Psalm 25: In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. 2I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. 4Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. 5Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good. 8Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. 11For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 12Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. 13They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. 14The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. 15My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare. 16Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish. 18Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me! 20Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord,c is in you. 22Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles!
Today’s Three Pearls
- For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great – v.11: Now we see that even the forgiveness of our sins is for God’s own honor and glory. Sin causes God dishonor, in forgiving our sins, He restores His own honor. He is indeed the Alpha and Omega; everything begins in Him and ends for His own sake. In seeking the restoration of His honor from sinners, He yearns for us to come to Him with contrite hearts and confess our sins to Him as often as possible. The greater the guilt, the greater the grace manifested in pardon (Romans 5:20). As a physician loves to take credit for curing the most desperate infection, so Christ finds honor and glory in saving the greatest sinners. Equally important is the degree of humility in sin; the sense of unworthiness of the contrite sinner corresponds to the ability to receive mercy. We see a similarity with the justice system where the truly repentant sinner receives a lighter sentence than the one who is just answering to the charge brought against him, he gets the full weight of the law in sentencing.
- The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them – v.14: God has many levels of mysteries. Level 1: His secrets are obviously unknown to unbelievers. Level 2: His secrets are unknown to ignorant Christians because they are untaught. Level 3: His secrets can be unknown to unsanctified teachers of the Word; they fully know and understand the doctrines and truth of Grace but lack the special spiritual knowledge that activates it. Thus it is possible to know the gospels and not experience the riches and glory they contain because of a lack of spiritual discernment. God is open-hearted to His friends, He gives them the key to His heart and access to His thoughts through His Spirit as proven by 1 Cor.2:10-11. Learning and labor cannot give insight to God’s secrets, only revelation by prayer and walking with Him. Hidden wisdom comes by experiential knowledge.
- My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare – v.15: It is possible for the faithful Christian’s eyes to be laser- focused on heaven and his feet still be in a net (temptation). The Lord understands that the saint that has to be extricated from his entanglement in temptation has to be plucked out sharply, so as to teach him that sin is a dangerous thing. That plucking can be painful but it is often necessary to teach the saint not to venture near that source of temptation again. Lessons learned.
Ref: Treasury of David
Hilltop Thoughts, Valley Strengths 