I believe it will be a different
tune, but I am confident we will sing that song forever. All right, go with me, if you
would, back to Psalm 25. Psalm 25. I was reading Charles
Spurgeon's. Treasury of David, which is a
commentary, his commentary on the Psalms. And he pointed out
some things that blessed my heart so much. And I want to share
them with you as an introduction to this message. He said, evidently. This psalm was written in David's
latter days because he mentions in verse seven the sins of his
youth. He said, please don't remember
the sins of my youth. So he must have been an older
man when he wrote this, an aged believer. And as an aged believer, Spurgeon
said. We can see the very heart of
the man after God's own heart right here in this song. We can see the trust, we can
see the conflicts, we see the transgressions, we see the repentance,
we see the distresses. Spurgeon said it's all here. And this deep inner urgency that
we hear from David Spurgeon said. Is the mark of a true Saint? It's the mark of a true Saint. All of God's people find themselves
in this very state of being before God. All of God's people. And when Spurgeon pointed this
out, And then I read the chapter again
in light of what he said. I saw myself. I mean, I really
honestly saw myself, I saw a clear, clear. Picture of myself, what
goes on. Inside me on a daily basis. And it brought comfort to me.
It brought a lot of comfort to me. And the reason is because
if this is the heart of the man after God's own heart, then maybe
I'm a man after God's own heart. Maybe he has set his affection
on me. I believe when you see this,
you are going to see yourself. I believe you will. And my hope
is that this will bring as much comfort to you as it has to me.
Spurgeon said in this Psalm. David prays. And meditates. That's what's going on back and
forth. He'll pray for a little bit. And then he'll meditate
for a little bit. He'll he'll think. Think about
some things for a little bit. His heart, his inner existence
is constantly going back and forth between Prayer and meditation. And whether we realize it or
not, that is exactly what we do. It really had not occurred
to me until this was pointed out to me, but this is exactly
what we do. Now listen for this prayer and
meditation as we read this. See if this describes what goes
on inside you. Verses one to seven is a prayer. David said unto the old Lord,
do I lift up my soul? Does that strike a chord with
anybody? Have you been in that place where
you're just like, I'm just I'm just. I'm just sending it all
up to you. He said in verse two, oh, my
God, I trust in the. Let me not be ashamed. Let not
my enemies triumph over me. And I'll say this about every
time we come to it. We have plenty of enemies. But the greatest one is the sin
that is right inside here. It is it is our enemy. It is
against us. It fights us. It wars with us. It is just constantly. shooting
its own fiery darts at the mind, the heart. He said, oh, my God,
I trust in thee, let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies
triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee
be ashamed. Let them be ashamed, which transgress
without cause. Show me thy ways. That's what a believer wants.
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. You are the God of my salvation. What he's saying is, You are
the only salvation I have. You're the only salvation I have.
You're all I have. Your blood is all I have covered
in your blood. That's all I have. So many people have so many things.
God's sheep have one thing, the blood of Jesus Christ. That's all we have. Verse five,
he said, lead me in that truth and teach me for thou art the
God of my salvation. On the do I wait all the day. Remember, oh Lord, that tender
mercies. Remember your mercy. I love hearing that showers of
blessing may pour in here. Remember mercy, Lord, remember
mercy. And I love in kindness, remember
grace, remember everything that you have freely promised to us. Remember everything that you
promised to not give us. Remember, O Lord, thy tender
mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they have been ever of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth." Are you ever just in that old,
wretched, sad place saying, I'm sorry. I am just sorry. I am so, so sorry. Verse seven, remember not the
sins of my youth nor my transgressions, the ones right now. According
to thy mercy, remember thou me for that goodness sake, oh Lord,
that thief on the cross cried. Lord, would you remember me?
