“Truth for Truckers” *February 25, 2014* Psalm 25 “Unto
Thee O LORD do I lift up my soul”
The second of the Penitential Psalms with over twenty requests being
made by David, supplies us with valuable teaching for the necessary times of
confession and contrition before the LORD. He immediately comes before the LORD
in (v.1) ‘Unto Thee O LORD do I lift up
my soul’ showing his urgent need of the LORD’s attention. He then affirms
his faith in God: ‘O my God, I trust in
Thee’ and continues with his first request: ‘Let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.’ He
does not want God to allow him to become disappointed and discouraged,
underlining the necessity for victory over his enemies.
Disappointment and discouragement are some of the most effective tools
the devil uses when assaulting the child of God. It shows up time and again in the life of
David recorded on many occasions in the Psalms. However, he is not alone as
Job, Moses, Jeremiah, Ezekiel etc. and each and every Believer alive today has
experienced bouts with the devil and his favorite tool for bringing the saint
into sin, the downright despicable tool of discouragement.
We are in essence commanded to Rejoice, Regardless (I Thessalonians
5:16; Philippians 4:4), because of the
knowledge God has given us through the Word by His Spirit, and that is, no
event or circumstance comes into the life of a child of God, but that it is
filtered through the loving hands of our Sovereign Lord! And, when these times
do come, we also know that: ‘All things work together for good to them
that love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.’ (Romans 8:28)
In (v.3) the request is repeated: ‘Yea,
let none that wait on Thee be ashamed’ showing us that the cure for discouragement
is waiting on the Lord, recognizing that ‘Looking unto Jesus’ is His remedy for
the devil’s assault. Then, he underlines this fact: ‘Let them be ashamed (discouraged) which transgress (rebel) without
cause’ showing that those who are discouraged in fact are allowing
themselves to rebel without a reason by refusing the goodness and mercy of God
which is available to all children of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, he begins asking God for positive requests: ‘Show me Thy ways, O LORD; teach me Thy paths. Lead me in Thy truth and
teach me for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the
day.’(v.4, 5) He focuses on knowing God’s way by being led in and by the
truth of God through the LORD’s teaching hand, knowing that God is able to
deliver if we look to Him the full 24 hours of the day. His appeal now calls
upon the LORD to: ‘Remember, O LORD, Thy
tender mercies and Thy loving-kindnesses; for they have been ever of old.’
These two attributes of the LORD are ever the resource for His working in the
life of David, and in the lives of each and every child of God.
David then begins his penitent appeal: ‘Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to
Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness sake.’ His memory goes to his
‘missing the mark’ as a young man and proceeds to the sin of rebellion
indicated by the word ‘transgressions’.
However, the cure remains the same: God’s mercy which finds its source in His
foundational attribute of goodness. God is good, upon that we can rest assured,
if not, we would all be destined for the devil’s hell!
This attribute of God is now brought into focus by the pen of David: ‘Good and upright is the LORD:’ (v.8a)
He couples it with the word upright which indicates the outworking action of
His goodness. His actions are always accomplished in a just and righteous way
for He is righteous! ‘Therefore will He
teach sinners in the way. The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will
He teach His way. All the paths of
the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His
testimonies.’ (v.8-10) These three verses focus on the ways or paths of the
LORD and His dealing with sinners, the disobedient, and the meek who are
obedient. Both receive the same treatment from their Creator, they are taught
in the ways of God. It is their response that determines the next step in their
relationship with God.
However, mercy to the sinner, and truth to the meek provide the
opportunity for each one to ‘keep His
covenant and His testimonies’. This describes in brief the LORD’s universal
working among men, showing His love for every man that enters this world and
His method of giving them His Light. (John 1:9). After addressing the last four
verses to men, David continues his penitent appeal to God in (v.11) ‘For Thy name’s sake LORD, pardon mine
iniquity; for it is great.’ This imperative request emphasizes the
necessity of forgiveness as David stakes it on the basis of the LORD’s name. He
needs the supernatural working of His God who alone can repair the soul of its
flawed and destructive calamity...SIN... ‘For
it is great’...
The next three verses are once again directed to his reader: ‘What man is he that fears the LORD? Him
shall He teach in the way that He shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease;
and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the LORD is with them that
fear Him; and He will show them His covenant. (v.12-14) He names five
benefits of fearing the LORD: 1. He shall
be taught in the way 2. His soul shall
dwell at ease 3. His seed shall inherit
the earth 4. The secret of the LORD will
be with him 5. He will show them His covenant.
This brief but powerful list of blessings contains the key elements for having
the abundant life which is promised by the Lord Jesus Christ: ‘I am come that they might have life and
that they might have it more abundantly.’ (John 10:10b)
It is for this reason that David concludes his address to his reader
with a personal pledge: ‘Mine eyes are
ever toward the LORD; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net.’ He
promises to keep his focus fixed on the LORD because He knows that He alone can
deliver him from the traps of sin laid in his path by Satan. In (v.16-18) he
turns his complete attention to the LORD, continuing his penitent appeal by
making a concentrated effort to bring the LORD into action concerning his
troubled condition: ‘Turn Thee unto me,
and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my
heart are enlarged: O bring Thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine
affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins’.
This descriptive series of statements shows that David understood where
the cure for his trouble must come from, God and His mercy, but he also knew
that the cause for his desolate, afflicted, troubled, distressed and painful
condition was his sin. Forgiveness was and still is the answer, and it only
comes from the LORD! Then he turns from his spiritual enemies to his physical
enemies: ‘Consider mine enemies; for they
are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred. O keep my soul, and deliver me:
let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in Thee. Let integrity and
uprightness preserve me; for I wait on Thee. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all
of his troubles.’ (v.19-22)
His full reliance upon the LORD to bring him victory in the face of a
multitude of enemies is a powerful testimony of his faith. He requests the LORD
to keep him from discouragement once again, realizing that the character traits
of ‘integrity and uprightness’ were
the basis of his expectations as he continued to look to the LORD. And, in
conclusion, he appeals to God for the redemption of the Promised Land and the
chosen people of God, which the LORD wrought for him on multitudes of
occasions. This last request in (v.22) is the current request for the nation of
Israel and the Promised Land as turmoil continues to swirl in the middle-east
with the devil’s counterfeit Antichrist awaiting in the prophetic wings of time
to bring her down for the last time. However, we who are saved know the
beginning from the end, and the ‘Redeemer
will come to Zion’ as the Lord Jesus Christ will return to bring salvation
to God’s chosen people!
Chaplain
L.E.Wolfe www.btmi.org I-85 Exit 35 SC McPilot
Stop in, and please pray for our ministry!
No comments:
Post a Comment