Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians

The Beginnings of All Things Created
Lesson 2

The Ways of the Lord God

If you do not understand the Ways of the LORD GOD, then you will never be able to serve Him as He Wills. If you do not serve your LORD GOD as He Wills, you may face His disappointment, anger, punishment, or disdain. It’s not a fairy tale that we live...Our LORD GOD is an awesome and powerful Father who has distinct Ways. He demands His children to know His Ways, and the closer you are called to Him, the more He expects from you. The closer you get to the LORD GOD, the more you must know to accomplish His Will, and the more He holds you accountable to His standards.

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. (Psalms 18:30 AV)

1 ¶ <<A Prayer of David.>> Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. 3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. 4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. 6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.

8 ¶ Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. 9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. 10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. 11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. 12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. 13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. (Psalms 86:1-13 AV)

Let's breakdown our Scripture study of Psalms 86:1-13 to smaller study segments...

1 ¶ <<A Prayer of David.>> Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. 3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. 4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. (Psalms 86:1-4 AV)

It is so very important to realize that the LORD GOD is not obligated to be merciful. He chooses to show kindness to whom He Wills. Just as a natural life father does not constantly show every kindness to his child, the LORD GOD assumes the same position. If every kindness is given to a person by the LORD GOD, eventually, that person would become a spoiled child, expecting rather than requesting mercy. The LORD GOD relies on the communication between a person and Himself to determine the intensity of need. Certainly a father that hears on a daily basis that their child has a deep soul need is more apt to respond, than hearing a whining demand for his father's every kindness and attention for excessive, extravagant and inessential needs.

Notice how the soul is lifted to the LORD GOD...The LORD GOD does not go down to the person to bring joy, but, rather, the person lifts His soul to the LORD GOD to receive joy.

5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. 6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. (Psalms 86:5-6 AV)

The LORD GOD does not forgive sin with plenteous mercy because He has to.....He does it because He is good and chooses to forgive.

These words suggest that not all prayer is regarded by the LORD GOD as requiring His specific attention. It appears that David was fearful that his prayer would get lost in the midst of the mundane prayers of others. He was shouting to the LORD GOD that his prayer was important, his prayer did matter, his prayer was a stand out, and needed the direct attention of his LORD GOD.

This scripture requires a little background work to understand the LORD GOD's ways completely. Remember our study in 001 Foundation with the chapter dealing with "How a sinner is spiritually restored"? We all require forgiveness of our sins by the LORD GOD. David required it when he wrote his Psalms, and we require it even after Jesus Christ died for our sins. Our nature is to sin, and when we sin, we must have forgiveness from the LORD GOD to continue in relationship with Him.

The good news for Christians is that He gave Jesus Christ the authority to forgive sins on earth. So, what Jesus does, the Father does, in a sense. When it comes to the authority and power that the LORD GOD gave His son Jesus Christ, they are the same, they are one. You must understand, however, that Jesus Christ is not the LORD GOD literally. He is the representative of the LORD GOD to us. Because of the power and authority given to Christ to do the LORD GOD's will, if you pray to Christ, you're praying to the LORD GOD. Make sense?

As Christians, we are given another contact through Jesus Christ, to receive the forgiveness of the LORD GOD. This forgiveness we receive comes from Jesus Christ, but the ultimate forgiveness comes from the LORD GOD, as He honors His relationship with Jesus Christ. That is why this scripture, and the study of Psalms, is necessary and good for us to study. As we study Psalms, we are studying the writings that are mostly written by David, a time long before Jesus Christ came to earth. Study of David's pure voice and truthful words in his cries and praise to the LORD GOD reveals the ways of our LORD GOD in depth to us. These words are as applicable to our relationship to Jesus Christ and the LORD GOD, as they were in David's time and life, and are very profitable for study.

