I would like for you to open
your Bible now to Psalm 25. This is the first time that I've
ever preached a full message verse-by-verse from this psalm.
I've preached from different verses throughout the psalm,
but never verse-by-verse, and I'm hopeful that I'll be able
to cover all 22 verses. So I'll just touch upon the highlights
that you study later for your profit. This is Psalm of David,
Psalm 25. Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift
up my soul. When the storm clouds gather,
and they will, and when the storm winds blow, and they will, the
Lord's vessels, the Lord's ships out on the sea They put about
and hasten to the harbor, hasten to the refuge. That's what David
is saying here. Unto thee, my refuge, my safe
harbor. Unto thee, O Lord, in the riches
of thy grace. Unto thee, O Lord, in the embrace
of thy love. Unto thee, O Lord, in the comfort
of thy Holy Spirit, I lift up my soul. my soul. True prayer, someone wrote years
ago, is taking a journey on Jacob's ladder. You remember when Jacob
was out his first visit to Bethel, he made him a place to rest.
And as he slept, the Lord gave him a powerful vision. And there
was a ladder that reached from earth to the throne of God, and
the angels of God were ascending and descending upon that ladder.
And that's what prayer is. Prayer is leaving my flesh and
my fears and my doubts and my cares at the foot, and my soul
meeting with my covenant God at the throne. Come boldly before
the throne. Well, I can't come in this flesh.
but my soul can. That's what prayer is. Leaving
my flesh and my fears and my cares at the foot. That's where
Jacob was lying, but his spirit communed with God. God taught
him some things. I lift up my soul to thee. Oh my God, verse 2, you notice
the difference The different names, he called him in verse
1, anytime you see that capital L, capital O, capital R, capital
V, that's Jehovah, Lord Jehovah, God my Savior, my Messiah. And David, like Thomas, owns
Christ to be his Lord, his Savior and Redeemer, but also the omnipotent
God. When our Lord appeared to the
disciples and Thomas was not with them, they told Thomas,
we've seen the Lord. He said, I won't believe it unless
I put my hand in his nail prints, in his hands and in his side.
Well, the next time the Lord appeared to the disciples, Thomas
was there and he addressed himself directly to Thomas. He said,
Thomas, reach hither your hand and behold my hands and my side.
Well, Thomas didn't reach. He fell on his face. And he said,
my Lord, my God, my Messiah, and my Maker, my Redeemer, and
my God Almighty. And that's what David is saying
here, unto thee, O Jehovah. Jesus Christ turns the throne
of judgment into a throne of grace. Without my high priest
and sacrifice and sin offering, I can't come to God. Like Martin
Luther used to say, I want nothing to do with an absolute God. I want to have to do with Jehovah,
the Savior. So, oh my God, oh my God, I trust
Him indeed. I trust in thee, my Lord and
my God. And here's a twofold petition,
two concerns. Let me not be ashamed. He uses that word ashamed two
or three times in this psalm. And then it talks in other scriptures
about he that believeth shall not be ashamed. He that believeth
will not be put to shame. He will not be confounded. But
another meaning for the word ashamed is disappointed. Oh my God, I trust in Thee and
Thee only. Let me not be disappointed and
confounded. Don't let me be disappointed.
And second petition is let not my enemies triumph over me. But we're not worried about these
human enemies. That's not what he's talking
about. He's talking about what Paul says over here. I'll turn
to it and read it to you. In Ephesians chapter 6, we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but we wrestle against principalities,
against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world.
You've got enemies you don't see. You don't know what's going
on among those enemies. Against spiritual wickedness
in high places. The devil goes about like a roaring
lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is our adversary. Paul said,
I'm not ignorant of his devices. And he plays here. He says, Lord,
don't, don't let my enemies triumph over me. Don't ever let me be
confounded and disappointed and put to shame. And don't let my
enemies triumph over me. And then verse three. Yea, let
none that wait on thee be ashamed." Someone said prayer, prayer when
it's motivated by the Holy Spirit, prayer when it's genuinely from
the heart, is never selfish. Prayer when it's motivated by
God's Spirit and from the heart never revolves around I, me,
and mine. Because when we pray for ourselves,
and what we pray for ourselves, we pray for our brethren. And
so David here says, Lord unto thee, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee. Let
me never be ashamed. Let me never be confounded. Let
not my enemies triumph over me. And yea, let none that wait on
thee, that love thee, let none of my brethren Let none of them
be ashamed. You see, no one pities the sick
like somebody's been sick. No one pities the sorrowing like
somebody who's walked through the veil of sorrow and tears.
