Psalm 25. The title of the message I've looked at,
I started calling this the Believer's Prayer, and that's what it is.
But we could also say it's the sinner's prayer, isn't it? Have
mercy upon me, thee sinner. It's also the sinner's prayer.
But what I've come up with is this title. The Believing Center's
Prayer. The Believing Center's Prayer. And what we want to do this evening
is make this our prayer. Take this personal. Pray this
prayer with David. And echo the words of David. One of the outstanding verses
in the heart core of this prayer is Down in verse 11 and then
again down in verse 18. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my iniquity. You see verse 11. For thy name's
sake, pardon, O Lord, pardon my iniquity. It's great. And then again, he asks for forgiveness. Look upon verse 18. Look upon
my affliction and my pain. Affliction and pain come from
what? Sin. Sin in this body. When sin is finished with this
body, this body will die, go back to the dust. Look upon my
affliction, look upon my pain and forgive all my sins. Now, if we have the forgiveness
of sin, we have all things. We have all things. We have all
spiritual blessings in Christ as our sins are forgiven, as
we are made one with him and in vital union with him. It takes a great God to pardon
great sinners. It takes great mercy to put away
our sin and it brings him great glory, doesn't it? Turn back
to Psalm 21. Psalm 21, look at verse five. Everything God does is about
his glory. Psalm 21 verse five, his glory
is great in thy salvation, honor and majesty hath thou laid upon
him. And then you remember Psalm 115,
not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name do we give
glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Now there's 21
verses here and I don't know that I'll be able to We'll try
to get through 22 verses. We'll try to get through most
of this here, but notice how he starts here. He says, he starts
with his heart, his eye, his mind, his affection, his love
set upon the Lord. Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift
up my soul. He's lifting up his soul to God
in prayer. And prayer is the heart cry of
a believer, a sincere heart cry of a believer. And it's, you
know, it's not, it's not in, you remember when Hannah went
to the, went to the temple to pray, and she was praying for
her son, and God gave her Samuel, and she prayed unto the Lord,
but she didn't pray outwardly, but the Lord heard her prayer.
And that's what prayer is. We're not heard for our much
speaking. I think it's just a show in the flesh for people on the
national day of prayer to gather at the county courthouse and
hold hands around the flagpole and pretending like you're praying.
They just do those things to be seen of men. Our Lord said,
when you pray, enter into your closet. Enter into your closet. And it's not the position of
the body. We read about men who were praying
on their knees, and some praying on their face, and some standing
up. But it's not the attitude of the body. It's the attitude
of the heart and the soul. David said, O Lord, unto thee,
Jehovah, L-O-R-D, capital. Do I lift up my soul? I lift
up my soul to Thee. He's the only one that can help.
He's the only one that can save us. Our soul, our heart, our
affections, our mind, the real you, every renewed heart looks
to the Lord, our God and Savior for help and salvation, for grace
to help in our time of need. I mean, when you're really up
against it in your time of need, Our cry is unto the Lord. Lord,
save me. Lord, help me. Lord, intercede
for me. And then look at verse two and
verse three. Oh my God, the Lord Jehovah is
my God. My God, and that word God there
is Elohim. He's Father, Son, Holy Spirit,
all involved in our salvation. The Father choosing, the Son
redeeming, the Holy Spirit regenerating, the Lord our God. The Lord our
God, Jehovah our God. I trust in Thee. I trust in Thee. All of my salvation
is based upon the Lord Jesus Christ, His person, His work. I trust in Thee. The Lord, God
my Savior. Jehovah is God my Savior. I trust
Thee to save me. I trust Thee to save me. He said, let me not be ashamed.
Let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait
upon thee be ashamed. Let them be ashamed, but transgress
without a cause. He mentions this again over in
verse 20. Keep my soul and deliver me.
Let me not be ashamed who I put my trust in thee. I trust Him
for all my salvation. I'm not ashamed of the Lord Jesus
Christ. As Paul said, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. The power of God and salvation
to everyone that believe it. Here's a confidence in true heart
prayer. Oh my God, I trust Thee. I trust
Thee. True prayer is a prayer of faith.
Remember our Lord said, ask believing and all things shall be done.
