We are looking at Psalm 25 this afternoon, so I invite you to turn to Psalm 25, looking at the last half of Psalm 25.
Psalm 25, verses 12-22 is our text for this evening.
Psalm 25, verses 12-22, the very words of our living God.
Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.
The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.
My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.
O guard my soul and deliver me.
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
Redeem Israel, O Lord, out of all his troubles.
There we'll end the reading of God's holy and inspired word.
May God now be pleased to bless it to us.
Well, when you think of fear,
what is the first thing that pops into your mind?
I think for most of us, it would be something threatening.
A danger that is going to harm us.
Something that we need to run from.
An intruder that needs to stay out of our life.
However, when we think of the fear of the Lord,
which is a statement that comes up quite a bit in Scripture,
when we think of that,
we should not think of a threat,
but rather a friend.
We should not think of a danger to avoid,
but an intimate friend
that we want to draw near to.
Now, this does not negate the high reverence
with which we view the Lord.
A reverence that causes us
to want to be careful to walk in His ways
and do the things that are pleasing to Him.
But this is not in light of Him being an angry judge,
but of Him being a friend,
our God and Savior.
And that's what we see in this psalm here.
And I want us to consider three benefits
that stem from fearing the Lord.
They are God's relationship to us.
And second, our relationship to God.
And then third, our relationship to others.
So first, God's relationship to us.
And he begins with a question here in verse 12.
Who is the man who fears the Lord?
This is a pivot point in this psalm.
And David's asking this question
not to take a census.
How many of you are out there
who fear the Lord,
but rather in order to drive home a point
as a teaching moment
in order to show us the benefits?
But we have to ask the question,
what is the fear of the Lord?
Again, fear of the Lord
is not fear of His judgments
that cause us to free from Him.
But such a high regard for the Lord
from seeing His great glory
that causes us to want to draw near.
To serve Him and to worship Him.
It's not the same.
This illustration is going to fall short.
But it's similar to seeing a celebrity.
We're drawn towards that person.
We want to run up and get their autograph
or meet them.
Because we see their greatness
and we see their status
and we see that they have the ability to bless.
And so we want to run up to Him or her
rather than run away from them.
I still remember when I was a teenager
and my favorite rock band
was coming in town.
They were in town
and we were going to see the concert later on.
And my friend calls me and says,
hey, I found out which hotel they're staying at.
And so we hopped in the car
and we went across town, downtown
to go to the hotel that they were at.
We had no plan.
I had no idea how this was going to turn out.
But hey, it was worth a shot.
And of course we get there
and there's kind of a crowd out front
and they had heard the same news.
And so we decided,
you know, we're going to just run in there
and act as if we belong there.
You know, walk by the desk,
say hi, how's it going?
And just keep going in.
And so we did that.
And lo and behold,
we ran into the lead singer.
And we were so excited.
We didn't want to run away from him.
We ran up to him.
We wanted to get his autograph.
And then he started to ask us questions.
He started to ask us where we're from
and take an interest in us.
And we just couldn't believe it.
And then the mob starts coming.
He goes, hey, I have to go.
And he bolts and runs off.
But we were just amazed at that.
And every illustration falls short.
But what I want you to pick up from that
is that is what it looks like to fear the Lord.
It's not this lead singer running away
as what happened when the mob started to come.
But rather it's us wanting to run up to him,
wanting to draw near
because we see a level of greatness.
And we want to be near him.
And not only that,
we want to be like him.
The former quarterback
for the Nebraska Cornhuskers
looked almost exactly like Patrick Mahomes,
who's the famous NFL quarterback.
And they even showed this on TV.
They showed a comparison.
He had the same haircut.
He had the same even earbuds.
He had the same mannerisms.
He had the same swagger,
as the kids say nowadays.
Too bad he didn't play as well.
But nevertheless,
he looked just like Patrick Mahomes.
And that's because he saw his greatness
and therefore wanted to be like him.
And that is a snapshot
of what it means to fear the Lord.
We see his greatness
and we want to draw near to him
and we want to be like him.
And so that is a picture
of what it means
to fear the Lord.
You know, oftentimes we treat God
as if it's a privilege
for him to have us
on his team.
Or as if he fears us.
Desperately hoping that
we'll come to him.
But our God
is the most blessed being there is.
And we should marvel
at the privilege
that the King
has summoned us
to him.
To be in his presence
where he blesses us.
And he even takes note of us.
It says here,
who is the one who fears the Lord?
Him will he instruct
in the way that he should choose.
Now this is not the sense of
God will just tell you
what decisions you should make
in life.
Of course, there's guidance
from the Lord
in his sovereign providence.
But this is in light
of the context of Psalm 25,
specifically verses 4-5,
where we saw that God
teaches us his way
to walk in his way.
That's what this is referring to.
He personally instructs us.
And this should amaze us.
It would be like
meeting that lead singer.