Specifically, the study of this scripture reveals to the Christian the opportunity for forgiveness through Jesus Christ, by the LORD GOD, for our sins. It teaches us that our prayers need to be intense, earnest, and sincere, with the ability to rise above the mundane, worldly and commonplace prayers of others, in order that our prayers can be heard, and that we can be forgiven and restored completely according to the LORD GOD's grace through Jesus Christ.

In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. (Ps 86:7 AV)

As stated before, the LORD GOD responds to intense prayers, especially and always when you are in trouble. If your prayers are mundane, the LORD GOD's response will be limited, at best. The popular visualization of having a direct telephone line to the LORD GOD, that allows a person to tell the LORD GOD everything on His mind and wish list, is a figment of a persons imagination. The LORD GOD, is all powerful and all knowing. He is not the personal genie of anyone. He responds to the important things that He chooses to respond to. One time when the LORD GOD will always respond, is when one of His people are facing imminent danger. We must always have faith that our LORD GOD will hear our prayer in times of distress, just as David did when he faithfully reminded the LORD GOD of his confidence that He would not fail him in times of trouble.

8 ¶ Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. 9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. 10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. (Psalms 86:8-10 AV)

Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. (Psalms 86:11 AV)

To walk in truth with the LORD GOD requires you to be stable and trustworthy. You must separate yourself from man's expectations, society's demands and church's doctrines. You must walk with stability in the specific way the LORD GOD has Chosen for you to walk. Be trustworthy to the LORD GOD and He will teach you to walk in His way.

One of the ways we measure a student's spiritual growth level is by examining the fearful reverence he has for the LORD GOD. If that fearful reverence is not present, then we know that the student does not have substantial spiritual understanding and is in fact a young or lazy Christian. Only when the LORD GOD joins the truthful revelations together in a person's understanding, will that person have the ability to see the LORD GOD in truth, and be in awe of His presence.

12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. 13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. (Psalms 86:12-13 AV)

14 The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. 15 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. 16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. 17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. 18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. 19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. 20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy. (Psalms 145:14-20 AV)

Remember how we said that the LORD GOD was not your personal genie at the beginning of this study? The LORD GOD is gracious and wants to delight His people that He loves, just as any father wants to bring delight to his children. The LORD GOD requires, however, that to receive your desire, you must first fear Him. To fear the LORD GOD, requires you to first have your spiritual understandings united into revelation by the LORD GOD. To have spiritual understanding at all requires you to study the Word of God and learn to walk in His ways with trustworthiness and stability. To study the Word of God requires you to be one of His children. To be one of His children requires you to be a follower of Christ. To be a follower of Christ requires you to be baptized and believing. You cannot be baptized, unless you are repentant of sin, and the LORD GOD has chosen you to receive faith and called you closer to Him. So if you meet each of these requirements, and if you truthfully come to Him with your request in His acceptable, trustworthy and stable way, He will be true and fulfill your desire. What a wonderful Father He Is!

He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting. (Habakkuk 3:6 AV)

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33 AV)

6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6-7 AV)

Recently, a very young Christian who we had just met asked us to pray for a woman acquaintance of hers. We asked what type of prayer was needed. She explained that her non-Christian, non-believing friend, had suffered tremendously in recent years with the sickness of anorexia, which was kicked in beyond her control as a result of a traumatic divorce. The sick woman's daughter had threatened to kill both her mom and herself "to put both of them out of their misery". The young Christian then went on to list crisis after crisis this poor woman had experienced in recent past, to convince us that this woman needed our prayers. She said that she had tried to witness to the woman, but the woman would have nothing to do with the Word of God.

As gently as we could, we told our young Christian friend that we would not be praying for this woman. Our friend was aghast, and wondered aloud to her church community how people professing to be Christians could refuse to pray for somebody in such dire straights. She cried to common acquaintances that our position to not pray made a mockery of the love of Christ and bordered on wickedness. Finally, she got up the nerve and shared her disappointment with us.

