Psalm 25. Lynn's doing well,
far as I can tell. I told, I was just joking, but
I told Liz and Gina out there, she feels good enough to be mean
to me, so she must be okay. I want to read this psalm. Remember, yes, it is the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is the words of David. This has always been, I suppose,
every psalm we read ought to be our favorite psalm. But this
has always been one of my personal favorite psalms. Let's read this
together. O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O 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, 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. Remember, O Lord, thy tender
mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they have been ever of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. According
to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness sake, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord.
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. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon mine iniquity, for it's great. 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, the intimate counsel
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. Turn thee unto
me, and have mercy upon me, for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of mine heart are
enlarged. Oh, bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and
my pain, and forgive all my sins. Consider mine enemies, For there
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. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name that you would take this song and cause us to make this the
prayer and desire of our heart. Lord, we thank you for who you
are. We thank you for all your glorious
attributes. We thank you that there's none
like thee. We pray for your blessing upon
this time that we might be enabled to hear your gospel. Lord, forgive
us of our sins for Christ's sake. Be with those that are going
through deep waters. We pray for your blessing upon
them that you'd bless this time. Lord, we're so thankful that
our time is in your hands and you're in control of all things. Accept our thanksgiving through
Christ. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. Give us grace to love you more and love one
another more. In Christ's name we pray, amen. A psalm of David, the man after
God's own heart. Now he begins this psalm, unto
thee, O Lord. Do I lift up my soul? Now, what does that mean? What
does it mean to lift up your soul to the Lord? Well, this
whole psalm tells us, and we can understand what he meant
by that as we continue reading this psalm. He said, oh my God,
I trust in thee. I trust you because you're trustworthy. Now you think of the attributes
of the God of glory, you think of his absolute justice, his
immutability, his independence. He never changes. You think of
his grace, his mercy, his sovereignty. Is he not worthy of complete
trust? That's the point. I trust in
thee because you're worthy of complete trust. Oh my God, I trust in thee. He's faithful. He's worthy of
trust. You know, when we fail to trust
him, we fail to acknowledge and embrace his isness. He's utterly trustworthy. Oh my God, I trust in thee. Let
me not be ashamed. Let not mine enemies triumph
over me. Now the only way I can think
of not being ashamed is by being justified. That's so simple. The only way I can not be ashamed,
the only way I can not be put to shame is because Christ Jesus
is my personal righteousness before God. Now, let me not be
ashamed. Let me not be put to shame. Let not my enemies, my sins triumph
over me. I love what David prayed in Psalm
119. Order my steps in thy word. Don't
you want him to do that for you? Order my steps in your word. They'll go in every other direction
unless you order them. and let not any iniquity have
dominion over me. Verse three, he says, yea, let
none that wait on thee be ashamed. Let them be ashamed, which transgress
without cause. Now, I love this idea. It's brought
out several times in the psalm of waiting on the Lord. Now,
what does it mean to wait on the Lord? More than anything else, when
my name is called on Judgment Day, I'm waiting for Him to answer
for me. Now, you can take that in as
many directions as you want. but we're waiting on him. We
wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. Paul said in Galatians
chapter five, we're waiting on him to answer for us. We're waiting on him to do for
us. We're looking to him. He says in verse three, yea,
let none that wait on thee be ashamed and they won't be. Let
them be ashamed which transgress without cause. Now, what I thought
about was where the Lord said, they hated me without a cause.
And you know, anytime a man sins against God, God doesn't give
him a reason to do it. God's utterly glorious. The Lord
is utterly glorious. Men do it freely out of their
hatred for the living God. They don't have to have a reason.
Verse four. Now look at this request. Show me thy ways, O Lord. Teach me thy paths. Now can't you make this prayer?
Show me your ways. Don't leave me to my own understanding.