Would you remember me? I'm I'm he told that other thing
we're getting what we deserve. But this man has done nothing
amiss, and this is God Almighty, and He is about to ascend back
up to His throne. And Lord, when you do, would
you remember me?" David said right here in this
prayer, I'm begging, I am begging you. I'm asking, I'm looking,
I'm hoping, I'm trusting. I need you. I need you. This is my prayer. All right, now his prayer is
over. And he meditates on a few things, verses 8 to 10. He ponders and he recalls some
of the things that the word has taught him. And he believes them. He believes that they are so,
so he tells himself these things. He meditates on these things
to try to comfort himself and convince himself again that,
yes, these things are so, yes, that's what he said. Verse eight,
he said, good and upright is the Lord. He just he just finished
begging and begging and begging. And now he says, good and upright
is the Lord. Therefore, will he teach sinners
in the way? He said he would. Said he would
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. He was just sitting there begging
for mercy. Please remember your mercy to me. And now he's saying
to himself, all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Unto such as keep his covenant
and his testimony, he is in the remembrance of these things,
and he's saying he's saying, yes, that's what he said. That's
what he said, and that's what we do to each other, we get together
and we start saying this, that's what he said. He said he came to save sinners. We're comforting each other in
this. Convincing each other of this again, based on his word,
we say it right inside this heart. He said he came to save sinners.
He said that it's all ordered, ensure. Purposed before the foundation
of the world, that's what he said. David gets himself all
built up All confident. And he is ready to stand firm
on the promises. Have you ever been there? Just
so high on the Word and ready to stand firm on the promises.
And about that time, he realizes what he truly is again. It comes
back to him again. And fear and dread overtakes
him just like it did Peter. Peter was walking on the water. walking on the water, and all
of a sudden, fear and dread took hold of him, and he started to
sing. And David here is forced to leave
this moment of faith and this moment of meditation because
the fear has him crying out again in prayer. OK, here's here's
a one verse prayer. He goes back to prayer again.
Verse 11. He said, For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity,
for it's great. He had a brief moment of being
able to rest in the fact that the Lord will teach sinners in
the way. All the paths of the Lord are
mercy and truth. But the minute he steps up onto
the top of that mountain of faith, he falls back down into the dust
and ashes. Crying, please forgive me. Please
forgive me. And is that not what we do? He
has forgiven sinners. Please forgive me. It's over
and finished and done. Please forgive me. Don't forget
me today and don't forget me tomorrow. Verse 11, For thy name's sake,
O Lord, pardon my iniquity for it's great that the only way
my iniquity can be pardoned is if you pardon it. The judge is
going to have to say, I see the blood. You're free to go. Please,
please pardon me, forgive me. Well, he finally settles down
a little bit. You ever had that happen to you, just all torn
up and just all and then finally you settle down a little bit.
And David goes back into his meditation. The spirit and the
word comes back to him in verses 12 to 15. He meditates again on what God
has convinced him of. Verse 12. He says, What man is
he that feareth 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's thinking, I fear him.
I fear this holy God, while many people don't. They do not go
through this life fearing God. They think they and God have
a good thing going. But he's saying, I fear God.
I'm afraid of standing before this God. Verse 14, the secret
of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them
his covenant. Mine eyes are ever toward the
Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. I know he will.
I know he will. All right, as soon as that meditation
is over, he starts crying in verse 16. Turn thee unto me and
have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles
of my heart are enlarged. You ever had trouble in your
heart? And it's just enlarged. Oh, bring thou me out of my distresses. Lord, please help me. Please
bring me out of this misery and this distress. Verse 18, look
upon mine affliction and my pain and forgive all my sins. Consider mine enemies, for they
are many, and they hate me with cruel hatred. Oh, 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 his troubles. Please, Lord, please, please. He said, I know you will redeem
your people. I know you have redeemed your
people. I believe it's finished. But
Lord, would you please redeem your people? Does that describe you at all?
Does that sound like you at all? if you're anything like me you're
constantly flip-flopping back and forth between faith and fear
strength and weakness confidence and conviction constantly constantly
i have read this john newton poem to you so many times But
it goes so well with this and I'm going to keep reading it
to you because it's so good. It reveals this inner existence
and this inner struggle that he has. It's the same one. He
said. Tis a point I long to know. Oft it causes anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not? Right now,
listen to this next one. If I love, why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? So dull, just so dull toward
God, so lifeless toward the Gospel and His Word. If I love, why am I thus? Why
this dull and lifeless frame? And I get what he's saying right
here. Hardly sure can they be worse who have never heard His
name. Could my heart so hard remain? Prayer a task and burden proof. You spend most of your day praying?
