Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways
Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways.’ — Ver. 13a.
TTERE begins the third chief part of this Psalm. The first was occupied with confession of sin. After this came prayer for the redemption David desired, namely, forgiveness of sin and renewal of the heart by the Spirit of God. And now comes what must always be the fruit of redemption: he will praise the Lord and make known His grace to others: as a servant of God he will yield himself to the great work of teaching transgressors God’s wavs.
This is the aim of God in the case of every soul to whom He manifests His grace. Of all God’s children this word holds good: ‘The people which I formed for Myself, that they might set forth My praise ’ (Isa. xliii. 41); and every one of them falls in with the language of Paul: ‘For this cause I obtained mercy, that in me as chief might Jesus Christ show forth all His long-suffering for an example of them which should hereafter believe on Him unto eternal life ’
J53
HAVE MERCY UPOX ME.
(1 Tim. i. 16). God must have honor from His work, and this honor is given to Him when a ransomed soul magnifies Him, and makes known the great things which He has done for him.
On earth no one lights a candle and puts it under a bushel: much less would the Most High God of heaven do so. To all whom He translates out of the kingdom of darkness He says: ‘Ye are the light of the world: let your light shine.5 Soul, if with David you have offered up this prayer for grace, and have hope that there is grace for you, then fix your attention carefully on that which the Holy Spirit would teach you from David’s prayer. The design of grace is to make you a witness for the love of God, and at the same time a monument of His wonderful goodness. Let your soul surrender itself to this aim and plan of God, and say in His strength, wrhen you pray for grace: 6 Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways.’
Do not imagine, however, that God requires this of you as a debt which you must pay to Him in return for your redemption. No: if you will only yield yourself to this work in the strength of grace, it will be your greatest joy to say: ‘Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways.’ When you think of the abyss out of which you have been rescued, and the glorious salvation which has become your portion; of the deep misery in which others still lie overwhelmed, and how God’s precious grace is also for them, mighty and ieady to redeem them as it has redeemed you, — your heart will be filled with compassion for sinners, and you will count it a blessing that you inav exercise the priYilege of speaking of this Jesus to others. When you reflect what the loYe of Jesus has done for you, and how much you haYe to thank Him for, this loYe will constrain you; and as often as you pray anew: ‘O God, haYe mercy upon me, then will I teach transgressors Thy way,’ the desire will be awakened in you that others also, who are still far from the precious SaYiour, and strangers to Him, may learn to know Him as you also now know Him. You have always the assurance that then only shall they be truly happy; and what is more, that then also they will glorify the Lord. For you feel more than you are able to express in words, how truly worthy He is to be known and glorified. Yes: the mere thought that this and that ‘transgressors might be awakened to life, that this and that worldling might be changed into an example of the grace of God, — and this through your prayer and your teaching, — this, I say, is sufficient to make your heart burst open with joy. And this will not appear impossible to you, if you look to Him who has shown you favor, and to His loYe for sinners, which will deign to make use also of your serYice.
But I know well what other reflections will easily sweep OYer you. You will also think of your own unfitness for this task, and you will feel that you do not know how you shall eYer be in a position to teach transgressors God’s ways. The joy and the gladness of redemption are well nigh taken away from you, through dread of having to face this great and heavy duty. Not so, my friend. Pray, observe that this promise emerges in a prayer — in a prayer for grace. David only says that, if God shows him favor, restores to him the joy of His salvation, and grants him the upholding of a free spirit, he will then teach transgressors His ways. Oh, the Lord does not require of you more than what He Himself will enable you to perform. Pray, forget not that to one who has had his heart filled with grace it is a source of pleasure, a joy, to make others acquainted with Jesus. Acknowledge that the reason why it is felt so irksome to speak of Jesus is nothing but the fact that we ourselves are content with so little of the grace of God, that we do not yield ourselves to be wholly filled with it. Let the fear and the irksomeness which you feel convince you that you do not yet have as much grace as God is prepared to give. God would fain give to every soul so much blessing that his mouth shall overflow, because his heart is full; that he shall not be able to remain silent; that love to Jesus and to souls shall constrain him to speak. Go therefore to God again, and still more earnestly, with the prayer for the full joy of the forgiveness of sins and for the full indwelling of the Spirit: then will you also teach transgressors His ways. Set this duty constantly before you. It is this that God desires from those that have been enriched with grace. It is this service that grace will enable you to render. It is this by which the true joy and the full power of grace shall be first discovered.
Perhaps you ask where and when, to whom and how, you are to teach God’s ways. My brother, all this the Lord Himself will make known to you. The constraint of loye itself will teach you this. Love will seek opportunities, will create opportunities. Are you lying on a sickbed? You have still a grand opportunity of teaching others. Is your circle of acquaintance narrow and limited? In your own house there may be some to whom the ways of God are unknown. Are you simple and ignorant? It is the words of such that oftentimes find the fullest entrance into the hearts of others. Oh, the world is full of transgressors; and the heart of Jesus is full of love. If you have really tasted His love, you must admit that there can be no work so glorious as to be the messenger and the servitor of this love to redeem souls that are going to perdition. And if, besides this, you know that this grace which has made you alive from the dead is also able to open your mouth, and thereby bestow this wondrous blessing on others, this also is wrought out in you for a worthy end. Brother, forget it not: every soul that has been endowed with grace is called to the work of teaching transgressors God’s ways, and shall receive strength to carry it out with a willing and joyful heart.