And they can enter into your hurting, and to your pain, and
enter into your sorrow, and enter into your trial, because they've
been there. And he's saying here, don't let
them be ashamed. None of my brethren. But I'll
tell you what, look at verse 3, the last line. This is interesting
here. But you can let them be ashamed
which transgress without cause. My God, I trust you. Never let me be ashamed or confounded
or disappointed. And don't let any of my friends
and loved ones that trust in thee wait for thee. Don't let
them be disappointed. But Father, those that transgress
without cause, let them be ashamed, confounded, and disappointed.
Spurgeon gave the best definition of that sentence. He says, people
have no justifiable reason a valid excuse for rebelling against
God's order. They don't have any justifiable
reason for going contrary to what God sets forth in his word,
his order and his law. Nobody has any justifiable cause
to transgress against God. Sin benefits no one. Sin hurts
everyone. The person who sins not only
hurts himself, he hurts everybody else. God's law is not harsh. God's law is not unjust. God's
law is best for everybody. And men sin, and women sin, when
they want their way, not God's way, when they want their will
and not God's will. And they sin not to benefit anybody
but themselves. to have their own way. Therefore,
he says, let them be ashamed. Those that rebel against God,
let them be ashamed. They transgress without a cause. And my prayer is that you let
them be caught in their own And then here in verse 4 and
5 is a fourfold request. This is so beautiful here. Lift
up my soul, and here's my request. He says, verse 4, Show me thy
ways, O Lord. Well, you know who God told us
in Isaiah, that his ways are not our ways. His thoughts are
not our thoughts. They're the ways of men. And
they're the ways of God. They're the ways that seem right
to men, and they're the ways that are right. God's ways. There's a way that leads to life,
and there's a way that leads to destruction. And David's request
and prayer is, Lord, show me your way. Show me your way. It says in Psalm 103, if you
want to turn over there, I'll show you this. Show me your way. He has to reveal his way. His
way is not our way. It's not our way by nature. We're
not going to learn it by nature. We're not going to figure it
out by nature. It has to be revealed, God's way. Psalm 103 verse 7. He made known his ways unto Moses. His acts to the children of Israel.
The children of Israel didn't know God's ways. All they saw
was God's judgments. God's miracles, God's acts. But
Moses understood the way of the Lord. The way of the Lord. Psalm 147 repeats that. Psalm 147 verse 19. He showed his word to Jacob. His word is his way and his will. His words, his gospel. He showed his statutes, laws,
and judgments to Israel. I want to know your way. David
said. That's what Moses prayed in Exodus
33. Lord, show me your way. Show
me your glory. And God reveals that glory in
the face of Christ Jesus. Christ is the way. He's the way,
the truth, and the life. That's how we learn it. God revealing the way to us,
and the way is Christ. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
4. 2 Corinthians 4. He says in verse 3, our gospel's
hid. It's hid to them that are lost.
In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them
that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
whose image of God should shine unto them. We preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord. He's the way, the truth, and
the life. He's God's way of redemption. And ourselves, you serve us for
Jesus' sake. Well, how do we know the way?