Be my teacher. You know, if the Lord doesn't
show me, and if the Lord doesn't teach me, I'm not gonna know,
and I'm not gonna be taught. I need the Lord to be my teacher. The scripture says they shall
all be taught of God. Every man therefore that has
heard and learned of the father cometh to me, show me the ways. I love the way the Lord said,
I am the way. That's so simple. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. He says in verse five, he says,
show me in verse four, teach me. And I love this, lead me. Lead me. I want to be led, don't
you? And I want him to lead me. I
don't want to take a step on my own. Lead me in thy truth. The truth of the gospel. The
truth of who God is. The truth of who I am. I want
to know the truth. I don't want to deceive myself.
I want to know the truth with regard to how he saves sinners
by his grace. Lead me. in thy truth, and teach
me, for thou art the God of my salvation." Salvation is of the
Lord, and here's this thing again, on thee do I wait all the day. The Lord did wait on his father
all the day. There was never a time when he
didn't. And when David says, on thee, I wait all the day,
I have to think that he's only speaking of his new nature, because
how often do you not wait on the Lord? You become unable to
do so, but the new nature always does. Now look at this, remember
verse six, three times he says, remember and remember not. Remember,
O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they
have been ever of old. That's one thing I want the Lord
to remember. I want him to remember his everlasting
mercies. And you know what that means?
That means I had mercy before I was born. I love what one woman
said to Charles Spurgeon. She said, I know God had to love
me before I was born because if he waited till after I was
born, he couldn't have loved me. That's so. And the only way
I want the Lord to remember me is in his eternal mercies as
I'm eternally united to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's how
he's always seen me. I want him to remember me in
that light. Now he says in verse seven, remember
not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. Only the Lord can do this. He cannot remember your sins.
That's a promise in the scripture. Their sins and iniquities, I
remember no more. And it's not because he's got a bad memory.
It's because there's nothing there to remember about what
the Lord did on your behalf. He blotted those sins out, they're
canceled, they're disannulled, they are not. And that's why
he can say, Lord, don't remember my sins. And you know, I don't
know of anything more attractive to me than to think that when
the holy God of glory sees me, There's no sins for him to remember.
That's the power of the gospel. That's what he does. Remember
not the sins of my youth or mine iniquities. Remember thou me
for thy goodness sake, oh Lord. Now here's where his goodness
is seen. Good and upright is the Lord,
therefore will he teach good people in the way. Doesn't say
that, does it? It says, therefore, because of his goodness, his
capacity for mercy, understand this, the Lord delights in mercy.
He delights in saving sinners for Christ's sake. That's what
he enjoys. He takes pleasure in this good
and uprises the Lord. Therefore, he teach sinners in
the way, the way of grace, the way of Christ, the meek, Now
the word meek is used several times in this Psalm and it is
poor, lowly. Who does the Lord teach? The
poor, the lowly, those who have nothing that they can claim as
recommending them to God. They have nothing, nothing to
plead. The meek. I love that, don't
you? The meek. will he guide in judgment. He'll show them the way of salvation
by perfect judgment through the justifying work of Christ on
the cross. The meek will he guide in judgment
and the meek will he teach his way. The poor will he teach his
way. All, verse 10, all the paths
of the Lord are mercy and truth and to such as keep his covenant
and his testimonies. Now that's believing the gospel.
That's what it is to keep his covenant. It's to believe the
gospel. You're looking for all your salvation
in that covenant that he made. Verse 11, for thy name's sake,
O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it's really not that bad. As
a matter of fact, there are a whole lot of worse people than me.
He doesn't use that kind of thinking, does he? Pardon my iniquity,
Oh Lord, for thy names sake, for it is great. Now that is how every believer
ought to look at their iniquity present tense. It's great. It's evil. It's inexcusable. And the only reason you can pardon
me is for your name's sake, for Christ's sake. If you gotta look
for a reason in me, it's not gonna happen. For thy name's
sake, oh Lord, pardon mine iniquity. For it, my iniquity is great. Verse 12, what man is he that
feareth the Lord? Him, that one that fears the
Lord, shall he teach in the way." There, that word teaches again.