True prayer is a prayer of faith. I trust Thee. Who else could
be trusted with such important vital issues as our soul salvation? You're gonna trust A church? Going to trust something you've
done? You going to trust something you've said? Some work you've
done? No, I'm going to trust Him. I'm
going to trust Him. Let me not. And God's people
are not ashamed of the gospel. We're not ashamed of Him. We're
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. As we read there in 2
Timothy 1, I know whom I have believed, I'm not ashamed. Because
I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed unto him against that day. And let
not the enemies, let not any enemy have a triumph over me. And he's talking here more about
spiritual enemies. principalities and powers and
spiritual wickedness in high places. Don't let the avenger
have any triumph over me. Let not my enemies triumph over
me. Look at verse three. Yea, he
says, let none that wait on thee be ashamed. Let them be ashamed
which transgress, which transgress. without a cause. There's never
a reason for any person to transgress against God. But by nature, that's
all we do, is transgress against God. Let none that wait on thee
be ashamed. Let them be ashamed but transgress
without cause. David said, against thee and
thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. That's
why sin is so terrible, it's against God. Sin, we're gonna
study in 1 John chapter three, sin is a transgression of the
law. Let them be ashamed that transgress without cause. It's
a shameful thing to sin against God. It's just absolutely shameful. But yet all of us are guilty.
Thank God for the blood atonement of Christ. those who look to the Lord Jesus
Christ. have no need, no reason to be
ashamed. There's no condemnation to those
who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in verse 4 and 5, he makes
several requests here. The first one is found in verse
4. Show me thy ways. Show me thy
ways. Or reveal. Reveal the ways of
the Lord unto me. Reveal the ways of the Lord unto
me. He says this several times. Look
at verse 12. What man is he that feareth the
Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. And
then verse 14 again, the secret of the Lord is with them that
fear him. He will show them his covenant. So show me the way. Show me the way. Remember Moses
asked the Lord, Lord, show me your glory. And the Lord said,
I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. If you look over at Psalm 103,
turn over there. Psalm 103, verse seven, Psalm
103. Psalm 103 verse 7, he made known
his ways unto Moses, the ways of mercy, the ways of grace,
his acts, his acts of judgment to the children of Israel. He
made known his ways to Moses. And that's what he does for us.
He makes us to know his way. And then he says, secondly, teach
me. Teach me. As I pointed out in
the reading, he asked this five different times. Lord, teach
me. Teach me, teach me thy paths. Teach me the ways of salvation
in the Lord and teach me thy paths. And I thought of this
verse. Look back at Psalm 23. Psalm
23, verse 3. He restores my soul He leadeth in the paths of righteousness
for his namesake. So teach me that path of righteousness
that we enjoy in the Lord Jesus Christ. He says this again over
in verse five, lead me in thy truth and teach me, teach me. Now he is the teacher and he's
the lesson. He's the teacher and he's the
lesson. Look at verse eight, he says
it again. Good and upright is the Lord, none good but God.
Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach sinners. He came to save sinners. He's
gonna teach sinners in the way. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. Look at verse nine, to meek will
he guide in judgment. The meek will he teach his way. I wanna be taught of the Lord,
don't you? Again, down at verse 12, what man is he that fears
the Lord? Him shall he teach the way that
he shall choose. It's the way that he chooses.
I know in Proverbs, it talks about there is a way that seems
right unto men. The end of that way is death.
I want him to teach me his way, the way that he chooses. And
that's Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in John chapter
six, he said, no man can come to me except the Father which
sent me draw him. All those who have heard and
learned of the Father, they come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Those
who are taught of the Lord Jesus Christ, they trust Him for all
salvation. The Lord Himself is both teacher
and lesson. He teaches us mercy. He teaches
us truth. Covenant mercy is based upon
truth. How God can be a just God and
Savior, how He can be just and the justifier. The last words
of David recorded in 2 Samuel 23, he talks about these covenant
mercies that we read about here several times. Several times,
look at verse 10. All thy paths of the Lord are
mercy and truth, as such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. And then again, He mentions this
covenant in verse 14. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him. He will show them His covenant.
