This morning I want to do something a little different. I want you to hear Psalm 25 as I heard it as I studied it in preparation for this sermon. The version I offer you is not a new translation or a paraphrase. Rather, I have just taken the phrases from the Psalm as they occur in the RSV and rearranged them to fit into my outline of the logical flow of the text. I have occasionally clarified a pronoun and substituted “you” and “Your” for “thou” and “thy.”
There are five movements in the Psalm.
1. First, the Psalmist begins by reminding God of who God is. Now God does not need to be reminded of who God is, but it helpful for God to know that those who pray remember who God is. It is never appropriate to address God as if God were our servant, or our personal Santa Claus. It is always appropriate to speak to God of God’s history with us as individuals and with God’s people as a whole.
The Psalmist appeals to God saying:
_ You are Good and upright.
_ Be mindful of your mercy.
_ Be mindful of your steadfast love.
_ Your mercy and steadfast love have been from of old.
In other words, generations of God’s people have counted on God’s mercy and God’s steadfast love. General Douglas McArthur called the officers of the Army trained by West Point, a long gray line. The academy was founded in ________. Christians are a long red line Our faith has been passed from Generation to Generation for almost 2,000 years.
2. Second, having reminded God of who God is, the Psalmist then gives specifics. He tells God of all the things that God has hitherto done on behalf of those who call upon God.
The Psalmist says to God:
_ You lead the humble in what is right.
_ You teach the humble your way.
_ You give your friendship to those who fear you, and you make known to them your covenant.
_ You instruct the man who fears you in the way that he should choose.
_ All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
_ The man who fears you will abide in prosperity and his children shall possess the land.
_ You instruct sinners in the way.
This section of the Psalm is all about the Covenant. God has made a covenant or an agreement with his people Israel. In a nutshell God has promised to bless those who keep his covenant and remember God’s commandments to do them. And God has promised to punish those who spurn God covenant and break God’s commandments.
Those who keep God’s covenant will abide in the Promised land with prosperity. They will live long enough to have children, and they can be sure that they pass on their prosperity to their children.
Not everyone will achieve this prosperity promised by God. Only a humble person will profit from the instruction that God offers. The humble person stands in awe of God. The humble person seeks God’s instruction for his life. There is a right way to live, and a wrong way to live. One leads to a long life and prosperity. The other leads to an abbreviated life and poverty. The humble person seeks the path that God would have him to walk. Of course, the amazing thing is, that “all the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”
Years ago I heard two people talking about the will of God for their lives. The first said, “I think that God is active in the big things like pairing us with a spouse, and calling us to a particular vocation. I think God leaves the little things to us.” The second said, “I think that God is active in the little things. “Honor your Father and your Mother. Don’t kill. Don’t steal. Don’t commit adultery. God leaves the big things like the choice of a career and the choice of a spouse to us. There is freedom.”
I think the second person got it mostly right. I would amend only one thing. In God’s eyes, the big thing is that we keep God’s commandments, and the rest is of lesser importance. Jesus summed up all the law and the prophets in two commandments: 1) We are to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength; and 2) We are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.” God gives us a remarkable freedom in our other choices. The Psalmists says, “All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness.” If we keep the Commandment of Christ, we can travel the path or paths of our choice, and be sure that it is God’s path, and that God is with us.”
3. In the third movement of the Psalm, the Psalmist says, LORD/GOD, there is something I want you to do for your name’s sake. In other words, there is something the Psalmist wants God to do for the sake of God’s own reputation.
Now God’s people are often concerned for God’s reputation as some of God’s people. Take the old priest in Thornton Wilder’s novel, The Bridge at San Louis Rey. The novel records that 5 pilgrims fall to their death when the finest bridge in Peru collapses. Brother Juniper a Franciscan missionary witnesses the tragedy, and then investigates the history of each victim, in hopes of discovering that they died at the perfect time in their lives, and that God is thereby acquitted of the terrible deed. Father Juniper hopes to find that though, from a human perspective, we see this life as a hodge-podge of loose threads, that run helter-skelter everywhere and nowhere, from God’s perspective this life is a finely woven tapestry. The trouble is, that the old Priest finds that some of the five died at a most inconvenient time, and his investigation leads to his own death. The truth is that, in this life, bad things happen to good people, noble young people with immense talent die before their time, and some of the worst people we know go from strength to strength.
If we care enough about ourselves and the people around us, there will be times when we, Like Father Juniper, are embarrassed for God, and concerned for God’s reputation.
In those times we must remember what the Psalmist did not even know. We must remember that we serve the God of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The God who, in the person of the Eternal Son, dies for us and with us, and then, rises again to give us a future and a hope. If God’s Son suffers, can we expect any other fate? IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT GOD HAS ABANDONED US. GOD DID NOT ABANDON THE SON.
In the Fourth Movement of the Psalm, the Psalmist list some of the things that he wants God to do for him. He says, God:
_ Make me to know you ways, and teach me your paths.
_ Lead me in your truth, and teach me for you are the God of my Salvation.
Then he says, God, I want you to Forgive me.
_ Pardon my guilt, for it is great.
_ Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions.
_ Forgive all my sins
Then the Psalmist asks God to take note of his situation. He says, God:
_ Speak to me in my loneliness
_ Turn to me because I am lonely and afflicted
_ Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distresses.
_ Consider my affliction and my trouble
_ Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
Finally, the Psalmist makes his plea with regard to himself and his enemies. He pleads with God saying:
_ Guard my life and Let me not be put to shame.
_ Let not my enemies exult over me.
_ Let none that wait for thee be put to shame.
The psalmist puts himself in the number of those who wait for God. He has already told us that, “I am waiting for you O God all the day long.”
5. In the fifth and final movement of the Psalm the Psalmist asks God to deal with his enemies; and he points out that his enemies are God’s enemies, too. He prays:
_Let them be ashamed that are wantonly treacherous.
The Psalmist is in deep trouble. He is alone and facing many foes who hate him with a violent hatred. He is afflicted and troubled. Of course, he admits that part of his trouble is of his own making. The sins of his youth have found him out, and added to the burden of his trouble. He is not only greatly distressed about his situation in life, he carries a great load of guilt in his heart.
The lesson here is plain: Most of our difficulties are of our own making. We cast our bread on the waters, and after many days, it returns to us. What we do in secret, is known to God, and it often comes to light. The best kept secrets aren’t.
There is a final movement in the Psalm. The Psalmist begins by reminding God of who God is and by extolling God’s character. He finishes by reminding God of who he is and by extolling his character.
_I am a man of integrity and uprightness
_I am a man who waits for you.
And to demonstrate his integrity and character, he remembers the fortunes of the nation of Israel of which he is a part. He cries out:
_ Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
I am different from the author of the 25th Psalm. I don’t want God to deal with me justly. I want God to deal with me mercifully! I believe that in Christ, he deals with all of us mercifully. We deserve nothing, yet in receiving Him, we receive everything!
Finis