Prayer a task and burden proof. Every trifle give me pain if
I knew a Savior's love. When I turn my eyes within, all
is dark and vain and wild, filled with unbelief and sin. Can I
deem myself a child? If I pray or hear or read, sin
is mixed with all I do. You who love the Lord indeed,
tell me, is it thus with you? Yet I mourn my stubborn will. Find my sin a grief and thrall. Should I grieve at what I feel
if I did not love at all? Could I joy His saints to meet? Choose the ways I once abhorred. Find at times the promise sweet
if I did not love the Lord. Lord, decide this doubtful case. Thou who art the people's son,
since upon Thy work of grace, if indeed it be begun, let me
love Thee more and more. If I love at all, I pray. If
I have not loved before, help me to begin today. Is that you? Oh, this is what I see in myself.
I see this in myself. But that's who He said He came
for. Oh, wretched man that I am, please
help me. Help me to stop being so wretched.
I know He will. I know He'll help me. I know
He will. He chose and He loved and He
saved sinners. I hope He does. I hope he does. Why am I such a sinner? You see
that back and forth, back and forth. A fickle, frail, unstable
as water sinner. That's what I am. But all of God's people, even
though that's what they are. Even though their hearts seem
to be all over the place. Ultimately, they always come
back to the same place. One place, one hope, one trust,
one desire. After all the thought and all
the meditation is done, there is always only one prayer left
to cry. Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift
up my soul. That's the final word. Oh my
God, I trust in Thee. If that's you, turn with me about
a hundred Psalms over. Go to Psalm 125. Psalm 125, verse
1 says, They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth
even forever. We may be as unstable as water,
But he is the rock that abides forever, forever. This little account was in our
bulletin about a year ago. I love this. This was handed
to me and I love this. It says. A vessel was wrecked
one stormy night off the coast of England. All were drowned except an Irish
boy. the waves swept him onto a great
rock in the morning he was rescued and they asked him lad didn't
you tremble out there on the rock during the night he said
sure i trembled but the rock didn't tremble once all night
long They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth
even forever. Martin Luther said, Feelings
come, feelings go, feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the
word of God. Nothing else is worth believing. Well, this is how I feel. Doesn't
matter. Don't believe that. The word
of God, whatever he said, go with me back to our text, Psalm
25. The words that David meditated
on. are worth believing. Let's read
his words of meditation again and see if the Lord will settle
us on the rock. All right. The words of meditation
were verses 8 through 10 and 12 through 15, verse 8. Good
and upright is the Lord. Gracious and just is the Lord. That means he's a just God and
a savior. Verse eight says, therefore,
he will teach sinners Christ. He will. Christ is the way. He is the way he is, the truth,
he is the life, no man comes to the father, but by him. For
God so loved the world, he gave Christ. He gave his body to bear
the punishment, he gave his blood to pay the debt. Verse 8 says,
Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach sinners
in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment. Do you know that a guide goes
before you? In front of you. First. Christ led his people into judgment. He led them into judgment. All
of his people, the meek, the lowly, the sinful entered into
the judgment in him. Verse 10. All the paths of the
Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and
his testimonies. Do you know who will keep his
covenant? all who are kept by His covenant. The only way we can be kept is
by the power of God. To every soul who is looking
to the promise of His blood, every path he takes is mercy
and truth. Every single one. Verse 12 says,
What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall He teach in the
way that He shall choose." That means God will not leave us to
ourselves. In mercy and in kindness, He
will not allow us to choose the way. That's great news. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing is of the Lord. Verse 13, 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. Mine
eyes are ever toward the Lord, and the reason is because He
set my eyes on Him. He turned my eyes toward Him. Verse 15 goes on to say, For
He shall pluck my feet out of the net. He shall. Verse 22 says,
Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. He will. He will. He has and He will. He will redeem us from all our
trouble. Now maybe the Lord will let us
stay there and meditate on that for a while and find some comfort
in it. All right, let's all stand together.