March 7, 2010

TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Rev. David N. Els

(Associate Reformed Synod)

TEXT: Psalm 25 TITLE: Teach Me O Lord!

INTRODUCTION

If you had your Hebrew Bibles with you this morning you would notice that each of the verses in this Psalm begins with a different letter of the alphabet. The letter of the first word in the first verse is an aleph. The first letter in the second verse is a beth. And so it proceeds with gimmel, daleth, he, and so forth. There are twenty-two consonants in the Hebrew alphabet, and no vowels, hence the 22 verses of this Psalm. It is unclear why the Psalmist chose to adopted the use this type of an acrostic, which can also be found in Psalms 119 and 145, but as you read it you are once again taken into David's private place of prayer. Many of his personal conversations with the Lord are recorded for your benefit, and from them you learn something about his life and faith. But more importantly you learn about the great God that he worshipped and served. As we read through this Psalm together I want you to take note of three different themes that are interwoven. He is speaking to the Lord about three issues and he moves back and forth from one to the other throughout the prayer. In verses 1-3 he asks for the Lord's protection, in 4-5 he asks for the Lord's guidance, and in 6-7 he seeks the Lord's pardon. And each of these themes are repeated down to verse 21, and then he adds the final verse as a benediction.

He begins by declaring his absolute trust in the Lord and by asking for His continued protection and in so doing he repeats the word shame three times. "Let me not be put to shame. . . None who wait for you shall be put to shame. . . they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous." The most common understanding of the word ‘shame’ in English is to be embarrassed, disgraced or humiliated. We talk about someone hanging their head in shame. There are people who are ashamed of the place in which they grew up and they spend all their lives trying to distance themselves from their roots. Some people are ashamed, or embarrassed, of the way they look. Others are ashamed when they are caught doing something they ought not to be doing. People feel shame when they make fools of themselves. And you have probably had occasions in your life when you have been ashamed because of something you have said or done. And when you are ashamed in this way you really don't want to look people in the eyes. According to Webster shame is a "Painful emotion excited by a consciousness of guilt, disgrace and dishonor." In one of his letters Paul said that if anyone refused to obey his instruction on a specific matter that the congregation were to take special note of that person and have nothing to do with them. He said, "Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed" (2Thes 3:14). Webster’s definition is obviously the reaction Paul was looking for. He wanted the man to realize his guilt so that he could repent and be restored to full fellowship with God and the church. He hoped that the man would be so ashamed, or so embarrassed by his sin, that he would turn to Christ in repentance. The scribe Ezra once prayed: "O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens" (9:6). He hung his head in shame because of their sin. He was too embarrassed to look up into God’s face.

While that type of understanding of the word is found in Scripture it is, however, not the most common understanding of the word. Being embarrassed is not the chief biblical idea connected with the word shame. In the Scriptures being ashamed most often refers to being let down or disappointed, or having trusted in something that, in the end, proves unworthy of your trust. For example, when Paul declares in Romans 1:16 that, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes," he is not saying that he wasn’t embarrassed about the gospel message. I am positive that he wasn't. He never hang his head in shamed and refused to look people in the eyes and tell them about the savior of sinner, Jesus Christ. Now there are times when you will find yourself having to stand up for Christ amongst a group of people who may be indifferent, or even hostile, to the message of the gospel and you ought not to be embarrassed to call yourself a follower of Jesus. But, that isn’t what Paul is getting at. You could paraphrase his statement in this way; "For I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is God's power to save all who believe." Not being ashamed means having an unshakable confidence in the Lord’s ability to do what He has promised. At the end of his life he could say, "But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me" (2Tim. 1:12). He's not talking about being embarrassed because of his imprisonment and suffering. Through all that he had endured as a servant of the gospel the Lord had never once let him down. And he was convinced that his Savior would continue to be his refuge and strength no matter what. In Romans 5:3-5 he says that, "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame.” Or you could say, “Hoping in what your Father has promised you will never be disappointed.” If you hope and trust in the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ then you will never be let down, you will never be ashamed. People will disappoint you and fail you but He will never do so! Both Peter and Paul quote Isaiah 28:16, "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame" (Rom. 9:33 & 1Pet. 2:6). Those who place their hope and trust in Jesus Christ can rest assured knowing that they will never be disappointed

