Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me.
Psalm 25:5 NLT
As I copied the Psalm today I had three impressions.
The first is grace. I was taken aback by how loving, gracious, forgiving and helpful God was in the eyes of David.
The second was that David was concerned about his sin. He talks about it a lot, and all of his sin: past youthful sin and present sin too.
Lastly I noticed a preoccupation with problems, enemies and depression (a negative perspective).
I am going to explore all three and see if I come out with a unified central theme.
My first question is possibly obvious for you. If God is so gracious, so loving and so kind, why does David have such a concern for his sin? Further, if the rescuing presence of God is with him, why does David have all these problems all the time? This is a common cry of David and it persists throughout the Psalms. Isn’t David chosen? Isn’t he anointed? Hasn’t he been rescued and doesn’t it seem that he has shown his love and faith in God enough?
Let’s dig a little deeper. David is talking to God. David is a type of Jesus or a prophetic forerunner, a signpost helping us see something of the messiah long before Jesus arrives. And Jesus is in David as it were, waiting to be born. Jesus is the greatest King, showing what a perfect David would be like. But Jesus is also the God to whom David appeals. Jesus acts on behalf of the Father, and Jesus, having all power and authority, is the one who came to seek and to save the lost. Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. So David is asking for forgiveness and he makes his request to Jesus, the only one who can forgive sins.
And to summarise my observations, Jesus knows trouble. Jesus had enemies. Jesus was constantly struggling with a broken world that needed His intervention: wine running out, blind unable to see, sick people bleeding, lepers being outcast and lame unable to walk. Jesus had to watch out for several people who wanted to kill him. Even in His hometown when He read the Bible and declared they had just heard God’s Word fulfilled, the people tried to kill him. I could go much further into the troubles plaguing Jesus, but I hope you are somewhat familiar. Wasn’t Jesus blessed? Wasn’t Jesus a man of faith? Wasn’t Jesus prophetically speaking goodness and power and health and prosperity into being?
I realise this is a bit out of order but I would be remiss to fail to mention that David is still concerned about his youthful sins. Surely he had confessed those already. Surely God had forgiven Him and surely he was only lacking in faith when he was dragging the sins back up. And God is his teacher in holiness so why worry about sin so much now? Was God not a good enough teacher?
MAIN POINT:
Faith in God is a relational, growing, dynamic process lived out in a fallen world by people being made holy and looking forward to a final heavenly reality.
God is good, no matter your experience at the moment.
v.2 “in You I trust”, v.4 ”Teach me Your paths”, v.5 ”God of my salvation”, v.6 ”Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses”, v.8 ”Good and upright is the Lord”, v.13 ”His soul will abide in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land” and there is so much more.
God wants you to succeed in doing what is right.
v.4 “Make me know Your ways”, v.8 ”He instructs sinners in the way”, v.9 ”He teaches the humble His way”, v.12 ”He will instruct him in the way he should choose”, v.14 ”He will make them know His covenant”, v.20 ”Guard my soul and deliver me”.
Troubles and sin make us aware of God’s power and plan to save.
v.1 ”To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul”, v.2 ”in You I trust”, v.3 ”none of those who wait for You will be ashamed”, v.5 ”For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day”, vv.8-9 ”He instructs sinners in the way. 9He leads the humble in justice”, v.14 ”He will make them know His covenant” cf to the guilt of being a sinner, v.16-18 “Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. 17The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. 18 Look upon my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
Conclusion:
The reality of living in a faith relationship with the all-powerful, gracious, loving God is not what many teachers, your emotions or your circumstances will tell you. It is a path blessed with problems and besetting sin that drives you to the only one who can help you live rightly. Expect such a path; it was the path of David and of Jesus who never sinned but dealt with the many sins of others and graciously forgave them repeatedly (think of Peter’s denial or John and James' pride in wanting the best place.) When you see God for who He is, you will be in love and you will want to follow Him, and He will teach you His ways.
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