Transcription
Thank you for the beautiful praises. God regards us as his children, and he regards us as precious. Our scripture reading today, Psalms 25:1-14.
I'd like to share grace with you with a message titled, "Show me your ways, O Lord." As we live our lives, we pray most often, "God, what is your will? What should I do?" We ask this question of God before we seek employment or before getting married. And as we are about to start a business, we also ask God, "What is your will?" Even as we raise our children, we ask God, "What is your will? Lord, which way should I go?"
But today, let us ask an honest question that makes us feel uncomfortable, but it's an honest question. The question is, "Do you truly want to know God's will? Or do you want God to confirm the path that you have already chosen for yourself?"
So when we examine all the prayers that we have offered up to God, it turns out that many times the latter is the case. You feel you've made the choice that was the safest, the path that makes you the happiest. You already made up your mind. The answer is already in your heart. But you go before God and then you pray, "Lord, please bless my decision." We say that we're seeking God's will. But we have already decided where we want to go. God is just the advisor in our lives, while we remain the master of our own lives.
My beloved congregation, we live in an age where we expect immediate answers to everything. But God does not lead us in this way. God doesn't show us everything about tomorrow. Nor does he tell us in advance what will happen years from now. Rather, God leads us one step at a time. Why? Why is that? Because God wants us to depend on him, not on the path. So God leads us according to the measure in which we trust him completely and rely on him. Meaning, as much as we trust in him and rely on him, that's how much he's going to lead us. What we want is a clear direction, like the GPS telling us where to go. But God doesn't just give us a path to go. He gives us himself. Our Lord, our shepherd, doesn't just simply point where we should go. He walks all the way with us.
In our passage reading today, David prays in Psalm 25 verse 4, "Make me know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths." And the one who is offering up this kind of prayer is not someone who recently began his path of faith. David, as he prayed this prayer, he was that man who had defeated Goliath. He was the one who had endured Saul's pursuit and he experienced God's help many times. And yet, in his late years, he prayed again, "Lord, show me your ways." This is our scripture reading today. Show me your ways. Why? David knew very well that whenever a crisis comes, his heart is easily swayed to mistake his own way for God's way. So before looking for the way, he first looked to God and he prayed. Psalm 25 verse 1: "David prayed, 'To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. My soul is lifted up to you. It is looking to you.'" So we think we're searching for God's way, but God is actually searching for our hearts because we have lost our way.
And so through today's message, let us all consider together what is that great blessing, the greatest blessing that God is giving us. Being number one, we are not a people who have lost our way. We are a people who are too confident in our own way. So we have not lost our way. We are too confident in our own way. Psalm 25 verse 4 tells us, "Make me know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths." Your ways, "ways" is direct. Teach me your paths. That means the path of life that we must take, the more specific way which is more narrow, the shortcut.
But if you look at verses 8 to 9, whom does God say he teaches? He promises to teach a certain people. Who he teaches? Those who are sinners. A person goes to the hospital only when he realizes that he's sick. Jesus said this in Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17, and Luke 5:21. "God, I don't know who you are." And God shows him who he is. He doesn't show himself to those who say, "I know everything. I know who you are." A person asks for direction only when they admit that they are lost. A person who asks for direction is admitting that he has lost his way. So the question is, who is the most difficult person to teach? Who is the most difficult person to teach? It's not the one who is ignorant. It is the person who is full of self-confidence. Matthew 13:15, Corinthians 8:2, Psalm 18:2. Sorry, Proverbs, not Psalms.
So what does the man who discovers the treasure hidden in the field do? Jesus says, "From joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has and he buys that field." Matthew 13:44. So this means that we must let go of the old self that is full of self-confidence. Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22, Galatians 5:19-22, and Galatians 2:20. So our problem is not that there is no way. Our problem is that our own way seems very clear to us. You look at the prophet Isaiah. He says in Isaiah 53:6, "All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way." So sin is not just doing bad things. Sin is trusting in your own judgment more than God and trying to become the master of your own lives. And this is the reason why, even though we are praying to God, we never let go. We never let go of our steering wheel, the steering wheel of our lives.
But God guides those who are humble. Psalm 25:9: "One who is humble is not just someone who lowers himself. He is willing to let go of his own thoughts before God." So humility is the first requirement for learning God's way. Even David did not trust in his own heart. And this is why, before asking for the way, he first sought forgiveness. That's why Psalm 25:7 says, "Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions." The incident with Bathsheba taught him one unmistakable truth. He realized that his own way was not the way to life. It was the way to destruction. This is why he confessed that God teaches his way to those who fear him. Verse 12. So this means to fear God is to esteem him above everything else. To trust his word more than our own thoughts. So God not only shows the way to these people, but he also gives them a heart that loves God's way. People always follow what they love the most. This is men. This is the first grace that God bestows.
Number two, God's way may be difficult, but it's always the way of loving kindness and truth. God's way may be difficult, but it's always the way of loving kindness and truth. So the question is, if we live according to God's will, will our path always be easy? In Psalm 25, David tells us it's not going to be easy. He was surrounded by his enemies. He was weighed down with a sense of guilt. And he was not able to see his own future. And yet, he didn't pray first that his enemies would be removed by God. He didn't ask God to change his circumstances. Before anything else, David prayed, "Show me your way." Why did he do this? Because God's way is not the easiest way, but it is the good way. It is the most good way.
