Seeking God’s Guidance - Psalm 25 Part 5 Series

Psalm 25:4 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. 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 12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

Introduction

Last week we spent the whole sermon focusing on the attribute of God’s guidance. And we found how important it is to learn how to enjoy being guided by God. We learned that God did not just give us the Bible as a general guidebook so that every person has the same guidance from Him. There is a personal, specific sense in which God guides you through the day each day. And we also looked at the difference between that and the error of superstitious mysticism that sees God’s voice in places where there is no rational reason to believe it is there.

Today I want to look carefully at this psalm to find out exactly what it is says regarding how to receive God’s guidance. It is not automatic. You have to seek it. But if you do seek it the way this psalm prescribes, you will find it. Psalm 25 teaches us how to seek God’s will so that you can know with certainty that you have indeed been guided by God in a particular decision.

The Attribute: God’s guidance

God guides in ways, not just choices

Now remember, God’s guidance is primarily a matter of God teaching you a path, or a way – not just telling you to pick option A or B. When you pray for guidance, the prayer should not be, “God, show me which option will make me happier,” but, “God, teach me how to walk down Your path in the way I make this decision, so that the decision is made according to Your priorities.” Remind yourself why you are seeking God’s guidance. Do you seek God’s will for the same reason an unbeliever goes to an astrologist – so you can find out which option will turn out to be most pleasant and easy for you? Or are you seeking God’s path because 1) God loves that path, and 2) God is on that path, and you want to be near Him? How do we get it? By keeping the covenant. If you want God to guide you in a decision, the bottom line is this: God will guide you if you keep His covenant.

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.

A covenant is when a king offers all His protection and leadership and all the benefits under his control to the people on the condition that they remain loyal to him. In order for us to enjoy God’s guidance we must keep the demands of His covenant. (Literally: we must keep His Covenant and His testimonies). In other words, keep the law. We should not expect the Lord to answer our prayers for guidance unless we are faithful to the terms of His covenant, which is the law..

You might be thinking, “Oh great – I have to keep God’s law! I am terrible at law-keeping. I will never get guidance from God.” If you are thinking that way you will be encouraged by the way David fleshes out what covenant keeping looks like in this psalm. He gives us five aspects of what it means to keep God’s covenant. Do these five things and you will receive guidance from God - guaranteed.

1) Be a humble sinner

Admit you are a sinner

Requirement number one is this – in order to keep the requirements of the covenant and be guided by God and to be able to discover His will you must be a sinner.

8 … he instructs sinners in his ways.

You want to be instructed by God? You have to be a sinner. God will not answer your prayers for guidance unless you are a sinner. Why would He? If you are not lost, what do you need a guide for? If your own human wisdom is sufficient, you do not need God’s wisdom. So if you are not a sinner who is prone to take the wrong path, you are not a candidate for God’s guidance.