Remember the last words of David? Although it be not so with my
house, God hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and is sure. These are covenant blessings.
And it's talking about the eternal covenant of grace. The Lord Jesus
Christ is a surety of that covenant. He's a guarantee of that covenant,
ordered in all things and is sure. And then he says, lead
me, Show me thy way, teach me thy paths. And then he says,
lead me. Can we make this our prayer?
He's a good shepherd who leads his sheep. Lead me in thy truth. We sang a song and one of the
lines goes, show me thy truth concealed within thy word. Lead me, show me the truth. The
truth of who He is, Almighty, Sovereign God. The truth of who
we are. We are great sinners. The truth
of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. God Almighty manifest in
the flesh. And the truth of how He saves
sinners. Lord, lead me in that truth. Show me that truth. Teach
me that truth. Lead me and teach me. Thou art
my God. I like what Thomas confessed
when he came to the risen Lord. And the Lord revealed Himself.
He said, My Lord and my God. My Lord, Thou art the God of
my salvation. I love that statement, don't
you? He's a God of my salvation. Salvation is of the Lord, is
it not? On Thee, on Thee do I wait. I wait upon the Lord. Look just across the page over
here, Psalm 27 verse 14. Wait on the Lord, be of good
courage, ye shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say, on the
Lord. Now, His mercies, His blessings, they're
worth waiting upon, are they not? Wait upon the Lord. He'll
bless thee in due time. He's the God of my salvation.
I like what Simeon said when he picked up that little baby
in the temple, been waiting for the consolation of Israel, picked
up that little baby child, the Lord Jesus in the flesh. He said,
Lord, let me die now. I'm ready to die. My eyes have
seen thy salvation. He's the God of my salvation. Verse six, look at this. Verse
six and seven. Remember not the sins of my youth. He keeps going back to his sin,
doesn't he? We're always conscious of our
sins, are we not? Guilty, let every mouth be stopped.
All the world become guilty before God. Remember not my sins. Now,
how can the Lord, who is all knowing, ever present, how is
it that he cannot remember our sins? How is it that he can't remember
our sins? Because the Lord Jesus Christ
put away our sin. He says in Hebrews 10, 17, you
remember? Their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. They don't exist. The sin of
God's people been put away by the sacrifice of Christ. Remember
not my sins, the sins of my youth, the sins of ignorance, rashness,
nor my transgressions, according to thy mercy, and according to
thy mercy, remember thou me for thy goodness sake. There's none
good but God for the goodness sake. That's Christ's sake. Remember me for Christ's sake.
And when you look at that word, remember, remember me, what does
that remind you of? What'd that dying thief say?
Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom. Remember me. I love what the
Lord said. Today you'll be with me in glory.
Boy, he remembered, didn't he? Remember me. The Lord has loved
his people with an everlasting love. He'll never forget us.
He'll never forsake us. Remember not the sins of my youth
nor my transgression, but according to thy mercy, remember thou me.
Remember me for your goodness. The Lord is good. Verse eight,
it says that. Good and upright is the Lord. Everything about the Lord is
good. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Whatever
he does is right. Whatever he does is good. There's
none good but God. God is love. God is just. God is holy. God is good. He's good to his people. Wasn't
that scripture? And we know All things work together
for good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. Good and upright is the Lord.
He's upright in everything He does. The judge of all the earth
will do right. He's upright. Therefore, verse
eight, will He teach sinners in the way. I want to be taught
of God. What a blessing. Lord, teach
me. Teach me the way of salvation in Christ. He came to save sinners,
didn't he? Teach me thy way, O Lord. Teach
me thy way. The Lord is good, none but God.
Look at verse nine. The meek will he guide in judgment. In that day of judgment, in that
day of judgment, he's appointed and the man wants to die after
that, the judgment, The meek will he guide in judgment, the
Lord Jesus Christ is gonna answer for his people in the day of
judgment. And he answers with a perfect
justifying righteousness that he's imputed unto us. The meek
will he guide at the judgment or in judgment, and the meek
will he teach his way. Meek and lowly in heart, being meek, is not being weak,
being meek is being strong in the Lord. It's trusting him for
all of salvation. All thy paths, verse 10, all
thy paths, all thy paths are mercy and truth, and as such
as keep his covenant and his word, his testimonies, If you
look back at Psalm 23, verse six, Psalm 23, verse six, those
two words, all thy paths of the Lord are mercy and truth under
such as keep his covenant. Psalm 23, verse six, surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. Goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life. That's a blessing, isn't it?
