Introduction: The Cry of a Lost Soul
Have you ever felt truly and utterly lost? This does not refer merely to taking a wrong turn in a strange city, although that is a powerful feeling of disorientation. It refers to being lost in the landscape of your own life. You stand at a crossroads, and every path forward is shrouded in fog. You face a decision where the consequences are heavy, and the right choice is unclear. You are surrounded by troubles—what the Psalmist calls "enemies" and "nets"—and you feel desolate and afflicted.
In these moments, the human heart cries out for a guide. We long for a map, a compass, or a Global Positioning System—a GPS—for the soul. This morning, we turn our hearts to Psalm 25, a prayer penned by a man who knew this feeling intimately. King David, a man after God's own heart, was also a man of deep troubles, profound failures, and desperate circumstances.
In this Psalm, he does not offer us a simple three-step solution to all our problems. Instead, he gives us something far more valuable: a model of how to cry out to God from the maze of life. He teaches us how to orient our souls toward our Divine Guide. Psalm 25 is a beautiful, raw, and honest prayer. It is an acrostic psalm, meaning each verse in the original Hebrew begins with a successive letter of the alphabet, as if David is trying to pour out every possible expression of his heart from A to Z. In this comprehensive prayer, we find three foundational pillars for seeking and finding God's path: The Posture of Trust, the Petition for Guidance, and the Prerequisite of Humility.
I. The Posture of Trust (v. 1-3)
First, David shows us the necessary posture of the heart. Look at verse 1:
"Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul." (Psalm 25:1)
This is not a casual, flippant prayer; this is an act of total surrender. To "lift up the soul" is to offer the very essence of your being—your will, your emotions, your intellect, your future—to God. Imagine a small child, arms outstretched, wanting to be picked up by a loving father; the child holds nothing back. It is an act of complete dependence and trust.
This is the posture we must assume. We come to God not with our own maps and plans, asking Him to bless them. We come with empty hands and uplifted hearts, saying, "Lord, I give my very self to You. Take me. Carry me. I trust You".
This posture of trust is immediately followed by a plea for protection in verses 2 and 3:
"O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed..."
When you place your trust in someone, you are making yourself vulnerable. You are staking your reputation and your well-being on their character. David is saying, "Lord, I have placed all my hope in You. Do not let my trust be in vain. Vindicate my faith, so that the world will see that those who wait on You are never put to shame".
Our journey for guidance begins here: not with asking for directions, but with handing over the keys. It begins with lifting our soul to God and declaring, "I trust in Thee".
II. The Petition for Guidance (v. 4-5)
Having established the posture of his heart, David then makes his specific petition. Look at verses 4 and 5:
"Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day."
Notice the progression here:
"Shew me thy ways." This is a plea for revelation. "Lord, open my eyes to see the grand map, Your overarching principles and purposes". These are the main highways of holiness and righteousness.
"Teach me thy paths." This is a plea for instruction. A "path" is smaller, more specific than a "way". This is the discipleship of daily living. "Lord, don't just show me the destination; teach me how to walk, how to place my feet, one step at a time". It's a prayer for wisdom in the nitty-gritty details of life.
"Lead me in thy truth." This is a plea for personal guidance. It's one thing to see the map and know the instructions, but it is another thing entirely to have the Guide walk beside you, holding your hand. David is asking for the active, moment-by-moment presence of God to lead him.
He asks this with confidence because, "thou art the God of my salvation". If God has already performed the greatest act of guidance—saving your eternal soul from the damnation of sin and death—can He not be trusted to guide your feet through the troubles of this temporary life? Of course, He can!
But this guidance requires something of us, found at the end of verse 5: "on thee do I wait all the day". Our soul's GPS does not always give instant, turn-by-turn directions. Sometimes, the instruction is simply to "wait". To wait is an act of faith; it is to trust that God is working even when He is silent, that He is preparing the path even when we are standing still.
III. The Prerequisite of Humility (v. 6-14)
So we have the posture of trust and the petition for guidance. But David knows there is a barrier that can block the signal from our Divine Guide: our own sin. And so, he models for us the vital prerequisite of humility and repentance. He cries out in verses 6 and 7:
"Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses... Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD."
This is breathtaking; David essentially asks God to have a selective memory. "God, remember Your character—Your mercy. But forget my character—my sin". He is not making excuses or minimizing his guilt. In fact, in verse 11 he says, "pardon mine iniquity; for it is great". He approaches God not on the basis of his own merit, but solely on the basis of God's grace.
We cannot expect to receive clear guidance from a holy God while we are clinging to unconfessed sin. Sin clouds our judgment, hardens our hearts, and clogs the channel of communication. True guidance requires a cleared conscience, made possible only by repentance and faith in God's pardoning mercy, which is perfected in the cross of Jesus Christ.
This humility also takes the form of reverence, what the Bible calls "the fear of the LORD". Look at verses 12 and 14:
"What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose... The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant."
The "fear of the Lord" is not a cowering terror. It is a reverential awe, a profound respect for who God is that leads to a desire to obey Him above all else. To those who fear Him, God gives two incredible gifts:
He will teach them. He personally instructs them.
He shares with them His secret. The word "secret" here can also mean "counsel" or "intimate friendship".
God shares His heart, His plans, and His covenant promises with those who walk humbly and reverently before Him. If you want to know the will of God, you must first desire the God of the will. Intimacy precedes guidance.
Conclusion: Eyes Ever Toward the Lord
So where does this leave us? It leaves us with a blueprint for prayer when we are lost:
Assume the Posture: Lift up your soul. Surrender your will. Trust God with your very being.
Make the Petition: Ask Him to show you, teach you, and lead you, remembering that He who saved you can surely guide you.
Embrace the Prerequisite: Come with humility. Confess your sin, knowing it is great but His mercy is greater. Cultivate a reverential awe for God.
As David closes his prayer, he finds his focus. His circumstances have not yet changed. The enemies are still there, and the net is still set for his feet. But his perspective has been transformed. He declares in verse 15:
"Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net."
That is the destination of this Psalm. It brings us to a place where, regardless of the confusion around us, our eyes are fixed on one thing and one thing only: the Lord Himself. We may not see the path out of the maze, but we can see the Guide. And we have His promise that He—in His time and in His way—will pluck our feet out of the net.
So today, if you are at a crossroads, if you feel desolate and afflicted, if you are crying out for a path, I urge you: Pray Psalm 25. Make David's words your own. Lift up your soul. Ask for His ways. Confess your sin. And then, fix your eyes ever toward the Lord. For He is the God of your salvation, and He will not let those who wait on Him be ashamed.