God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Christ Jesus. Show me your way. Show me your way. All right,
here's the second request. Teach me your paths. A path is a special walkway. A path is a secret walk. He says, teach me your path,
show me your way, show me Christ, show me your glory, show me redemption,
show me the blood, show me this obedience, show me the way, the
way of life. And then teach me your paths,
the paths of righteousness for your namesake. Teach me your
paths. That's what I read a while ago,
he said, There's prophecies, and there's gifts of healing,
and there's all these other things, but I want to show you a better
way. A better way. A way of sacrifice, and a way
of self-denial, and a way of commitment, and a way of submission. That if you're willing to pay
the price, a lot of you have and do, to walk that way, it's
experience You just can't describe. I'll give you an illustration. When Chuck Moore needed that
kidney, Joe didn't have to give that
to be saved. He didn't have to make that sacrifice.
He'd still be in good standing here and good fellowship here
and one of the key men here and all these things. But he walked
that secret path of sacrifice and commitment. And I guarantee
you he saw things that I wish I could see. You know what I'm
saying? Experience things that you only
experience by doing what Walter Gruber did or Joe Turner did
or some of you have done. I know what I'm talking about.
I knew two sisters. Their mother owned a nice home.
She died. She left that home to the two
sisters. The one sister had no home. Had no husband. Worked
hard. The other sister had a home and
a husband. She said, I don't want it. You take it. You live
in it. That's a piety. She said, you
don't have to do that. You don't have to do that. And he says
over here in Proverbs, I'm talking about something I know what I'm
saying. I know this is true. Proverbs
chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3. Verse 6. 5 and 6. Proverbs 3
verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all your
heart. Lean not to your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him
and he'll direct your path. Lead me in paths of righteousness
for thy name's sake, for the glory of your name, for the honor
and praise of your name. Let me glorify my Lord." I believe
that's what David's saying. I don't think it's the same,
show me your ways, oh God, show me your ways, but teach me. I have to be taught this. This
has to be taught over a period of time. I learned the gospel like that.
I came to know the gospel when I heard Brother Barnard preach
it. And that's the gospel. That's it. That's the way. That's
the way of life. That's the way of salvation.
That's the only way. It wouldn't change. But in these years, I've
been going to school. And he's been teaching me. There's
some depths and some mountains and some experiences and some
fellowship with him. in his word, in his kingdom. There's some sights that you
don't see on the well-trodden path. He that dwelleth in the
secret place of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of
the Almighty. All right, I've got to go on.
Verse 5, here's the third petition. Lead me in thy truth and teach
me, teach me. Thou art the God of my salvation.
Lead me in your truth. I believe this is the doctrine
of truth, the doctrine of grace. The Spurgeon says, Lord, teach
me the power of your gospel, the Father's covenant, election,
the Son's atonement, the Spirit's quickening. Teach me the power
of the gospel of Christ. All that my Father giveth me
will come to me. Him that cometh to me out of
no where is cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do my will, but the will of him that sent me. This is the will
of him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me I
lose nothing. I raise it up at the last day. Teach me the doctrines
of Christ. Teach me the way of the truth,
the truth. Teach me the power of the gospel.
Teach me the preciousness of the gospel. One gospel. Only one. And to them who believe,
he's precious. His blood is precious. Their
faith is precious. Teach me the doctrine, the truth.
I want to walk in love and truth. And teach me, watch this, now
teach me the spirit of the gospel. The spirit of the gospel. The
attitude of a gospel believer. The spirit of the gospel. The
power of it, the preciousness of it, and the spirit of it.
Lead me in the truth and teach me day by day. You don't learn
it all at once. You don't graduate from this
school ever. There's no graduation. There's
no discharge in this war. No graduation in this school
of the Holy Spirit. We just keep on being taught. Because thou art the God of my
salvation and the fourth request is On thee I wait. Is that a
request? Yes, sir. Teach me to wait. Teach me to wait. How long? Well,
all the day. All the days of my life. One
writer said it might be a long day, but I wait on the Lord. It might be a dark day. There's
not much, not many signs and not many evidences, but I'm awake. It may be a stormy day. Like
David said, I would have fainted had not I believed to see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. So Lord, show
me your way. Teach me that path, the path
of the Lord. Teach me the truth. Teach me
the truth, because you're the God of my salvation. Salvation's
of the Lord. That's the truth. Salvation's
of the Lord. Teach me to be patient and wait.