Now, verse 11. And I believe this is a high
point of this prayer unto the Lord our God. For thy name's
sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it's great. It's great. Turn just one page over, Psalm
32. When he says for his name's sake,
he's talking about Forgive one another and love one another,
even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Ephesians
4, 32. But look at Psalm 32, verse one. Psalm 32, verse one. Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputed not iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.
That's a blessed man. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my iniquity. It is great. It takes a great God to pardon
great sinners. It brings him great glory in
doing so. That's the grand design of his
redemptive work, of his glory. His glory. Worthy is the lamb
that was slain to receive all honor, glory, blessings, and
power, both now and forever. He will abundantly pardon his
people. He came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my iniquity, for it is great. In the book of Nehemiah,
there's a prayer there of Nehemiah that he prays, and he prays this.
Nehemiah 9, 17. But thou art a God ready to pardon. He's ready to pardon his people.
Gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, For thy
name's sake, for Christ's name's sake, pardon my iniquity, it's great. Now, look at verse 12 and 13. What man is he that feareth the
Lord? Question, what man is he that feareth the Lord? We only
fear the Lord The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
It's because God has given us wisdom to know who he is. What man is he that feareth the
Lord? Those who have been taught in
the way. Him shall he teach in the way
that he shall choose. You remember the Lord said to
Philip, I believe it was Philip, he said, Lord, show us the way.
He said, I'm the way. I'm the truth, I'm the life.
No man comes to the Father but by me. What man is he that fears
the Lord? Those who are taught of God.
Those who are taught of God fear the Lord. And he teaches them
the way that he shall choose. You know, salvation is a choice. His. It's his choice. Didn't he say that to his apostles?
He didn't choose me, I chose you and ordained you. Luke verse 13, his soul shall
dwell at ease. His soul shall dwell at ease.
Notice on the word dwell, there's a reference there, see the marginal
reference? Lodge in goodness. Lodge in goodness,
his soul shall dwell at ease in his goodness. And his seed, his seed shall
inherit the earth. In Christ, in Isaac, shall all
the earth be blessed. In that seed, the seed of woman. Talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ, his seed is his elect, his people. They shall inherit
the earth. Why? We've been made heirs of
God and joint heirs with Christ. We have an inheritance, it's
incorruptible, undefiled, it fades not away. And it's not
talking about the inheritance of this earth as we know it now.
This is going to pass away. The fashion of this world is
going to pass away. But He's going to make a new
heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, and we
shall inherit this new earth and this new heaven, whatever
that is. It's to be with the Lord. We have an eternal inheritance
in Christ Jesus. Look at verse 16, the secret
of the Lord. Verse 14, the secret of the Lord. is with them that fear Him, and
He will show them His covenant. What is the secret of the Lord?
How God saves sinners in such a way not to violate His holy
character and yet magnify His mercy. That's the secret of the
Lord. How God can be just and the justifier. How God can be
a just God and Savior. Secret covenant mercies. He will
show them His covenant, And he's talking about the covenant of
grace, the eternal covenant of grace. The God of peace that
brought again from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ through
the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect, secure
you, all salvation. Therefore, verse 15, my eyes
are ever toward the Lord. And these are the eyes of faith.
The eyes of faith are upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, look
unto me and be ye saved. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down on
the right hand of God. My eyes are ever toward the Lord. Goes right back to verse one,
doesn't it? Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. The eyes
of faith are fixed upon Christ. My eyes are ever toward thee. For he shall pluck my feet out
of the net. He shall pluck my feet out of
the net, or bring forth, as it says, the marginal reference
on the word pluck. He shall bring forth, he shall
bring forth my feet out of the net. The net of, it's a snare,
it's a trap. He will bring us out, the snare
of all our sins. He will bring us out. He'll pluck
us out. Verse 16, he said, turn thee unto me. Now notice, notice
how that said there. We often hear in other places,
preachers say, well, you need to turn to the Lord. That's what
David said here. He said, turn thee unto me. Lord,
turn unto me. Turn unto me. And have mercy upon me, for I'm
desolate. I'm desolate. I'm totally depraved. I'm desolate. I'm afflicted.
