"Make Your Way Straight Before Me"

[Psalm 5]

Once, I drove my in-laws and my children to a restaurant to celebrate my nephew's birthday. At that time, I wasn’t familiar with the directions to the restaurant, so I looked up the directions on the internet and safely arrived at the restaurant. After spending a pleasant meal together, I got lost on my way back home. The reason I got lost was that I should have just retraced my steps on the same route, but I didn’t do that; I took a different road instead. The reason I took the other road was that I thought it would eventually lead me to a highway that would take me home. As I was lost and wandering, my father-in-law began to get worried. At that moment, I reassured him, saying, “Don’t you trust me? Trust me, Father. This road will surely lead to the highway that goes to our house.” However, I ended up driving on the road I had chosen and got lost, eventually going in the completely opposite direction from home. I had to admit to myself that I was lost and stopped at a nearby gas station to ask for directions. Following the directions given by the attendant, we were able to return home safely. The lesson I learned from this experience is that while it is important to be confident, confidence based on incorrect facts can be dangerous. I was not confident based on facts, but rather based on my own assumptions.

When you fly into Los Angeles, USA, the city looks like a chessboard from the airplane window. The streets are almost all laid out in straight lines. Curved roads are hardly visible. Therefore, it is relatively easy to find your way in Los Angeles. So, I thought that the road I chose would definitely be straight. However, it seems that the road was actually a bit curved. As I was driving, I thought it was straight, but it probably wasn’t. Similarly, the path of faith is not always a straight road. There are curved roads in the journey of faith as well. As believers, we are meant to walk the straight path, but sometimes we might be convinced that a curved road is the straight one, and based on that false belief, we confidently take the wrong road. As a result, we inevitably experience the consequences of making a poor choice. Therefore, we must choose the right path and walk it straight. So, what does the Bible say about the straight path?

In Psalm 5:8, David, the psalmist, prays to God, “Make Your way straight before me.” Although there were many crooked roads and tempting paths around him, David asked God to help him walk on the straight path. And indeed, he walked on that straight path. Reflecting on the words of Psalm 5, I would like to meditate on three aspects of what it means to walk the straight path of the Lord.

First, a life that walks straight on the Lord’s path is a “life of prayer.”

Let’s look at Psalm 5:1-3: “Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for unto Thee will I pray. My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.”

Recently, while serving the body of Christ, the church, I have experienced how God has revealed my inability to pray properly, which has caused me to stray from walking straight on the Lord's path. I am discovering that I am swaying to the left and right. An inconsistent and wavering pastoral ministry shows me that there is an issue with my prayer life. Therefore, the Lord is leading me to pray. He is leading me to repentance, so that I no longer walk aimlessly and erratically, but instead, through prayer, I may understand His will and walk straight on His path. Those who walk straight on the Lord's path, even in the danger of drifting to the left or right, “pour out” [“thoughts focused on God or a heart consecrated to Him” (Park Yun-sun)] their hearts to God (v. 1). In other words, they pour out their hearts and earnestly plead before Him. The psalmist particularly desired that after pouring out his heart “in the morning” (v. 3), his prayer would be answered (v. 3). Pastor Spurgeon said: “Prayer should be the key to open the day’s activities and the lock to close them” (Park Yun-sun).

In other words, before we begin our daily activities, we should wake up early in the morning and pray: “Lord, help me walk straight on Your path today.” Then, as we faithfully walk in His path throughout the day, at the end of the day, before going to sleep, we should look back and give thanks for God’s grace in helping us walk straight on His path. By doing so, we will have a fruitful day and be able to sleep sweetly, knowing we’ve glorified God. However, when we neglect to pray, the key and lock for our daily life, we expose ourselves to sin, and the risk of evil dwelling with us is greater than dwelling with the Lord (v. 4). Therefore, we must develop the good habit of starting and ending our day with prayer.

Second, a life that walks straight in the Lord's path is a "life of worship."

Let us look at Psalm 5:7: "But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness, I will enter Your house, At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You."