Verse 6 and 7. Let me read these two verses
together. Remember, O Lord, thy tender
mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they've been ever of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions, and according
to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness sake, O Lord."
The three remembers. He says, Lord, remember thy tender
mercies, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses for they're
eternal, from eternity. Our prayer is for his blessings
and mercies, not based on anything we are or have done. His loving
kindness and tender mercies to me are from everlasting. As he said in Psalm 139, all
my members were written in thy book, yet when there was any
of them. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect
in thy book, all my members were written, which in continuous
were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. Remember, O
Lord, your tender mercies from everlasting." From everlasting. They've been ever of old. And,
Lord, secondly, remember not the sins of my youth. Someone
said one time, those sins and offenses. I had a man write me
recently talking about he just couldn't forget the sins of his
youth. And I wrote back and told him, don't try to. Because those
sins and offenses which we remember with regret and repentance, the
Lord forgets. But if we in presumption forget
them, he'll remind us of them. Isn't that a good statement?
Listen to it again. Those sins and offenses which
we remember our youth, the transgressions of our youth. We remember them
with regret. David said that. My sins are
ever before me. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned. And those offenses which we remember with regret
and repentance, the Lord forgets. He said, I'll remember their
sins no more. But just as sure as we in presumption, forget
them and write them off. He'll remind us of them. He has
to, that keeps us down, lest we be lifted up. Then he said
the third, remember Lord your tender mercies and kindness of
old. Remember not the sins of my youth,
nor my transgressions. According to thy mercy, remember
thou me, O Lord, for your goodness sake. David and the dying thief prayed
the same prayer. Isn't that remarkable? Lord,
you're not going to stay there. They've said you're coming into
a kingdom. When you come into your kingdom,
remember me. David says here, Lord, remember
me for thy goodness sake, according to your mercy. According to your
mercy, remember me. The Lord is good, verse 8. The
Lord is good. Good and upright is the Lord.
He's good. That's as global as His goodness.
I want you to turn to Exodus 33. I want to go over there a
minute and show you something here. I want to lay this foundation
for this verse here. The Lord, He says the Lord, good
and upright is the Lord. The Lord's good. Therefore, He's
going to do certain things because of His goodness. Alright, Exodus
33. Moses said in verse 18, Exodus
33, Lord, he said, I beseech thee, show me your glory. Show
me your greatest glory, your chief glory, the glory of God.
I want to see the glory of God. And God said, I'll make all my
goodness pass before thee. The Lord is good. I will proclaim
the name of the Lord before thee, and I'm going to be gracious.
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. I'll show mercy
on whom I show mercy. And then look at verse, chapter
34, right across the page, verse 5. And the Lord descended in
a cloud, and stood with Moses there, and proclaimed the name
of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him, and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God, Merciful, gracious,
long-suffering, abundant in goodness. The Lord is good. Our God is
good. And this is what David is saying
here in verse 8. Good and upright is the Lord,
and therefore, here's what he's going to do. He's going to teach
sinners in the way of life. That's what he's going to do.
He's going to be gracious to sinners. He's going to be good
to sinners. He's going to teach them the
way. He's going to instruct them in the way of life. That's right.
Our Lord was eating with some publicans and sinners and these
religious Pharisees just couldn't stand it. And they said to his
disciples, why does your master eat with publicans and sinners?
And our Lord knew what they were saying. And he turned and he
said, The well do not need a physician, but they that are sick. You go
learn what that means. I'm not come to call the righteous
to repentance. I've come to call sinners to
repentance. The Lord came to seek and to
save that which is lost. You don't find something that's
not lost. You find something that's lost.
You save something that's lost. You save sinners. So he's good. He's going to take sinners away.
Sinners the way, that's right. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Remember Jesus. Romans 5 says, in due time, Christ
died for the ungodly. Scarcely for a righteous man
will one die, yet for adventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God committed His goodness, His love toward
us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ God's good, good and upright
is the Lord, therefore he'll teach sinners in the way, look
at verse 9, and the meek, the meek will he guide in judgment. Let me show you two scriptures
here, Psalm 34, the meek, that's the humble, that's the humble,
that's the brokenhearted, that's the contrite spirit, Psalm 34,
verse 18, The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart.
