PSALM 25

Show Me Your Ways, Teach Me Your Path

A Psalm of David

 

¹     To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

^2     O my God, I trust in You, let me not be ashamed;

     Let not my enemies triumph over me.

³     Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed.

     Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. 

⁴     Show me Your ways, O Lord, Teach me Your paths.

⁵     Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

     For You are the God of my salvation— On You I wait all the day.

⁶     Remember, O Lord,  Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,

     For they are from of old.

⁷     Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions—

      According to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.  

⁸     Good and upright is the Lord, therefore He teaches sinners in the way.

⁹     The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way.

¹⁰     All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,

     To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

¹¹     For Your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

¹²     Who is the man that fears the Lord?

     Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.

¹³    He himself shall dwell in prosperity, and His descendants shall inherit the earth.

¹⁴    The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.  

¹⁵     My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the net.

¹⁶    Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted.

¹⁷     The troubles of my heart have enlarged, bring me out of my distresses!

¹⁸     Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins.

¹⁹     Consider my enemies, for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.

²⁰     Keep my soul, and deliver me, let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.

²¹     Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You.

²²      Redeem Your people Israel, O God, out of all their troubles!

 

To seek the Lord properly, we must be teachable and willing to walk in all His ways.  Here David describes a person who “fears the Lord.”  This person is a partaker of the Lord’s Covenant made with his people.   

 

"The fear of God", which is the heart of all godliness—is produced in the dread which is the apprehension of God's wrath.  But to be lacking in it is a sign of hardness toward God.  The dread of judgment will never in itself generate within us the love of God or the hatred of our  sin that makes us liable to his wrath. What does all that mean?  Even if we where to know of the indication of God's wrath towards us, the infliction it produces will not create in us the hatred of sin—it will rather incite us to greater love of sin and enmity against God.

Sin does NOT draw us farther away from God--lack of repentance  does. Punishment in itself has no regenerating or converting power.  The “fear of God” is where true godliness is found.  This type of fear is “reverential awe” of God—it  consists in awe, reverence, honor, and worship, and all of these are on the highest level of loving God.  We love, honor and obey because of who God is.  It is the “reflex of our consciousness” of the transcendent majesty and holiness of God. It belongs to all true Christians and never take its origins from sin."

 

Proverbs 1:7 declares, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” Until we understand who God is and develop a reverential fear of Him, we cannot have true wisdom. True wisdom comes only from understanding who God is and that He is holy, just, and righteous. Deuteronomy 10:12, 20-21 records, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is your praise, he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.”

 

 The fear of God is the basis for our walking in His ways, serving Him, and, yes, loving Him.