It's over and over and it's all, Lord, teach me. Teach me in the
way. What man is he that feareth the
Lord? Now, understand what the fear
of the Lord is. The fear of the Lord is not Well,
I didn't give enough, therefore God's gonna take it out and probably
gonna wreck my car and he'll get it that way. Or I'm probably
gonna get sick because I sinned and he's mad at me and he's gonna,
that's not the fear of the Lord. That's a slavish fear. It has nothing to do with the
fear of the Lord. That's the response of a natural man. The
fear of the Lord is that awe of his person. that reverence,
that respect of his person that makes you afraid to look anywhere
but Christ. If you can look anywhere but
Christ, you don't really have the fear of the Lord. You don't
really have that awe of respect and reverence toward his person.
The fear of the Lord makes you look to Christ only. And you have some understanding
that all of God's favor is in Christ, and that's where you
look. I love that scripture, the father loveth the son, and
hath given all things into his hand. He that hath the son, hath
life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Now this fear
of God is where you're afraid to look anywhere but Christ at
all times, at all times, under all circumstances. It's Christ
only. He's everything in salvation.
Now, what man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach
in the way that he shall choose. You know, David said in another
place, he'll choose our inheritance for us. Do you want him to do
your choosing or do you want to do your own choosing? I feel
a lot better about him doing the choosing for me. And that's
what I choose. I choose for the choice to be
his. Now, I don't have any choice. I mean, I realize that, but this
is what I want. I love what one woman said. I think it was John Bunyan was
speaking to her and she was dying. He said, what do you want? And do you want to live or die? And the woman replied, well,
I want the Lord's will. And he said, well, I know that, but
if you get what you want, what do you want? I want the Lord's
will. What a attitude. May the Lord
cause us to have that attitude. What man is he that feareth the
Lord? Him shall he choose in the way he shall choose. His
soul shall dwell at ease and his seed shall inherit the earth. Now this person who fears the
Lord, that means they look only to Christ. I'm gonna dwell at ease. You
see, if God looks to Christ for everything he expects out of
me, you know what that makes me do? Dwell at ease. I'm fine. Now, if he looks to me for anything,
I can't dwell at ease. I'm scared to death. But if he
really does look at me in Christ, ease, ease, ease. That gives me ease right now.
I delight in that. His soul shall dwell at ease
and his seed shall inherit the earth. That's the seed of the
every believer is his seed. and they shall inherit the earth.
The meek shall inherit the earth. Now look what it says in verse
14, the secret of the Lord. Now that word secret means the
intimate counsel. Now these people have a relationship
with the Lord. They have an intimate relationship
with the Lord. Every one of them. Well, who
are they? Who are these people who enjoy
the secret of the Lord? The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him. There we go back again to this
thing of the fear of the Lord. You look only to Christ and God's
intimate counsel is with you. Isn't that wonderful? The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him. And he will show them his covenant. Now, what's his covenant? It's
the covenant of grace. It's the same covenant David
spoke of when he said, although my house be not so with God.
And I have no doubt that he's talking about himself. Although
my house be not so with God. Speaking of his own experience
in his sinfulness, although my house be not so with God, yet
have he made with me an everlasting covenant. Same thing David's
praying to be remembered in. Remember that your mercies, they've
been ever of old. It's ordered in all things and
it's sure. And this is all my salvation
and all my desire. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant. Mine eyes, verse 15, are ever
toward the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
Now, once again, look at the language. Mine eyes are ever
toward the Lord. Now, first of all, that speaks
of the Lord Jesus. His eyes were ever toward his
father. There was never a time when they were not. So what about
David? Well, his new nature, your new
nature always looks to Christ. Your old nature never looks to
Christ. Your new nature always does. And that's the truth. That's
not Hyperbole, your new nature always believes, your old nature
never does. And that's what that man meant
when he said, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Mine
eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out
of the net. I love, just think, here I'm
in this net and the Lord plucks me out of it. I'm so thankful
for his grace. And look what he says in verse
16. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me, for I'm desolate
and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are
enlarged. Oh, bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine
affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins. Now, I love the
way he says, turn thee unto me. Lord, turn to me. You know, I'm
thinking in my own experience, do you ever think, well, I'm
gonna turn to the Lord. I'm going to turn to the Lord. I've decided
I'm going to turn to the Lord. You know, that language is foreign
to my way of thinking, to any believer's way of thinking. But
this, we do say, turn to me. We know we won't turn to him
unless he turns to us. I love that passage in Jeremiah
32, turn thou me and I'll be turned. When I was turned, then
I repented. Turn thou me. And we cry, turn
to me. I know if he turns to me, I'll
turn to him. I'm sure of that, dead sure of
that. But my cry is, Lord, turn to me. Turn to me and have mercy
upon me. Don't give me what I deserve.