The Savior such as be of a contrite spirit. That's true. And then Psalm 51, Psalm 51,
verse 17, Sacrifices of God a broken spirit, a broken and
contrite heart, O God, I will not despise." The Lord's good.
He's good to sinners, not self-righteous people. He's good to the meek. He's going to teach them His
way, not the proud now. The proud God despises. Humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God. He'll exhaust you, exhaust
you in due time. God resists the proud. He gives
grace to the humble. We've got to be brought down. And then he says, the meek will
he teach his way. And the next verse says, and
all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. To whom? To those who keep his covenant,
his testimonies. Who are they? They're those who
believe his word. Those who believe his covenant
of mercy. Those who believe his gospel of grace. Those who believe
His covenant of grace made with us on behalf of Christ Jesus.
That's right. Verse 14, glance down there for
a minute. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him. He'll show them His covenant.
So the Lord is good. He teaches sinners in the way.
And the meek and humble, He'll guide in the judgment. The meek
He'll teach His way. The powers of the Lord are mercy
and truth unto everybody who keeps his covenant and his promises. Believe them. David said when he came to die,
the Lord's made with me a covenant, everlasting covenant. That's
my salvation. All right, verse 11. No prayer should be without a
plea for forgiveness. No prayer should be without a
plea for forgiveness. And here it is. For thy name's
sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity. It's great. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
not for my sake, not for merit's sake, not because I deserve it,
but to glorify your name. For your name's sake. To glorify
your matchless name, to glorify your attributes. Pardon my iniquity. That's the basis. For Christ's
sake, that he may be glorified, that your name might be glorified.
Make me a trophy of your grace, an object of your affection,
for your name's sake, to glorify your name. Secondly, pardon my
iniquity. It's mine alone. This is my iniquity
I'm talking about now, not everybody's iniquity, it's mine. Pardon for
thy name's sake, pardon my iniquity. It's confessed, it's abhorred,
I can have no peace till it's pardoned. My iniquity. My sins, my sins. Pardon my sins. Now look at this next three words,
four words. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my iniquity. For Lord, I promise not to do
it again. No. For Lord, it really wasn't my
fault. His conditions prevailed. No. Really, I'll serve you. If you'll pardon my iniquity,
I'll serve you the rest of my life. No. He gives one reason
for God pardoning his iniquity. For his namesake, two reasons,
and because it's great. Pardon it because it's great.
And let me tell you something. It takes a great God to pardon
great iniquity. It takes a great God to put away
great sin. It takes a great atonement to
cleanse us of our guilt. And it takes a great God with
a great atonement with a great glory at stake. to pardon great
iniquity. Lord, pardon my sin. It's more than anybody down here
can handle. But it's not more than you can handle. It's great.
It's going to take the death of your son. It's going to take
the blood of God. Because my iniquity is great. There's no such thing as a little
sin. No such thing as a white lie. There's no such thing as
any pretty bad... That's what a fellow said to
Mrs. Spurgeon one time, said, I'm
not a bad sinner. He said, there's no other kind,
son. All sinners bad. What man is he that feareth the
Lord? Who is the man that fears God?
Well, I tell you this, the man that fears God has nothing else
to fear. Nothing else to fear. But I tell
you what God's going to do for the man that fears the Lord.
Number one, man that really fears God, him shall he teach in the
way that he shall choose. And that has a twofold meaning.
