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.
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)
In verse 8, David becomes the teacher. He shares what he has learned from the LORD. The LORD is good and upright. As He had taught David, the sinner, the true path, he will teach all sinners who will listen His ways. One must learn from the LORD with a meek and humble spirit. This is no time to be proud as we read in James 4:6:
James 4:6 NKJV
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
?
David reminds us that he will lead the meek in judgment and teach them his way which is true. We can also read the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:5:
Matthew 5:5 NKJV
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
The world considers this meekness to be weakness. The proud and arrogant rule over this world. But in the end, it is not them but the meek who shall inherit the earth. The meek are not those who cringe in fear. At times they can be very bold, like Moses. We read this of Moses in Numbers 12:3:
Numbers 12:3 NKJV
(Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.)
We are not to be arrogant and boastful of ourselves and our own accomplishments. Instead our boast is in the LORD. We read thus in Psalm 34:2:
Psalm 34:2 NKJV
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
We also read in Jeremiah 9:24:
Jeremiah 9:24 NKJV
But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,” says the Lord.
Finally, we read in 2 Corinthians 10:17:
2 Corinthians 10:17 NKJV
But “he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”
David reminds us again that the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth. He also adds this important thought: to those who keep His Covenant and His testimonies. When we reflect upon this we can think of all the times that we have not properly kept this Covenant. This must not lead us into despair, though. If our salvation depended upon our Covenant faithfulness, we should have reason for this despair. We should instead reflect upon these two things. The first is that God is merciful and that He is absolutely faithful to His Covenant with us.
In verse 11, David again pleads for the LORD to forgive his great iniquity. Our iniquity is indeed fearful in the light of thrice holy God. But David fears the LORD and not the consequences of his iniquity. This is the proper fear of the LORD which is not cringing. Instead David teaches us that this fear leads us to God and not away from God. It lead us to the discipline the LORD imposes upon us. He shall teach us in the way that He shall choose. this might be the rod of discipline or by encouragement and admonition as seems right to Him. Hebrews 12 reminds us not to be discouraged by the rod, as the fact He disciplines us is proof that we are His children. Discipline may indeed be painful and humiliating, but it is God’s way of making us better Christians. The one who accepts this discipline will be at ease and inherit the earth. Was Jesus thinking upon this psalm when he said as we noticed before that the “meek shall inherit the earth?” It is to those who properly fear him that He will reveal the secrets of His Covenant.
In verse 15, David reminds the LORD, himself, and us, that His eyes are ever upon the LORD who shall pluck our feet from from the snares which would entrap us. Sometimes, these snares come form man or devil, but David seems to be more concerned with the snares he has set for himself It is an act of humility to take responsibility for our own sins and not blame others like Adam did to Eve. He pleas, yet once more for mercy. It is so hard for us to let go of our sins. We place them into the mercy of the Lord, yet we are constantly brought into remembrance of them, even the old ones. this is why when we come to the season of Lent that we are again confessing the same sins we confessed last year and pleading for mercy. Will there ever be an end to this? The short answer is that it shall happen in God’s time, at the resurrection of the Last Day. We certainly hope to progress from year to year, no less from week to week when the LORD’s Supper is celebrated. The many years I served as an United Methodist pastor, we at the times of communion would make the same mournful confession of not loving God with all our heart as well as our failures to treat others mercifully. How much better it seem to me that instead the confession might start with “You have called us to be an obedient Church, you have called us...” Then we might have made the petition “And where we have failed in these, forgive us and help us to amend our ways. Yet, the next time we will confess the same things all over again.
David again asks the LORD for deliverance from his enemies, even as we should. A step further is to pray for our enemies as well, that the LORD might show mercy upon them, that through our testimony in the verbal sharing of the Gospel might lead them to repentance and turning to the right path. We who have been shown this great mercy must share mercy. As we again hear Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:7:
Matthew 5:7 NKJV
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
Finally, David asks to be preserved in integrity and uprightness. These things are not intrinsic to our fallen nature but are instead the gift of God. We are clothed in His integrity and uprightness. David waits patiently for this. He finally prays that Israel be redeemed from all her troubles. This leads us into the question on who is Israel. This is a topic for a further sermon, but let it be sufficient that those who believe in the God of Israel who is revealed in and by His Son Jesus Christ are Israelites. So we who are Christians can petition God as Israelites.
So as we continue in the season of Lent, let us keep what we have learned from this psalm in mind. Let us use it to admonish us and bring us to confess our sin. Let it encourage us to do better. Let us contemplate our failures in the light of the mercy of God who has proven His mercy most graphically upon the cross of Christ. let us continue to learn from He who is himself meek and lowly of heart and find rest for our souls. Let us continue on the path in meekness of spirit that we might inherit the earth.
