he saw in others. And if David could experience those feelings, then we certainly can, too. The answer is to pray something along the lines of those words in verses 4 and 5. And do so without ceasing!

The reason for "good works"

Paul makes clear, repeatedly, that we do good works not to earn God's favor. Indeed, God's favor is a free gift that we neither earned nor deserved. In Ephensian 2:8-9 (KJV), Paul states,

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

So then where do good works fit into a spiritual life? In verse 10, Paul explains,

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

So good works do not cause us to enter God's favor. Rather, the fact that we have God's favor causes us to walk in obedience. This reversal of the cause/effect relationship between works and salvation is a central part of Jesus' teachings, and Paul expands upon it in his letters.

So in our prayers, let us thank God for our undeserved salvation, and then let us walk in obedience as a sign of our thankfulness for that salvation.

Abiding in God

In modern times, it's fashionable to view our spiritual journey as trying to form a "relationship" with God. On one hand, that's not a bad line of thinking. After all, trying to form a "relationship" likely means we are engaging in prayer, which, I believe, is the key to deciphering God's will.

But on the other hand, the Bible doesn't use that terminology of forming a relationship, probably because the meaning of "relationship" is somewhat fuzzy. But then, what are we trying to accomplish in our spiritual journey?

In a recent sermon, John MacArthur argues that, while the answer is all over the Bible, it is most explicitly stated in John chapter 15. Specially, in verse 4 (KJV) of that chapter, Jesus states,

Abide in me.

And then in verse 5 (KJV),

He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

And then in verse 7 (KJV),

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Verse 10 (KJV) hammers home what "abiding" means,

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.

The idea of "abiding" is more concrete than the tougher-to-define idea of "relationship." And if gives us a specific path to follow, namely obedience to God. 

A prayer God won't refuse

The Bible states that, to be answered by God, our prayers must conform to his will. So praying for money, health, or happiness might not work if our hearts aren't in tune with God. James (4:3, KJV) makes this clear,

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

So what's a prayer that God is not likely to refuse? Consider Psalm 43:3 (KJV),

Send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.

It's a simple plead for wisdom and guidance, and a great guide for daily prayer.

Being our own spiritual "coach"

In 1 Corinthians 11:31 (KJV), Paul says,

For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

Paul's point, I think, is that, as we sin every day, we must engage in a continual act of self examination to identify and confess those sins. Doing so will forestall whatever punishment God has in mind.

This interpretation of that verse does not paint God in a bad light. Rather, it points to his patience and love, that he gives us a chance to confess.

Jesus points to a similar theme when he washes the disciples' feet. Peter asks, why just the feet? To which Jesus responds (John 13:10, KJV),

He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.

The point being, we are already cleansed through faith, but we still sin throughout the day, effectively dirtying our feet as we walk through this life. We must "clean our feet" by engaging in that daily process of self examination. And that happens through ceaseless praying!