He'll teach that man his way. And that man, being made willing
by the power of God, will choose that way too. You teach in his
way that he shall choose. And when he teaches in that way
by the power of his spirit, that man is willing to walk, made
willing in the day of his power. He chooses that way too. And his soul shall dwell at ease. You see, justification and ease
go together. You can't have one. You can't
have ease, peace, without justification. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace. For the man that fears God, the
Lord God is going to teach him in the way that he shall choose,
and secondly, that man's soul is going to dwell in peace with
God, in ease. And then he says here that his seed shall
inherit the earth. You know God is pleased to bless
Sometimes our seed for our sake. Turn to Genesis 26. So Genesis
26. This is what he said to Isaac
about his father Abraham. And don't... Like I said a while ago, the
day may be long. It may be dark. It may be stormy. But I wait on the Lord all the
day. All the day. Now watch this. Genesis 26 verse
24, And the Lord appeared to him that same night, and said,
Isaac, I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not. I am with thee, I bless thee,
and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. What man fears God, God teach
him in the way he'll choose it. His soul shall dwell in peace. His seed shall inherit the earth.
And the secret of the Lord is with him. The secret of his love,
the secret of his everlasting covenant. God, the Son of God
has come and given us an understanding of his secret will. the secret of his divine will
and purpose, the secret of his covenant, the secret of love,
the love of Christ for his church, the secret of his gospel, the
secret of regeneration, the new birth, the secret of resurrection,
the secret of eternal glory. I have manifested thy name to
them, Christ said. I have illuminated them and enlightened
them in wisdom and prudence. He'll show them his covenant. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear him, and he'll show them his covenant. Somebody
asked tonight, if a certain person that's coming to our church,
did I think he's hearing anything? Well, I said, if he's one of
God's sheep, he will. He'll hear. If he's not, he won't. And if he fears God in his heart,
if he fears God, you or anybody else sitting here, if you fear
God, the man that fears the Lord, God will teach him in the way
that God chooses and he'll choose it too. He'll teach him. Guaranteed. Secondly, that man's soul is
going to find peace. Confidence and assurance and
peace. Justification brings peace. When that man sees his family,
going to profit by his faith. And the secret of the Lord is
with that man that fears him, and God will show him his covenant. And when he lies down to die,
he'll say what made me. God made with me an everlasting
covenant. This is all my desire, all my
salvation. Verse 15, mine eyes are ever
toward the Lord, for he'll pluck my feet out of the net. The net
is always temptation. The net is used to catch animals
and catch fish, and catch folks unaware. That's a net. You throw
a net and you catch the animal. And God Almighty keeps us from
falling in the net, and then when we do, he rescues us out
of the net. And you just pluck your feet
out. He's the only one who can. Turn unto me and have mercy upon
me, O Lord, I am desolate and afflicted. Let me read these
three verses together. Stay with me right here a few
minutes. Listen. Turn unto me and have mercy upon me, I am
desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are
enlarged. Bring me, bring thou me out of
my distress, distresses. Look upon my affliction and my
pain and forgive all my sins. One of the old writers said,
let no believer be surprised when his afflictions are great
and his troubles are enlarged. It has always been so with God's
children. The road to heaven is soaked
Not only with the blood of believers, but with the tears of believers.
That's right. And we are not complaining of
God. We are complaining to him. He
doesn't mind that. We can complain to him. Paul
did. We are submissive to his holy
will. We pray earnestly for help. for
deliverance. He's praying for three things
here. He says, bring me out of my distresses, that's deliver
me. Look upon my affliction, take
note of me, pity me. And my pain, and pardon me. Deliver me, pity me, and pardon
me. And consider my enemies, there
are many that hate me with a cruel hatred. I want to close with
this reading, these next three verses, and preface it with this
statement. David reveals to us how our fathers
looked only to the Lord God for salvation, for deliverance, for
strength, for help. With them, salvation was all
of grace. It wasn't any of this cooperating
with God and helping God out and doing your part and God doing
his part. Not at all. Now you listen how he closes
this psalm. Oh Lord, keep my soul. You do
it. You keep me. I can't keep myself.
Oh Lord, deliver me. You have to. Lord, let me not
be ashamed. Keep me from being ashamed and
being confounded and disappointed. I put my trust in me. Let integrity
and uprightness preserve me. I wait on thee. And Lord, I pray
for your church. I pray for Israel. Redeem Israel,
oh God, out of all his troubles. You do it. You do it. We'll be so grateful. All right,
I hope that's a blessing to you as it was to me in preparing
you.