Lead Me In Thy Truth: A Sermon For The First Sunday In Lent

Lead Me in Your Truth: A Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent

An Exposition of the 25th Psalm

We now have come to the First Sunday in Lent, which the Church has set apart as a special time of reflection as we prepare for Holy week and Easter. As a time of reflection, we meditate upon who God is, who we are, an whose we are. It is a season of repentance. When reflecting upon the person of God and His holiness, we also see how far short we all fall short the glory of God. Many often engage in spiritual exercises such as giving up something we enjoy during this season.

The Book of Psalms contains reflections of various authors such as King David. We see how these writers reveal the glory of God and His merciful nature. They show us a God who is personal and can be petitioned. They reveal a God who also holds His creatures to account for their sin. they show us how to properly respond to Yahweh in all situations. They show deliverance and praise and thanksgiving.They also prophecy upon the coming of Christ and His ministry to us, So, we can see that the study and reflection upon the psalms is most helpful during Lent.

The selected Psalm text for the First Sunday of Lent, especially the first ten verses. Let us now reflect together upon the Psalm and see what it teaches us.

Psalm 25:1–5 NKJV

To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

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.

The 25th Psalm is attributed to King David. We can read much in the Scriptures concerning him. David was a very complex man. He soared to the heights when he trusted that Yahweh would cause him to be victorious over Goliath. He is also called a man after God’s own heart. He wrote many beautiful reflections of his experience with Yahweh. David was also a skilled man of war who reunified Israel and brought the nation to the pinnacle of national greatness. But David also had terrible flaws as well, the worst of which as committing adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband killed to cover up the affair. David had other failures as well. We see in the Psalms he wrote as well in other Scripture such as the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles. The psalms that he wrote reflect upon the entire gamut of his relationship with God. For Ash Wednesday, we reflected upon the 51st Psalm which is his confession of the sin concerning Bathsheba and Uriah. He begs forgiveness from the LORD and petitions that God not remove His Holy Spirit. It was to God alone that David had done such wickedness in His sight.

The 51st Psalm is a classic example of repentance, Repentance is often associated with feeling bad about one’s sin. Of course, one should feel guilty for one’s sin. But this is not repentance. If one follows the Hebrew word for repentance, it involves a change of direction, to turn away from the evil one has done and instead follow the right path. In Greek, the word has the meaning to reconsider what one has done and draw the appropriate conclusion. The idea of repentance is to transform one’s mind. It is not enough to feel guilty and confess one’s sin. this is the precursor to true repentance, but it is not repentance itself. It requires us to do something about it.

Having reviewed what we learned from Ash Wednesday and the 51st Psalm, let us proceed to today’s text which begins with a confession of faith. David lifts up his soul to Yahweh in whom he has placed his trust. There is no one else to which one can truly turn to. Yahweh is his God and trust. The words “trust” and “faith” are very closely related and come from the same roots. They define each other. We rightly claim to be saved by faith alone. This is true. But faith is demonstrated in trust in the object of one’s faith. there is also the expectation that the one who trust also be trustful himself.

David then asks the Lord not to be ashamed. We talk much about the ancient honor-shame culture as though we now live above both honor or shame. We think of the sensei in Karate Kid replying the the young lads quest for honor saying “honor garbage!” We also live in a culture in which many are utterly shameless and parade their sins in public. They feel no embarrassment when their crimes are exposed. they might regret getting caught but not their actions. But let us not think that the concepts of honor or shame are dead. Just confront these people with the Word of God and see what happens. Some will indeed be ashamed and repent. Bot others will respond with great anger and rage. They know they have done evil. their very anger is a defense mechanism to attempt to cover up their sin.