Reengaging with God
Introduction
"Today we are called to forsake our selfish plans and submit to God’s holy will and then we’re graced with the desire and strength to do it.” Paul David Tripp
This Psalm is consumed with the thoughts and truths of Deliverance, Guidance, and Forgiveness. It speaks of clear direction that leads one to reenter a close relationship with God, to reenlist with the Lord, or to reconnect with long lost friend.
The structure of this Psalm may have been employed as an aid to memory, making a “teaching” psalm on discipleship. Our writer entitled it as Decisive Discipleship. It seems as though the context of a CRISIS has brought the Psalmist to a new height of surrender. This is so often the case in our lives.
The context we believe is David and his troubled relationship with his son Absolam. This psalm pictures life as a difficult journey that we can’t successfully make by ourselves.
Oswald Chambers spoke clearly on December 31st concerning our present, past, and potiential tomorrows.
“As we go forth into the coming year, let it not be in the haste of impetuous, unremembering delight, nor with the flight of impulsive thoughtlessness, but with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lost opportunities which will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future. Leave the irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the irresistible Future with Him.”
This so rightly describes the truth imbedded in Psalm 25
Lamentations 3:22-25:
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.”
I. SOURCE OF OUR HELP 1-7
A. DELIVERANCE AND GUIDANCE 1-3
V1 Pictures David lifting his soul as an offering is lifted before the altar in sacrifice.
“To You”/”In You”- speaks of his confidence in coming to God. This joyful confidence is in
“the God” who has not and will not disappoint those who trust in Him.
The Psalmist approaches God in prayer with the attitude of submission and anticipation; it’s a spirit of utter dependency on Him.
V2 He prays that the wicked will not overpower him. His eyes of faith are fixed on his covenant God by whose promises he lives.
Remember:
It’s His promises to me not my promises to Him, that allows me to overcome.
V2-3 Shame or disgrace of God’s people leads to the exaltation of their enemies.
Their shouts of triumph would hurtt him deeply
within his very being, marking him as one whose trust in the Lord was only outward.
To David, “when the outlook is bleak, try the uplook.” David desired both guidance and insight.
B. INSIGHT AND FORGIVENESS 4-7
1. Insights 4-5
V4-5 He reveals an earnest desire to do God’s will by praying to know
“your ways,” “your paths” and
“your truth.” The truth will describe how one is to walk in the paths of the Lord. Here he displays a submissive spirit to divine instruction.
Prayer 4 times; show me, teach me,
guide me, teach me.
True godliness is not outward conformity to God’s law, but the spiritual application of God’s law to one’s life by God Himself.
The Psalmist prays for the internalization of God’s word.
Submission to God finds expression in constant trust and godliness.
NOTE: To be well instructed is not enough.
V5 “Lead me in Your truth and teach me.”
David is asking the Lord to “tread” or “march” him in the truth which is revealed and to teach him as he goes. Biblical truth is truth to be done, to be obeyed.
TRUST AND OBEY John Sammis, 1887
When we walk with the Lord,
In the light of His word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
Let us do His good will;
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a burden we bear,
Not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,
Not a frown or a cross,
But is blest if we trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
But we never can prove,
The delights of His love,
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,
And the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Then in fellowship sweet,
We will sit at His feet,
Or we'll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do,
Where He sends we will go,
Never fear, only trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey
To believe God’s word and to think God’s word is not enough. We must do God’s word, or else we are deceived.
V5 Submission is not to a set of principles or to a legal system but to the Savior.
2. Forgiveness 6-7
The Psalmist sees God’s love, not as ancient, but as enduring.
Psalm103:17
“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children”
V6 David is conscious of his sins, he asks that God not remember them.
The “sins of my youth” – probably inadvertent sins; sins of omission.
“nor my transgressions” – willful acts of rebellion.
Rather than remembering his sins, David asks God to remember him, but from the vantage point of mercy – as God remembers His graces, He is to remember David in that grace.
NOTE: “for your goodness sake”
Psalm 121:2 - “my help comes from the Lord”
David prays that the Lord will deal with him, not in accordance with his lack of loyalty, but according to God’s own commitment of loyalty.
V2 Forgiveness is the act of grace whereby God extends His love, as if the sin had never
taken place.
II. WHY WE CAN FEEL SECURE 8-14
Here David pauses to meditate on the character of the Lord.
V8 He is good and upright. What He says and does is always right
A. Assurance That He Will Guide Me 8-10
V8-9 If we submit ourselves to Him in humbleness, He will teach us His ways, but if we are arrogant, He will be silent.
V10 God can be trusted to guide those who obey His word.
A willingness to obey is the first step toward spiritual understanding.
John 7:17
“If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.”
“Reducing doctrine into practice.” John Gill
God can be trusted to guide those who obey His word.
B. Assurance That He Will Forgive Us And Speak To Us 11-14
V11 God can be trusted to be merciful and gracious to those who repent.
V12 We must walk in the “fear” of the Lord.
A sense of reverence before God’s holiness and majesty (His awesome power).
His reverence and submission to God will make him teachable.
V12 “Him shall he teach in the way he chooses”
(He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.)
Knowing that the Lord has a plan for our lives, and that this plan is the very best for us, should give us great joy and confidence as we seek His will.
Psalm 37:23
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.”
The “fear of the Lord” of V12 is an Old Testament concept for our inner responsiveness and willingness to learn of the Lord. The humble are those who continually seek His mercy, forgiveness, and instruction. Maturity in godly wisdom leads to godliness.
V13 As a result God will give him great blessing (“prosperity”).
Proverbs 20:7
“The righteous man walks in his integrity;
His children are blessed after him.”
V14 The Lord calls us into an “intimate circle.” We are His friends. God gives new unveilings of God’s truth and ways.