And not only does that lead singer
take an interest in us,
but says,
hey, I tell you what,
why don't you come with me
and I will teach you
how to play guitar like me.
What a privilege that would be.
It actually is a great privilege.
It costs a lot of money
to learn from the greatest.
Well, that is what we get with God.
For nothing.
He teaches us his way.
He instructs us
in the way we should walk
to be like him.
And this will bring true
and ultimate blessing.
Verse 13,
His soul shall abide in well-being
and His offspring shall inherit the land.
There are two amazing blessings here.
First, the one who fears the Lord
and has taught his way
abides in well-being.
And of course,
this doesn't mean
that you get health, wealth,
and prosperity.
It's our idolatry
of this world
that would cause us
to think that.
Rather,
it says our soul
will abide in well-being
even in the midst of difficulty.
Even in the midst
of troubles and trials,
our soul will rest secure.
This could be translated
as His soul shall dwell at ease.
And the second blessing
is that His offspring
shall inherit the land.
That's not referring
to our physical children.
Although God is often pleased
to work through the means
of our catechizing them,
of our sharing the gospel with them.
But this is referring
to being a part
of that family
that will inherit
the true and better promised land
of which the land of Israel
was a type in shadow.
Really, this is ultimately
referring to Jesus' offspring,
the people given to Him
by His Father
to redeem them.
As Isaiah 53 says,
Christ will see His offspring
and will be satisfied.
What an amazing blessing it is
that the greatest,
most glorious,
most blessed being
would not only give us
access to Himself,
not only personally teach us,
but even adopts us
into His family
and allows us to live
in His presence
and dwell with Him forever.
And we are part of His
intimate group of friends.
We see in verse 14,
the friendship of the Lord
is for those who fear Him,
and He makes known to them
His covenant.
So for those who fear the Lord,
those who by His grace
have had their eyes
opened to His glory
to behold the glory of God
in the face of Christ.
That is through the gospel.
We are His friends.
Now, this word means
secret counsel,
but the idea is
stuff that you would only share
with friends.
And it's not that God
has some secrets for you,
but this is referring
to that specific knowledge
of the Lord
and His ways
that believers have,
that the world does not have.
It's what Jesus is talking about
in John 15, 15,
where He says,
No longer do I call you servants,
for the servant does not know
what his master is doing,
but I have called you friends.
For all that I have heard
from My Father,
I have made known to you.
Jesus communicates to us
this saving knowledge of God,
revealing His will,
revealing the way of salvation,
and He is our friend.
He is for us.
He comes alongside us
and helps us
and bears our burdens.
And this should cause us
to want to draw nearer to Him.
A second benefit
that stems from fearing the Lord.
First, we saw God's relationship to us.
Now, let's look at that
from a different angle.
Our relationship to God.
Our speaking to God.
We see in verses 15-20
some pretty intense suffering.
Pluck my feet out of the net.
I am lonely.
I am afflicted.
The troubles of my heart
are enlarged.
Bring me out of all my distresses.
Plural.
Forgive all my sins.
How many are my foes?
With violent hatred,
they hate me.
You see here,
this is intense suffering.
But before we jump right to us,
we need to realize
that this is ultimately
the suffering
that our Lord Jesus Christ went through.
And it's the suffering
that He went through
for us
on account of our sin.
Because this is what was required.
A whole life of suffering,
not just on the cross,
but a whole life of suffering
in order to pay for
and atone for
your sin
and my sin.
And so when we read the Psalms,
we read of our Lord Jesus Christ's suffering.
We read of His sufferings.
The sufferings He went through
for our sake.
But this also describes
the sufferings we go through.
For a disciple
is not above his master.
And if the world hated him,
it will hate us.
But when we fear the Lord,
we bring our fears to Him.
When we fear the Lord,
we bring our fears to Him.
As we see here,
consider all the troubles I'm going through.
Consider my enemies.
Consider their violent hatred.
We bring this to the Lord.
In verse 15, He says,
My eyes are ever toward the Lord.
For He will pluck my feet
out of the net.
The psalmist describes himself
as prey that's been caught
in a hunter's trap.
And that's the suffering
that He went through in this world.
That's some of the suffering
that we go through
in this world.
The enemy wants to lay a trap for us.
Our enemies of sin, death,
and the devil
wants to trap us.
Wants to snag us.
And sometimes we get snagged,
but we look to the Lord
to pluck us out.
We look to the Lord
to keep us safe.
And then He says in verses 16-18,
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart
are enlarged.
Bring me out of my distresses.
Consider my affliction
and my trouble
and forgive all my sins.
Beloved, this describes this life.
It's a life of suffering.
It's a life of sorrows.
We live in a sin-cursed world
where things are not always alright.
Where we go through deep,
deep affliction and trouble.
And what do we do?
We bring it to the Lord.
And we ask Him
to turn to us.