My sin has afflicted me. Turn thee unto me. I love that
statement, don't you? Turn thee unto me. Now have mercy upon me. He prayed
that in Psalm 51 over and over, didn't he? Have mercy upon me
according to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of
thy tender mercy. Blot out my sin while I'm desolate,
I'm afflicted. Verse 17, troubles, the troubles
of my heart are enlarged. Man is born a woman, few days
and full of trouble. What did the Lord tell his disciples,
his apostles? right on the eve of the cross,
of him being crucified. These words have I spoken unto
you, that in me you might have peace. In this world you shall
have tribulation. Be of good cheer, I've overcome. Now you think of all the tribulation,
persecution that the apostles had, especially Paul. I mean, the apostle Paul, he
was just He had troubles and troubles
and troubles, didn't he? Chased out of one city into another.
He preached the gospel there. Another revival broke out and
another rebellion broke out. They chased him out of that city
into another city. They stoned him in one city and
drug him out of the city as a dead man. He went right back. The
Lord raised him, I think, from the dead. He went right back
to that same city and preached the gospel again to them. stoned,
shipwrecked, whipped, beaten, imprisoned, and beheaded. Why did the Lord put him through
all that trouble? Did he bring him out of his trouble?
Yeah, he did, didn't he? Where is the apostle Paul now? seated in the heavenly den of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He did bring me out. You see,
the apostle Paul even writes about this in 2 Corinthians chapter
4. He says, and he talks about, you think of everything he went
through. He says, our light afflictions are but for a moment and worketh
for us an exceeding eternal weight of glory. These are just light
afflictions for a moment. They're passing away. And the
Lord will bring us out. Oh, bring thou me out of my distress. Look upon, verse 18, look upon
my affliction and my pain. We know something about afflictions
and pain, don't we? The Lord knows about it. He sent
them your way. the trials that be ordained of
God. Look upon my affliction and my pain. But he doesn't say,
take away my pain. He doesn't say, take away my
affliction. What does he say? Forgive all my sins. That's the
main thing, isn't it? Forgive all my sins. Consider
my enemies, verse 19, for there are many. They hate me with a
cruel hatred. The Lord Jesus Christ was the
most hated person when He walked upon the earth. Our Lord was
so hated. He said, they hate Me without
a cause. And then He said to His disciples,
if they hated Me, guess what? They'll hate you too. Consider
My enemies, for there are many. They hate Me with a cruel hatred.
Verse 20, O keep My soul. We're kept by the power of God.
Keep my soul and deliver me. He is the deliverer. He shall
deliver Israel from all their sin. Let me not be ashamed. Let
me not be ashamed of thy deliverance. Deliverance to the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I put my trust in thee. Trust
in Him at all times, ye people. Pour out your heart before Him.
God is a refuge for us. Remember Psalm 62. Let integrity
and uprightness preserve me. And that's Christ. He is the
integrity. He is the upright one that preserves
us. Remember He said, I give my sheep
eternal life and they'll never perish. But I wait upon thee. I wait upon the Lord. Verse 22,
redeem Israel. Oh God, out of all of his troubles,
redeem Israel. Find Psalm 130. Redeem Israel. He's talking about God's elect,
God's chosen. Redeem Israel or Ransom Israel,
O God, out of all his troubles, out of all his sins. Psalm 130,
verse 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. The blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all our sins. Redeem me. And that word there,
In verse 22, redeem. It also has the meaning of ransom. Ransom. Deliver them from going
down to the pit. I have found a ransom. We are
redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, aren't we? Redeem Israel, O God. He is our
Redeemer who redeems. He's redeemed us from all our
sin. Can you make that your prayer? Next time you are struggling in prayer, turn
to Psalm 25 and just read that prayer. Say, Lord, I lift up
my soul to Thee, show me Thy way, teach me, keep me, preserve
me, help me.