“Rescue me, Lord, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge. Teach me to do your will for you, O Lord, are my God. Let your good spirit guide me in ways that are level and smooth.” Psalm 143:9-10
The first step belongs to the Lord. He came to earth from His Heavenly throne, surrounded by Seraphim, on a rescue mission. Jesus came through the manger’s swaddled clothe through the tomb’s burial clothe for the purpose of saving aching mankind. Along the way, He taught us many things, not the least of which is about the Father. Jesus made the biggest movement, planned from before creation, to rescue your soul from sin. Mankind couldn’t grasp that reality 2,000 years ago and still struggle with it today.
But, then some souls get it. Or, at least, these souls start to see the light in this rescue mission. The salvation of their soul for varied reasons becomes important. They made the next move. These souls cry out to the Lord, “Rescue me, Lord, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge.” And, faithful as He always is to the humble soul, Jesus rescues them. He freely and fully gives them His Divine Mercy in an overwhelming, cleansing wave. Salvation is given.
I know my Protestant brothers and sisters will argue that all is complete at this point. Nothing more needs to be done, “you’re saved, once and always.” But, that isn’t the end of the Road of Faith for these souls. It is truly just the beginning.
Now comes the rest of this psalm, “Teach me to do your will for you, O Lord, are my God. Let your good spirit guide me in ways that are level and smooth.”
Once we are ‘saved’, we must learn how to apply that salvation, to ourselves and to others. It is at the point of accepting God’s salvific grace that we start to let go of our will and learn to accept God’s Divine Will. We pray the moment after receiving this grace, “teach me to do Your Will.” Many of us make a point of insuring we add ‘Thy Will be done” to our petitions. These lessons take time, sometimes a lifetime to learn. Learn we must. But, we have a great teacher. He is patient and is the greatest expert on the subject. He will apply tests along the way, sometimes ‘pop quizzes’ but at times, these tests may be big exams. In these tests, we need not fear to know all the answers. It is in these times, Jesus wants us to know that He is right there to give us the answers. We just need to ask. It’s better than an open book test, the Teacher knows the questions in the test and is willing to give the right answers.
Turn to Jesus fully. Drop to your knees right now, even if you’ve been there before. And, ask God to “rescue you” from your enemies and sin. Then, throw up your hands and ask Him to start teaching.