LED BY THE LORD

What could possibly be more essential, more important for Bible-believing, God-loving Christians than discerning and walking in the will of God? Psalm 25 displays David’s confidence in turning to the LORD for his instructions and forgiveness. Indeed, David reminds us that those who fear the LORD will be led by the LORD!

Psalm 25 zeroes in on God’s character, resulting in those of humble heart responding with confession and prayer. In the Hebrew text, Psalm 25 is actually an acrostic, each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

We can outline Psalm 25 as follows:

  • David Petitions The LORD, 1-7
  • David Pictures Some Of God’s Attributes, 8-14
  • David Prays For Deliverance, 15-22

David Petitions The LORD:

Verses 1-2: “In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.”

In verse 2, David asks that he be kept from/protected from anything that might bring disgrace, anything that might give his enemies an opportunity to point their finger — anything that might arm his opponents with legitimate accusations.

Indeed, the most appealed-to excuse for rejecting the claims of Christians when sharing their faith is hypocrisy — believers who say one thing but in practice do the opposite.

We may not be able to articulate with great eloquence our faith; we may not be able to effectively debate creation versus evolution; but there is one thing every Christian can do: walk with God! Sincerity of purpose, single-hearted devotion, integrity, humility — these are attributes that speak volumes to folks seeking answers. No, we’ll never be sinless, at least in this life, but we can be real, transparent — and repentant when necessary.

This was surely David’s desire, hence his plea to remain as the “apple” of God’s eye (Psalm 17:8). Dr. Charles Caldwell Ryrie, in the Ryrie study Bible, comments that this phrase “the apple of Your eye” refers to “the pupil of the eye, an emblem of that which is tenderest and dearest.” This was David’s heart — and it can be ours as well.

Verse 3: “No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.”

To paraphrase David: “Fact is, no one who trusts in You has to worry about that (being put to shame)! Disgrace comes only to the treacherous — to the disloyal; to traitors.”

Verses 4-5: “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”

Recently I was pondering my own pilgrimage with God, and I was reminded that God’s guidance most often came within the context of obeying and trusting Him in the things he had already revealed to me. In other words: those who fear the LORD will be led by the LORD — the theme of this 25th psalm of David!

I offer my life to You, Lord. My God, I trust You

Verses 6-7: “Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.”

In this appeal to God, David uses the word “remember” three times. Of course we know God doesn’t need to be reminded of anything for He is omniscient (all-knowing). “Remember” is simply an appeal to God’s infinite mercy. Perhaps the New International Reader’s Version best captures the gist of what David means: “LORD, remember your great mercy and love. You have shown them to your people for a long time. Don’t remember the sins I committed when I was young. Don’t remember how often I refused to obey you. Remember me because you love me. LORD, you are good.”

Verses 8-14 present some of the attributes of God: “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in His ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of His covenant. For the sake of Your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them.”

The attributes listed by David are anchors for us, stabilizing truths about our God that will enable us to enter this coming new year with confident expectation that He will shower His mercy and love upon us, accompanied by His direction and enabling-power to take us over and through whatever challenges may befall us!

What, specifically, does David say about our Lord? In sum, God:

  • Is good
  • Is upright
  • Instructs unworthy sinners!
  • Guides/teaches the humble
  • Is loving and faithful in the way(s) he deals with us
  • Forgives our iniquities
  • Instructs, prospers, and confides in those who fear (revere) Him

Like me, you too no doubt have found every one of these to be true in your life! Proverbs 9:10 and 3:5-6 say it all:

  • “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
  • “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

David Prays For Deliverance, 15-22. Here David candidly admits his need for God’s help, God’s deliverance: “My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only He will release my feet from the snare. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me! Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in You. Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles!”

These verses remind me of something the great missionary Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), once said: “All God’s giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them.”

Taylor observed that: “Want of trust is at the root of almost all our sins and all our weaknesses.”

David was certainly a mighty man of God, the fearless yet contrite warrior-king. David, who demonstrated trust in the Lord even as a youth (e.g. the slaying of Goliath), by his own candid admission reveals his finite, needy dependance upon the Lord. None of us will ever rival the greatness of this man of God — a man who nevertheless admitted his human limitations and weaknesses.

As so many of the ironies and paradoxes of our faith show us, it’s the humble individual that God supports, enables, pilots on his or her journey of faith. David, much like the disciple Nathanael (see John 1:45-51), was a man with no pretense, no false veneer of holiness, no feigning of faith. God honors such men and women of faith — those of single-hearted devotion to God.

Specifically, what does David want deliverance from? The answer is spelled out in verses 15-19:

  • Snares
  • Loneliness
  • Affliction
  • Trouble
  • Anguish
  • Distress
  • Personal sin
  • The increase of hateful enemies

In verse 20 David asks God, his sole refuge, to deliver him from all these things — then, in verse 21, he asks that the virtues of personal integrity and honesty be honored, serving as a shield.

Application: David, mighty in faith and deed, was nonetheless much like any one of us; a human being with precisely the same needs, desires, and weaknesses we all share. As we emulate him, the theme of Psalm 25 will come to pass in our lives: Those who fear the LORD will be led by the LORD!

A Prayer of Trust

Psalm 25 (NLT)
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
I trust in you, my God!
Do not let me be disgraced, or let my enemies rejoice in my defeat.
No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others.
Show me the path where I should walk, O LORD; point out the right road for me to follow.
Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.
Remember, O LORD, your unfailing love and compassion, which you have shown from long ages past.
Forgive the rebellious sins of my youth; look instead through the eyes of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O LORD.
The LORD is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray.
He leads the humble in what is right, teaching them his way.
The LORD leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all those who keep his covenant and obey his decrees.
For the honor of your name, O LORD, forgive my many, many sins.
Who are those who fear the LORD?
He will show them the path they should choose.
They will live in prosperity, and their children will inherit the Promised Land.
Friendship with the LORD is reserved for those who fear him.
With them he shares the secrets of his covenant.
My eyes are always looking to the LORD for help, for he alone can rescue me from the traps of my enemies.
Turn to me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and in deep distress.
My problems go from bad to worse.
Oh, save me from them all!
Feel my pain and see my trouble.
Forgive all my sins.
See how many enemies I have, and how viciously they hate me!
Protect me! Rescue my life from them!
Do not let me be disgraced, for I trust in you.
May integrity and honesty protect me, for I put my hope in you.
O God, ransom Israel from all its troubles.

A Theme to Remember:
Prayer is infinite ignorance trusting to the wisdom of God. Prayer is the voice of need crying out to Him who is inexhaustible in resources. Prayer is helplessness reposing with childlike confidence on the word of its Father in heaven. Prayer is but the verbal expression of the heart of perfect confidence in the infinite wisdom, the power and the riches of Almighty God, who has placed at our command in prayer everything we need. (Adapted from E.M. Bounds, The Necessity of Prayer)

Words to Remember:
In God alone there is faithfulness and faith in the trust that we may hold to him, to his promise and to his guidance. To hold to God is to rely on the fact that God is there for me, and to live in this certainty.
–Karl Barth