December 22 2022

Today, Thursday December 22

You Can Trust the Lord

Psalm 25:8-14

“Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

For Your name's sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity, And his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.”

Remember in Psalm 25 that David is in the tough valley of life facing great difficulties and big challenges. It is critical that he makes the right decisions because he knows that today’s choices will determine tomorrow’s outcome. So what does David do? He looks up and he prays and puts his trust in the Lord (v. 1). He asked the Lord to: “Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day” (vv. 4-5).

Now in Psalm 25:8-14, David paused to meditate on the character and attributes of the Lord his God. After all, why pray to the Lord if He can't be trusted? But my friend, God can be trusted! To begin with, He is "good and upright" (v. 8), and what He says and does is always right and good and best for us.

When you stop and think about it, life is really made up of and consists of a series of choices. Every moment of every day we are deciding what to do next. “Do I get out of bed, or do I stay in bed?” “Do I take a few minutes for devotions with the Lord, reading my Bible and praying, or do I skip them this morning?” “Do I eat breakfast or do I skip it this morning?” And on and on it goes all day long. But those constant choices, right or wrong, determine the path I take every day and also decide my future.

How can we be assured that we are making the right choices and choosing the right paths or way? The answer is found here in verses 9-14. We must humble ourselves and admit we are sinners and desperately need God’s help. If we submit ourselves to Him in meekness, He will teach us His ways, but if we are arrogant, He will be silent. The reason a person will not get saved is really very simple. He will not humble himself to admit he is a sinner, and he thinks he knows better than God and can make it on his own. But James 4:6 tells us that, “God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble”. And only “by grace can we get saved through faith and it is not of ourselves because it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

In the New Testament, the word "meek" describes a horse that has been broken, a soothing wind on a hot day, and a healing medicine. Meekness is not weakness; it is power under control. God can be trusted to guide those who obey His Word (v. 10), for a willingness to obey is the first step toward spiritual understanding (John 7:17). God can be trusted to be merciful and gracious to those who repent (v. 11), but we must walk in the fear of the Lord (v. 12). "He [God] will instruct him in the way chosen for him" (v. 12).

Knowing that the Lord has a plan for our lives, and that this plan is the very best for us, should give us great joy and confidence as we seek His will (Psalm 16:11; 139:13-16; Eph. 2:10). According to God's covenant arrangement, those who obey will receive His provision and protection, and there will be blessing also for the next generations in the family (Deut. 4:1-14). The word "children" is used nearly forty times in Deuteronomy, reminding us that our descendants can receive blessing from our obedience or sorrow because of our sins.

If we love Him, fear Him, and obey His Word, He will draw near to us and share His plans with us. "Secret" in verse 14 means "intimate conversation, plans and purposes." This is what Jesus spoke about in John 15:15, and what Abraham experienced in Genesis 18. (See also Jer. 23:18 and 22, Prov. 3:32 and Amos 3:7.) As we "walk with the Lord in the light of His Word," we develop a close fellowship with Him and better understand His ways (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Yes, my friend, you can trust the Lord to help you, and when He helps, He always does it in “mercy and truth”.

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11)

God bless!