We often ask, "Why does God allow us to walk such difficult paths?" And as we face this question, we need to look at the cross. The Son whom God loved the most is Jesus Christ. Yet, if you look at the path that Jesus walked, it was the way of the cross. From his incarnation, his birth in a manger, his life was the way of the cross. And through his public ministry, he experienced betrayal, ridicule, and suffering. And at the end, he bore the cross. Does that mean that God's love was not present? Rather, it was at the cross that the love of God was displayed most clearly. And so when we experience suffering today, it's not evidence that we have been forsaken by God. Rather, it's evidence that we are in God's hands. Do you believe this? Many times we try to measure and judge God's love by our present circumstances. But the gospel teaches us to interpret today's suffering through the cross.
David confesses in Psalm 25:10, "All the paths of the Lord are loving kindness and truth to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies." There are days that are full of joy, but there are also days full of sorrow. There are days that we can understand, and there are days that are difficult to understand. But every path that God leads us is marked by his loving kindness and his truth. You have to believe this. Revelation 14:4 tells us, Revelation 14:4: "Every path that God leads us is contains his loving kindness and his truth. He never turns away from those who keep his covenants and his testimonies."
So my beloved saints, we only see one scene in our lives, but God sees the entire work. If you look at the back of an embroidered cloth, everything looks tangled and disordered. But on the front, you see a beautiful work that has been completed. And our lives work the same way. Today we see only the tangled threads, but God sees the completed work. So this is why we need to believe that the confession of a believer is not, "Why is this path the path that you have given me?" Rather, it should be, "Even on this path, God's loving kindness and truth are with me." Amen.
Big number three. God does not merely show us his way. He himself became the way for us. God does not merely show us his way. He himself became the way for us. Our problem, our problem is not that we lack determination. Our problem is that our hearts love something other than God. Do you think Adam did not know God's will? Did Judas Iscariot not know Jesus's word? Did the Pharisees not know the scriptures? So sin is loving our own way more than we love God. Luke 7:47. So Jesus says, "If you love a lot, then more sins will be forgiven. If you love little, less sins will be forgiven." Luke 7. So if we truly love God, then we will possess true knowledge of him. And so only those who truly love God will meet him in the end when he returns. 1 Corinthians chapter 13. 1 Corinthians 13.
Human beings always follow what they love the most. And so repentance is turning our love back to God. In our scripture reading today, David, as he sought God's way, he also asked for the forgiveness of his sins. Psalm 25:1 says, "For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great." He realized that the fundamental reason he could not see God's way was his sin. And so God doesn't just show us the way. He forgives our sins. He gives us a new heart that enables us to love his way. So this promise has been fulfilled completely in Christ Jesus. Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. And no one comes to the Father but through me." So Christianity is not a religion that teaches people the way to God. It is the gospel in which God himself becomes the way and brings us to the Father.
In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, "Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matthew chapter 26:39. The first Adam, he chose his own way. But Jesus, the last Adam, chose the Father's way. By remaining obedient until the end, and by bearing the cross, Jesus opened for us a new and living way, the way we can go to God. Psalm 25:14 says, "The secret of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he will make them know his covenant." is for those who fear him. So Jesus alone passed through the deep darkness of the cross, where the intimacy that he had always enjoyed with God the Father was broken. Why? So that he may also bring us into that intimate fellowship with God. So that, and now that we've become his children. So now that we have become God's children, we are now able to walk together with him, and through the scripture, we have now a way to hear his voice. So prayer is no longer a time when we are trying to persuade God. Prayer has become a privilege that comes with walking together with God. So believe that although you may lose your way, you are not forsaken. For the Lord who is the way holds on to us to the very end. So we hold on to his promise. So our hope doesn't rest in our own holding on to the Lord. Our hope rests in God holding us until the end.
Conclusion today. At the beginning of the psalm, David prays, "Make me know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths." Psalm 25:4. But as you continue to read to verse 14, he concludes the prayer. He says, "The secret of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he will make them know his covenant." God has a secret meeting with those who fear him, and he tells them all his secrets. So David asked God to show him the way. But God didn't just show him the way, but God actually gave him himself. Let's think about this. Suppose God were to show you your entire future, but he's not with you. He just shows you your future. Is that truly a blessing? On the other hand, even if you don't know what lies ahead, you don't know your future, but God promises you, "I will be with you to the end." Isn't that the greater blessing? Jesus himself gave us the same promise before he ascended into heaven. He says in Matthew 28:20, "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." And you have to believe that this is the greatest blessing for every believer.
When you pray but you don't seem to receive an answer, hold on to God before you try to seek the way, and rather trust in the hand of the Lord who is already holding you. God never promised us the easiest path, but he promised us the best and most righteous path, and he will never leave us on that path. So let us lift up the prayer of David. "Make me know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths." Then God will not only teach us his way, he will enable us to know Jesus Christ, who is himself the way. So I pray and I bless in the name of the Lord that each and every one of us will believe that God himself is a blessing greater than the path itself. Amen.
Let us pray. Our loving heavenly Father, grant us the faith to trust your way rather than clinging onto our own will and our own path. Help us so that we can lay aside our own thoughts and our own judgments and walk humbly before you, before your word. And even when we are on paths that we do not understand, help us so that we do not doubt your loving kindness or your truth. And help us so that we may hold on even more firmly to your unchanging love revealed at the cross. May we enjoy each and every day the joy of walking with Jesus Christ, who is a gift greater than the way itself. Help us to live trusting in your grace, the grace that holds us each and every day until the end. And through this coming week, lead us by faith under the guidance of the good shepherd. Help us never to forget that walking with you is the greatest blessing, no matter what the path we walk. We pray all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, who loves us and holds us fast to the end. Amen. Amen.