As a very young Christian, our friend cannot know the ways of the LORD GOD. It takes concentrated study, practice, walking and grace through the LORD GOD to gain the mature understandings to grow in the faith. It doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen to all Christians. These studies are the beginning to guide Christians who are hungry for that growth to a new place with new food to stimulate that maturing process. So often, new Christians think that being a Christian requires you to submit to all worldly pain and suffering in the name of Christ. Sometimes, even older Christians believe that we should attempt to change all pain and suffering in the world. This position causes the servants of Christ to become servants of worldly wickedness.

A wise believer once said that a "true man of God heals every person that he prays for." A doubtful acquaintance looked at him in astonishment and said "that's not possible...there has never been that many healings on the face of this earth!" The wise man answered "I didn't say he prayed often for healings! A true man of God knows the ways of the LORD GOD, so knows the times to pray, and knows when to keep quiet!"

A Christian can never do the Will of the LORD GOD if he does not know the Way of the LORD GOD. Yes, the LORD GOD is completely capable of healing all sickness and disease that exist today. The LORD GOD is able to wipe out wickedness and change the fortunes of men. The LORD GOD can do anything He wants. BUT......He does not do anything at a whim. All Works of the LORD GOD are purposeful and planned, and follow specific ways. If a mature Christian were to approach the LORD GOD with a request that conflicted with the LORD GOD's ways, then the LORD GOD would think him a fool. If the LORD GOD has given the understanding of His ways to a person, that person is then responsible for honoring His ways in their works. The responsibility of every great child, in a very great family, is honoring the ways of the great Father, always.

19 ¶ Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! 20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. (Psalms 31:19-20 AV)

Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. (Psalms 65:4 AV)

4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. 5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. 6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. (Psalms 5:4-6 AV)

And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: (1 Peter 1:17 AV)

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. (Psalms 89:14 AV)

7 ¶ Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8 AV)

To be born of God is different from being evolved from His Creation. We will examine this concept in this study. You should also understand that to be "born of God" and "chosen of God" are two different concepts, which will be explained further on in this study.

To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. (Deuteronomy 32:35 AV)

21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. (Deuteronomy 32:21-22 AV)

If you do not understand the Ways of the LORD GOD, then you will never be able to serve Him as He Wills. If you do not serve your LORD GOD as He Wills, you may face His disappointment, anger, punishment, or disdain. It’s not a fairy tale that we live...Our LORD GOD is an awesome and powerful Father who has distinct Ways. He demands His children to know His Ways, and the closer you are called to Him, the more He expects from you. The closer you get to the LORD GOD, the more you must know to accomplish His Will, and the more He holds you accountable to His standards.

In natural life, a person demands and expects more from those people he loves and who are closer to him. Grown children that come close and remain with their fathers are expected to conform to his ways more than grown children who are far from him and distant. These expectations are the true nature of love, and it is the true nature of our LORD GOD. The LORD GOD is a loving Father who expects those who love him most to do His Will completely, effectively and joyfully, and He weighs your relationship with Him accordingly.

Cite Article Source

MLA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. "The Ways of the Lord God." The Beginnings of All Things Created Jan 2005.   <http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/002way2.htm>.

APA Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. (2005, January) "The Ways of the Lord God." The Beginnings of All Things Created Retrieved   from http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/002way2.htm

Chicago Style Citation:
McFarland, Kathy L. (2005) "The Ways of the Lord God." The Beginnings of All Things Created (January), http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/002way2.htm (accessed )

About the Author

Kathy L. McFarland is a Becker Bible Studies Teacher and Author of Guided Bible Studies for Hungry Christians. She is a Religious Studies student of Liberty University, Hebrew language student attending Israeli taught Ulpan and a Homeschool parent teaching the things of God. She is also well-known as a child advocate of innocent children tortured and suffering from the abuse of sexual perversion, out-of-control violence, and pathetic neglect by a carnal world gone mad.

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