The Heart Of Guidance: How To Hear God’s Voice - Psalm 25 Series

Of David. To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one who waits for you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.

4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and I wait for you all day long.

6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.

8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. 11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, because it is great.

12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. 13 He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.

15 My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. 18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19 See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20 Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 20 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

Introduction

How do you discern God’s will when you are making a decision? In verse nine David says that God guides the humble. How does He guide us? Impressions? Words of knowledge? Gut feelings? Prophecies? Hidden messages? Fleeces? Promptings? When we pray for guidance, what form should we expect the answer to take? Should we be listening for a still, small voice telling us which way to go? Should we ask for a miraculous re-arraignment of circumstances so that there is no question which way is best? Should we be on the lookout for coincidences? Like the women who decided it was God’s will to fly rather than drive on her vacation because when she woke up her digital clock said 7:47. My question is how does she know it is not a message from God saying, “Steer clear of jetliners”?

Arguably the most dominant theme in this psalm is God’s guidance for David. He brings it up eight times. And it is no surprise that David would focus on that. When you get into a mess because of your own sin very often it is not easy to figure out how to get out of it. When David’s life exploded with trouble, which it often did, his response was to fix his attention on what God is like. And this time when he did that he saw more than a dozen different attributes, but the one that captured his attention most was the fact that God is the type who guides His people. And when your life is chaos and you are in a world of pain it is no surprise that God’s guidance is going to be one of the main attributes that captures your attention when you focus on God. This psalm is a great example for us of how to seek guidance from God.

These principles apply whether you are in some fix because of your own sin or if you are just faced with a hard decision. We make hundreds of decisions every day – some of them very important and very difficult. Chances are most of you are facing a somewhat difficult decision right now. So what should you do?

The Attribute: God’s guidance

God guides in ways, not just choices

Let’s begin by doing what David did and fixing our gaze on this attribute. As I describe it, think about how you can enjoy the experience of God’s guidance more in your life so you will love Him more.

There are two parts to this process of God’s guidance: 1) The action God does. That is described with four different words: Show (YADA, cause me to know) used once; teach (LAMAD, teach) used three times; guide (DARAK, lead, or guide) used twice; instruct (YARAH, teach) used twice. And 2) The other part is what it is God is showing/teaching. That is also described with four different words: his ways (DEREK) used four times; (his) paths (ORACH, path or way) used once; (his) truth (EMET, truth) used once; what is right (MISHPAT, judgment or justice) used once