Have mercy upon me for I am desolate and afflicted The troubles of
my heart, oh, heart troubles. The troubles of my heart are
enlarged. I look the way when David comes into the Lord's presence.
He doesn't minimize things. Pardon my iniquity, for it's
great. It's not really that bad, therefore it ought to be pardoned.
The troubles of my heart, well, they're not that, no, they're
enlarged. They're enlarged, heart troubles. Oh, bring thou me out
of my distresses. I've got these distresses. Lord,
bring me out of them. Have mercy on me. Pull me out.
Look upon my affliction and my pain. The Lord is the only person you
can really do that with. Look on me. You're not trying
to hide anything from him. You're not trying to pretend
to be something you're not, the way we do with everybody else.
You can't fool him. You can't come into his presence
and pretend to be something that you're not. He's the Lord. And I love the way David does
this. He says, look upon mine affliction and my pain and forgive
all my sins. Consider mine enemies And once
again, who are your enemies? Your sins. Those are your deadly
enemies. Your sins. Consider my enemies,
for there are many, and they hate me with cruel hatred. Oh, keep my soul. Preserve me. How quick will you
fall away if he doesn't keep you? You're gone already. I'm gone already if he doesn't
keep me. And so therefore we cry out, keep my soul and deliver
me. Let me not be ashamed. And the
only way I won't be ashamed is if I have nothing to be ashamed
of. Now, you think of this, the believer on judgment day will
have nothing to be ashamed of. I love that. I despise that teaching
that talks about believers having to give an account for their
sins on judgment day and some will be rewarded, get a big mansion
and others, I guess they'll be in the slums of heaven because
they weren't as obedient as the other ones. And that gives me
nothing. The only way I won't be ashamed
is if I have nothing to be ashamed of. I stand before God having
never sinned. And that's what justification
is. And I won't be ashamed in that sense. Oh, keep my soul
in delivery. Let me not be ashamed. Here's
why. For I put my trust in thee. I'm
counting on you to cause it to where I can't be ashamed and
won't be ashamed. And then he says in verse 21,
let integrity and uprightness preserve me. And there's that
saying again, for I wait on thee. Now this is true in both of these
senses. Integrity and uprightness. Now these are not relative terms. You either have integrity and
uprightness or you have neither. Now I have integrity and uprightness
in the righteousness of Christ. I have integrity. He's a man
of integrity. Well, the Lord Jesus is a man
of integrity and his integrity is my integrity. His uprightness
is my uprightness. But not only that, I'm not adding
anything to that, but not only that, don't you want to be a
man or a woman of integrity and uprightness? And you know the
only way you will be is if he causes it, and that is your prayer. Let integrity and uprightness
preserve me, for I wait on thee, I'm waiting on you to do this
for me. And I love the way David ends this psalm. Redeem Israel. That's all of the elect. You
know, when the Lord taught us to pray, he taught us to pray,
our father, not just my father, our father, Israel's all the
elect. And if you are a believer, you
know, all of the elect have plenty of troubles, their sins, redeem
Israel. out of all his troubles." And
this has something to do with every believer's love for the
brethren. That's what this means. Love
for the brethren. Redeem Israel, O Lord, out of
all his troubles. What a wonderful psalm, the psalm
of David.