DAVID’S LESSON

Because of his confidence he begins his prayer with this marvelous declaration of faith, "To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust." His hope was in the Lord his God. To lift your soul to the Lord means to place your complete trust in Him alone. It means consciously giving yourself into His care and accepting that He knows what is best for you in any and every situation and circumstance of life. Now I know that your soul belongs to Him, and that when you die it will return to Him. So it is not as if your soul belongs to you and you can choose to withhold it from Him. Rather it is a matter of you realizing your need for Him in your life and then, turning to Him, placing you complete trust in Him. Have you lifted up your soul unto the Lord? Is your confidence in Christ alone? Are you trusting in Him, no matter what, because you have faith in Him to take care of you in the here and now, and for the rest of eternity? “I am,” may be you immediate response, but perhaps a more honest answer would be, “sometimes!” Far too often we are like Peter who believed Jesus’ word and stepped out of the boat and actually walked across the stormy waters. When Jesus called out he lifted up his soul to his Lord and, trusting completely in Him, he climbed out of the boat and onto the water. But, after a few confident steps he began to wonder if his trust was well-founded. The words of Jesus were still ringing in his ears and heart, but his eyes could not ignore the size of the waves and the impossibility of the situation. And suddenly the water beneath him gave way and he began to sink. That is why David not only declared his confidence in his God, he goes on to ask, “Let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.” He knew that if he looked to the Lord, and trust in Him, that he could be confident of his Savior’s help in his time of time, nevertheless in prayer he humbly asked for it to be a reality. In fact, he goes on to speak to his own heart, reminding himself that, “Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.” It is one thing to have the promise of God, and to declare that it is true, but you need to hold onto it while waiting on the Lord, especially when the waves of trouble and difficulty begin to tower over your head, and the winds of adversity threatens to blow you over.

In some of the Psalms you are given a bit of background information, but in this one David isn’t specific. He prays, "Let not my enemies exult over me" (2), and "Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me" (19). Throughout his life he had to deal with people who sought to do him harm. We know of men like Goliath, Saul, neighboring rulers and even his own son Absalom. But the identity of these enemies is unknown. However, everyone who follows the Lord Jesus Christ will face enemies. As the Lord's sheep we have to contend with lions, bears and wolves who threaten to ravage us. And as soldiers in God’s army we cloth ourselves in the armor He has provided in order to do battle. Every day you live in this world you are going to come face to face with enemies who are out to get you. The world itself in which you live is totally opposed to God. For the most part the world system under which you live is ruled by the kingdom of darkness. Believe it or not, but you don’t not live in a Christian country. Society does not seek to glorify the God of creation, and as you live in the world you will continually be faced with the temptation of the world. Scripture never advocates locking yourself away in your home, or retreating from society so that it will not contaminate you. You are called to be light in a dark world, and to live amongst unbelievers so that they can see the work of grace the Lord has done in your life, but in so doing you find yourself living in hostile territory amongst people who are antagonistic to Christ and His kingdom.

And like you, David also faced the one who, "Prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1Pet. 5:8). There is a misconception about that quote from Peter. People imagine a lion prowling around and roaring at the same time. But a lion is the king of stealthy cats. It is a huge animal that is capable of moving so silently that it is able to creep up on an unsuspecting prey. While a lion is on the prowl you won't hear a sound, not even the snapping of a twig. The whole idea of prowling is trying to catch an unwary victim. A lion only roars in order to show its dominance over a certain territory. Once it has caught its prey, or if its authority is challenged, it will let out a mighty roar in order to intimidate or assert its power. While the Devil is in search of someone to devour he will creep around disguised as an angel of light, or as a teacher of the truth. He will try sneak into your home, and your life, in ways that seem totally harmless. While he is on the prowl, looking for unwary victims, his true intent will be hidden from view. And when you hear him roaring it means that you have already fallen for his lies and have become ensnared by one of his schemes. David prayed, "Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me." The enemy loathes every child of God, and he will do everything in his power to tempt you to lose confidence in Christ. He wants you to be ashamed. He wants you to begin to doubt God’s ability to protect and preserve you to the end. He wants you to question your heavenly Father’s love and motive for allowing you to have to deal with your present lot in life. He wants you to focus on the wind and waves, so that you will sink.

And if that were not enough to deal with there is the enemy within with which you have to battle on a daily basis. For most often you are your own worst enemy. Even if the world was not against you, and the Devil never tried to lure you away from Christ, you would still find yourself in a fierce battle every day. The biggest threat to your spiritual maturity is the remnants of your old sinful nature that is opposed to the will of God and is given over to selfishness, self-gratification and self-centeredness. Now it has been said that the best defense is an offense. Instead of bunking down and waiting for the enemy to attack, go on the offensive and attack the enemy before he can come against you. And when it comes to the enemy within you need to go on the offensive. David does that through means of his prayer. He knew that in order for the Lord to protect him from his enemies he needed to deal with the sin that was still in his life and so he prayed, "Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!" (7); “O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great" (11); "The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins" (17-18). You need to get serious about dealing with everything in your life that does not conform to the image of Christ, and which gives the enemy a foothold within the walls of your defenses.

In his prayer he first looked back to the sins of his youth. Scripture does not give us an account of his youthful sins, but they still bothered him. God forgives out sins in Jesus Christ, and promises never to use them against us, but that does not mean that we forget the sins we have committed. Even after walking with the Lord faithfully for more than thirty years Paul was still bothered by the fact that he had been instrumental in having Christians put to death. He saw himself as the chiefest of sinners and totally unworthy of God's grace. Of course if God kept a record of sins, and if we had to answer for each of them, we would all be doomed to destruction. And so David asked the Lord to treat Him according to His ‘hesed,’ or great lovingkindness. He then moves on to the present and the distress and anguish he was experiencing because of present sin. His sin and guilt were great, and as you search your heart in prayer I am sure that you can echo his words. In order to deal seriously with sin your heart needs to be troubled, distressed and full of anguish because you know what your sin did to the Son of God. It matters not what you think of your sin, or even the consequences you have to deal with because of them. What matters is that God’s wrath and justice was poured out on Jesus Christ for your every single word, thought and deed that does not conform perfectly to His holy standard. You ought to be serious about your sin because it is what caused Jesus Christ to suffer and die. David sought pardon for his guilt was great. And the good news is that in the death of Christ you are fully pardoned.

