Psalm 25
Dallas Willard writes,
“There is nothing in what Jesus himself or his early followers taught that
suggests you can decide just to enjoy forgiveness at Christ’s expense and have
nothing more to do with him.
Salvation Army teaching
agrees with him. Our doctrine book states, “The commitment of faith made at the
point of salvation must be followed
by a continual development of our trusting and obedient relationship with God.
The moment of salvation must lead to a lifestyle which reflects our
understanding of God’s will for our lives. ………..Obedient faith is marked by a
desire to know the will of God, prayerful dependence upon him and dedication to
living a life that is consistent with his known will.”The word "disciple" literally means “one who learns. In the first century lots of people were disciples of someone or other. Disciples were individuals who had attached themselves to somebody else in order to learn from them. Discipleship meant much more than just the transfer of information but referred to imitating the teacher’s life, embracing his values, and reproducing his teachings.
Psalm 25 embodies the goals of a disciple that our doctrine book states should be ours. In its original language this Psalm is an alphabetical acrostic. The first line of the first sentence begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and then the second and so on.
In a similar vein this look at Psalm 25 will also use an acrostic, based on the word:
LEARN
L-LOOK
David begins his psalm, “To you O Lord I lift up my soul, in you I trust, O my God.”
He says 3 times that his hopes are in God and in v 15 that his “eyes are ever on the Lord."
David knows that ultimately God is the only one who can really make sense of his life and ultimately make the most of the person who is David. The reassurance comes from the Psalm that whilst human leaders, teachers and helpers may be fail the Lord remains good and upright.
A central factor in the call of Jesus to his mission was that he called disciples to follow him rather than a cause or a set of ideas. He claimed that he did not just offer bread, he was the bread of life, he did not just offer light, he was the light, he did not just give guidance; he was the way. Our discipleship is caught up with the authenticity of Jesus and if we want to be his disciple, then we must settle once and for all who we think Jesus is. If he is all that he says he us then how could do anything else by look to him to be our hope and our guide for life. Once we have discovered that this Jesus is so completely worthy of our trust and our commitment then the New Testament urges us to keep him as our focus. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)
3.A-Aim
David explains what it is he wants to get out of this godly education programme
“Show me your ways O Lord, teach me your paths and guide me in your truth.” (v 4-5)
David wants to be aware not just of what God does but how he does things. Two different people can approach the same task, the same opportunity or the same problem with a completely different mind-set. God’s ways are different to those of human beings. Paul tells us that the wisdom of God seems like foolishness. David recognises that he might not naturally do things God’s way so therefore he needs God to educate him.
What are the underlying values he needs to build into his life? What should be his priorities? David was just as susceptible to outside influences as the next man. His prayer was that he wouldn’t be influenced by the false philosophies of the world but that God would guide him in what was true.
As Jesus is the one person who always acted in the way God intended we need look no further than Jesus to guide us. Also we have been given the Holy Spirit as our teacher within so that we can think like Jesus, speak like Jesus and act like Jesus.
4. R- Relationship
We get the picture in this psalm of a close teacher pupil relationship. We are not talking about a lecturer and a hall full of students or distance internet course. For David, the experience is more like that of one to one mentoring.
In v 14 that the Lord God himself “confides” in those who fear him.
Think about the immensity of the privilege of having God himself through the Holy Spirit as you own personal mentor, confiding in you. This is something confirmed by Jesus in John 14:26, “The Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
It is a relationship that imparts not just information but invites the pupil to live life in tune with the outlook and practice of the teacher.
In Colossians 1: 9 Paul says that he prays for his friends that they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. JB Phillips interpreted that as “We are asking God that you may see things as it were from his point of view.”
This is of course even more amazing when you consider to whom he gives this gift of education. It is not to the wealthy, the gifted, the wise or the perfect.
In the psalm David confesses his sinfulness four times. He asks to be accepted not according to his past record but according to God’s love. Being sinless is not a prerequisite to God taking us on. His willingness to answer David’s desire to be taught comes not because He is impressed with us but because He looks at our helplessness and acts in mercy.
5. N – Nurture
How does God take our desire to learn and nurture our faith?
David refers to 3 different ways that he might learn about these things.
-
Show
There are times when we are given flashes of
insight; the truth inspires us and fires us into action.
-
Teach
But a good teacher does
not just take us on exciting field trips that give us inspiration but wants us
to process what we see and apply it. The word to “teach”
means to show the fundamentals or skills of something, to impart
knowledge. This may not be exciting but
it is vital that we do ground work stuff with God.
-
Guide
The first two steps deal
with God speaking to us and developing our understanding which lead us to being
able to move out into his further plans for us. We cannot move into being
guided and led until we have responded to and obeyed what he has already said
and done.
Ultimately our learning
comes through trust. When sign up to be a learner in his school of faith he
will take us to places that are far beyond the limits we had placed upon ourselves
but he promises never to leave us or forsake us.
When we pray like David for
God to teach us we should not be vague. “What is it that I need to learn right now in my life?
What is the Lord trying to teach me through my present situation?
What is the Holy Spirit telling me to do next in order to progress in my journey of faith as his disciple.
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