Still Teachable

The Person Who Teaches Must Still Be Taught

I will declare the mysteries of ancient times.

— Psalm 78

He guides the humble in doing right and teaches his way to the lowly.

— Psalm 25

Sometimes the hardest Scripture for me to read is the Scripture I already know. I recognize the story, remember the lesson and can almost anticipate what comes next. Psalm 78 recounts some of the familiar wonders of Israel’s journey, yet the psalmist calls them “mysteries of ancient times.” Apparently something can be ancient, familiar and still mysterious. Perhaps familiarity and mastery are not the same thing.

Psalm 25 suggests the posture required when approaching such mysteries: humility. “He guides the humble” and “teaches his way to the lowly.” Humility does not require pretending that I know nothing. I can study, reach conclusions and even have something worthwhile to teach. But the person who has something to teach must remain somebody who can be taught.

I sometimes notice the absence of this humility in difficult conversations. Two people may be arguing passionately while neither quite understands what the other is saying. Each hears enough to prepare the next rebuttal, assumptions harden, and soon they are having two different conversations. One remarkably humble sentence can change everything: “Wait. Maybe I don’t understand what you mean.” That isn’t surrendering a principle. It is simply admitting that there may still be something to learn.

It is tempting, of course, to read Psalm 25 and immediately identify all the people who ought to become more humble. But then I have missed the Psalm myself. Before deciding that someone else is unteachable, I need to ask whether I am still teachable. If I intend to speak about God, Scripture and the “mysteries of ancient times,” I should remember that those mysteries remain considerably larger than I am.

A few days ago Jesus told us, “Go and learn.” Yesterday I discovered something very basic that I need to relearn: prayer. Today the Psalms remind me what makes continued learning possible. However much I have learned, however certain I may become, and however familiar the old stories seem, I must remain still teachable.

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