David, the psalmist, worshiped God in situations where worship seemed impossible. Despite being surrounded by countless "arrogant" people (v. 5), "evil-doers" whom the Lord abhors (v. 5), "liars" whom the Lord will destroy (v. 6), and "those who delight in bloodshed and deceit" (v. 6), David lived a life of worship. Everyone around him was walking on crooked paths, so how was it that David was able to walk on the straight path of the Lord? Even today, there are many people who, rather than walking straight in the Lord's path, walk crooked paths or walk in a distorted way. So, how did David manage to transcend his circumstances and walk straight on the Lord's path? I believe there are two key reasons:

1. The first reason is that David was able to walk straight on the Lord's path "by His abundant lovingkindness" (v. 7).

After seeing the actions of all these wicked people, he realized that in order to walk on the good path he desired, he could not rely on his own strength but had to depend solely on God’s mercy (Park Yun-sun). Despite many wicked people, persecutions, adversities, pain, and suffering, David was able to worship God because he depended on God's abundant lovingkindness.

2. The second reason is that David feared the Lord.

Because David feared God, he was able to transcend the difficult situations and fully worship "my King, my God" (v. 2). Those who fear God hate evil and, instead of choosing a crooked path, choose the Lord's path and walk straight.

Amidst the countless enemies of evil people, David was able to look only to God and worship Him because of God's great grace and mercy. As a man of prayer, David was able to worship God even in such circumstances. What about us? In the midst of many hardships, difficulties, pain, and wounds, do we still worship God? Or are we so caught up in difficult circumstances that we cannot worship Him? If we cannot offer praise and worship to God, it is because there is an issue with our life of prayer. Those who do not pray cannot worship God in spirit and truth. Without experiencing God's abundant lovingkindness and lacking a heart that fears God, we are unable to worship Him amid many struggles and temptations.

Therefore, we must prepare for Sunday worship through prayer starting on Monday. And on Sundays, we should enter the "house of the Lord" (v. 7) to worship Him. This is the life that walks straight in the Lord's path.

Lastly, thirdly, living a life that walks straight in the Lord’s path is a "life of joy."

Let us look at Psalm 5:11: "But let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy, and spread Your protection over them, that those who love Your name may exult in You."

What is joy, indeed? When I thought about the joy that we as Christians should feel and experience, I reflected on Jesus. I wondered whether there was any verse in the Bible that says, “Jesus rejoiced.” However, with my limited knowledge, I couldn't recall such a verse. Instead, the verse that came to mind was when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, and as He prayed, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and a voice from heaven said, "You are my beloved Son; with You I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22).

Why did God the Father rejoice in His only Son, Jesus? The reason, I believe, is because Jesus obeyed the Father’s will all the way from Bethlehem to His death on the cross at Golgotha. So then, I asked myself again, did Jesus live a life of joy on earth, from His birth in Bethlehem until His death on the cross? To those who saw Him, His life might have appeared miserable, pitiful, and filled with sorrow… But I believe that, in the eyes of God the Father, Jesus lived a life of joy.

The life that pleases God the Father may not always seem to bring the “joy” that we expect. However, the true joy that we need to experience is the joy of the Father. This joy of the Father is also the joy of the Son, Jesus. If we live a life of prayer, walking straight in the path of the Lord and worshiping God, we will be able to taste the joy of God. This joy is the joy of all the saints who are walking straight in the Lord’s path (“let them all be glad”) and it is an eternal joy (“ever sing for joy”) (Psalm 5:11). The object of this joy is solely the “Lord” (v. 11). Christians who find their joy only in the Lord, even when the world may not understand them, will rejoice in the Lord, who cannot be overcome by joy, and will continue walking straight, faithfully, and to the end in the Lord’s path.

Once, during a Wednesday prayer meeting, I was going up to the front of the sanctuary to do a special song with my group, and I saw my youngest daughter, Ye-eun, run late to the front, trying to grab my wife’s hand. Watching that scene, I thought, "If I want to walk straight in the Lord’s path, I must hold His hand tightly. No, it is only when the Lord holds my hand tightly that I can walk straight in His path."

If the Lord holds our hand tightly, even though there may be many storms, adversities, and difficulties, we will be able to walk faithfully and straight in His path until the day He calls us. The path of prayer, the path of worship, and the path of joy are the Lord’s path. Let us all walk straight, without turning to the left or the right, in that path today and every day.

With a heart of gratitude for the Lord’s grace that has transformed the lonely wilderness into a garden of communion,

Pastor James Kim
(After singing hymn 470 and fervently calling upon God with the saints present, experiencing the peace of God that the world cannot give.)