TEACH ME O LORD

You are promised that if you confess our sins that God is faithful and just, because of Christ’s sacrifice, to forgive your sins. And you are also assured that you will never be abandoned by the Lord, but that He will preserve and keep you to the end. You are assured in Scripture of what He will graciously do for you, but what He requires of you is obedience, faithfulness and trust. Which is something He needs to teach you. Therefore, David prayed, "Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me" (4-5). Like you, he needed to know the truth. Faith comes by hearing the truth, but unless knowledge is translated into action it is dead. Therefore David asked the Lord to teach and lead him in the right way. You need to know God’s way. That is why it is important to sit under sound preaching and teaching, and why you should have a systematic way of reading through the Bible and studying it. But, all the knowledge in the world won’t make an ounce of difference unless it translates into action. You need to know God’s ways, but you need Him to teach you to live out the truth. God had said to David, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you" (Ps. 32:8). The Lord had said that He would do it, and now David asked for the fulfillment of that promise in his life. He asked the Lord to turn all that he knew into the everyday practice. When God teaches you something it is always within the context of the reality of life. He never gives you knowledge, simply for the sake of making you well-informed. He gives you on the job training. Like the old apprenticeship program, where a young man didn’t go off to college to gain fact but learnt the theory of his trade through means of practice, so the Lord teaches you through means of making His Word a reality in your hands on every day life experiences.

Through the lessons of life David learnt that God is faithful and worthy of our complete trust. He could declare, "None who wait for you shall be put to shame" (3). And you can be sure that Lord will never let you down. You can have complete confidence in the gospel for it truly is God's power to save all who believe. Because of the Lord's continued intervention in his life he learnt to say, “For you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long" (5). God truly is the Savior of His people. Throughout the day you can look to Him with confidence. No matter what you are dealing with at this moment, He is your salvation. David was also taught what it means to rely upon the Lord’s mercy and grace when facing his enemies. Looking back he could pray, "Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old" As the Lord showed great mercy to Adam and Eve after they sinned, and as Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, so you can cast yourself upon His infinite mercy and steadfast love. All His children need to learn the lesson of the sufficiency of His grace. And that is something that can only be taught as He places you in circumstances where you can discover your own weakness and inability and the power of His strength. Some may complain when faced with difficulties, and some may doubt the Father’s goodness and love when tragedy strikes them, but as David points out, "Good and upright is the LORD, therefore he instructs sinners in the way" (8). While you definitely don’t deserve it, nevertheless you are assured that in all His dealings with you He will only do what is good for you. David learnt to trust in the Lord's goodness, and through that experience he came to the realization that in all things God is never wrong.

That does not mean that he understood everything the Lord was doing in and through the events of his life, but he had also learnt that, "All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness" (10). All the ways of the Lord, and not just some of them, reveal His faithfulness and great love to His children. He is absolutely faithful to those with whom He has made a covenant to be their God. Because of his knowledge of the Lord David also learnt the precious lesson that sins can be forgiven. He was able to prayer, "Forgive my iniquity, though it is great," because he knew that God is capable of forgiveness. No matter how great his fall, David knew that he could never fall beyond the reach of God's mercy and grace. He could ask with confidence, "Turn to me and be gracious to me" (16), because he had learnt that harbored sin meant a loss of joy and brought displeasure to God. He knew what it was like to have the Lord turn His face away from him, and he had also experienced the joy of restored fellowship when he repented. And even though he had learnt many lessons up until this point in his life he nevertheless saw a need for greater instruction and so he prayed, "Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths."

And in order for you to receive the instruction you so desperately you should give heed to verse 9, "He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way." He gives grace to the humble. And the humble are those who know they cannot help themselves. Therefore, you need to ask the Lord to give you a humble heart that yearns to be taught. And having done that you to go on to the next verse where you are reminded that, "All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies." When you hear God's instruction you need to obey it. You can sit under the best teaching in the world but unless you obey it, by putting it into practice, you really haven't learnt a thing. In order to be taught you need a humble heart, one that acknowledges its inability. And you need an earnest desire to not merely hear the truth, but have it control your thoughts, words and deeds. And then in verse 12 he asks, "Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him." So, in order to be taught you need humility, obedience and a revenant fear of God. Fear of offending the One who loves you, and gave His life for yours. When you have that type of fear you will desire with all your heart to do His will. And finally you need to say like David, "My eyes are ever toward the Lord." You need to be looking expectantly to the Lord for strength and enabling grace. Look confidently to Him to supply you with sufficient grace for whatever your need might be. Keep your eyes ever on the Lord to whom you have lifted up your soul, and in whom you have placed your complete trust. Look to Him to help you to have His truth reflected in your life. Put your trust in Him to teach you His ways and you will never be ashamed.