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

David ads a second request that his enemies not triumph over him. God does use other entities to trouble his errant people. One example is raiding up Babylon who would lead Judah with great shame into exile. The request to be delivered from one’s enemies is unnecessary when one is fully trusting in Yahweh. God is well able to scatter the enemy. But enemies arise as thorns to prick our consciences and remind us from whence our help comes (See Psalm 121:1-2). We recognize that we are yet deficient in our trust. We realize that we often trust government or other people to help us. there is a tendency to try prayer only after all natural means of help have been exhausted. So, the beginning of the psalm calls us to account.

David now petitions that no one who waits upon the LORD be ashamed. In this he is also interceding for others who trust in the LORD, a practice we should all follow. This is an interesting petition. Why would God ever shame those who wait on Him or allow anyone else to put His people to shame? It is like the petition in the Lord’s prayer “Lead us not into temptation.” Would God ever lead us into temptation or to do evil, the answer is: “Of course not!” So why the petition? It causes us to reflect upon it and show us that our temptations come from elsewhere. We are enticed by our own sin by man and devil. And even if we are shamefully treated by those who do not believe for no fault of our own, we must realize that we cannot be ultimately shamed. It is God who ultimately determines honor and shame. Many who honor themselves or seek honor from men will come to shame at the judgment seat of Christ. And those who are shamed by this world will find honor in the Last Day. David makes a petition that those who would shame us be shamed instead. This petition shall come to pass.

David now petitions that the LORD would reveal to him the right path. David stands willing to learn from the LORD. He repeats himself with “Lead me in thy truth and teach me.” This is known as a parallel construction or “parallelism” in which the previous petition is restated in slightly different words. The different word here is “truth.” God’s paths are true and lead to truth. Knowing the truth is essential to being true to God. This reminds us that we must be willing to study God’s Word, pray for understanding, and listen to Him. In a world which is characterized by deception and perfidy, it is impossible to discern the truth apart from God. What we hear is various versions of lies and half-truths. One group says to do this, and another to do the exact opposite. the world calls “good” “evil” and “evil” “good.” We should not put our trust in the world and its devices. We need to hear from the LORD. David realized that the LORD is the God of his salvation who should be waited upon.

In verse six, David asks the LORD to remember that He is very merciful. this is because he realizes that he is in need of it. He had been a sinner from his youth. Many of these sins were old sins, those from his youth. But God’s mercy reaches even further back. His lovingkindness and tenderly merciful nature are part of God’s eternal character as we read “for they have been ever of old.” David repeats his plea for mercy, to remember David according to this mercy and not judgment. It does us well to realize that it is not the LORD’s will to condemn but to mercifully save. It is hard to pray to God if we think that He is out to get us. If he wanted to so, He would be perfectly right to do so. during this season of Lent as we contemplate our sins and transgressions, it must lead us to petition a merciful God to be merciful to us. Because we know that the LORD is merciful, we can hope in His mercy, a mercy proved by His sending His “Only-Begotten” Son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life (john 3:16). The next verse in John’s Gospel tells us: “for God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17)