That's what the psalmist asks.
Turn to me
and be gracious to me
as if to say,
let the sunshine of your face
come back upon me again.
It's hiding behind
these dark clouds
and I can't feel the warmth.
Turn again to me.
Let the sunshine of your face
come out upon me again.
Satisfy me in my deepest distress.
When we are lonely.
When we are all alone
and it feels like
no one understands.
When we are afflicted.
When we are going through
some of the greatest difficulties
of this sin-cursed life
that come upon us.
When the troubles
of our heart are enlarged.
when we just carry them
in our chest
and feel it in the pit
of our stomach
and we are carrying it around.
We go to God
in prayer.
We are invited
to come to Him.
Crying out to Him.
Laying these burdens
before Him.
We ask Him
to bring us out
of these distresses.
Out of our affliction.
Because He does see.
He does hear.
And He will
deliver us.
For only our eternal God
who is infinite in power.
Glorious in might.
Only He
can deliver us.
And only His face
can satisfy us.
There might be a barrier
to see.
In our affliction
we may wonder
if the Lord
will really hear us
because
we have sinned
against Him.
We have this
remaining pollution
that doesn't go away
fully
until we get to heaven.
And so we may wonder
if the reason why
we are going through
affliction
is because we have sinned.
And often times
it's our own sin
that can afflict us.
When we blow it again.
When we struggle
with the same sin
over and over again.
When we fall again.
When we know
that we shouldn't
and we said
that we weren't going to
and we were going to
try really hard.
Our first call
is usually not God.
God
is the last person
we want to go to
with our shame.
Why would He
want to hear from me
anyway?
Look at what I've done
again.
We prefer to avoid Him
thinking that certainly
He doesn't want to
hear from us.
And so we tend
to then handle it
ourselves.
Carry the weight
of our guilt
and shame
ourselves.
struggle
against our sin
ourselves.
Try to conquer
our sin
ourselves
in hopes that
if I can get a handle
on this
then I can finally
have confidence
before God
that I'm acceptable.
And then I can
come to Him.
forgive all my sins.
We don't handle it
ourselves
and re-earn the right
to come to Him.
Rather,
Scripture commands us
to go to a throne
not of judgment
but of grace.
And what does grace mean?
grace means that God
is favorable towards us
when we deserve the
opposite.
That He gives us
His favor
even when we've
merited
the exact opposite.
And we go to this
throne of grace
to receive help
in our time of need
timely help
because there
stands
a faithful
and merciful
and sympathetic
high priest
waiting
for us
there to help
sinners
not the righteous
but sinners.
sinners.
And that throne
of grace
will never
run dry
even if it's
the millionth
time we've come.
God can even say
you haven't come
enough.
You should come
more.
And 1 John 2
says that if anyone
does sin
we have
an advocate
with
the Father
Jesus
Christ
the Righteous
One.
It doesn't say
if anyone
has sinned
you better
take it more
seriously
because God's
patience is
running out.
No it says
we have
an advocate.
He is an
advocate
for sinners.
And He
is the
Righteous One.
It goes on to say
He is our
righteousness
and He is our
propitiation.
He has it
covered.
He has everything
covered for us
sinners.
Jesus Christ
is our
righteousness.
He has fulfilled
the whole law
for us
even under
testing.
Not to say
okay now you
do the same.
Let's see how
you do.
Yes we need
to follow His
example but
what we do
is never
our righteousness
before God.
Rather our
righteousness
ever remains
the righteousness
of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
And it's
never transferred
to us.
Even in our
good days.
our righteousness
in and of
ourselves is
never considered
before God
as our
righteousness
before Him.
It is always
Christ.
It's always
His and never
any of
ours.
Ours contributes
nothing to
it.
He's fulfilled
the whole law
for us and we
get credit for
it.
And that includes
Him being our
propitiation.
that is He
has satisfied
God's justice
against us.
It is
satisfied.
It is
finished.
Forever.
Never to
flare up
even when
we fall
into sin.
He ever
remains our
advocate.
He ever
remains our
righteousness.
He ever
remains our
propitiation.
It's all
Him.
He has done
it all.
The Father
is satisfied
and has
raised Him
from the
dead and
He is
seated at
the right
hand of
the Father
on high.
That means
He is
forever
satisfied
with us.
And so
we can go
to Him
in all our
afflictions,
even our
self-afflicted
wounds.
We come
to Him
and we
say,
deliver us
from our
afflictions
and forgive
all my
sins.
and so
we come
to Him
as beloved
children
and not
ever as
enemies,
asking God
to deliver
us from
our
enemies.
Verses 19-20
Consider how
many are
my foes
and with
what violent
hatred they
hate me.
Oh, guard
my soul and
deliver me.
Let me not
be put to
shame, for I
take refuge
in you.
we have
foes
that hate
us
with violent
hatred.
We may not
experience this
all the time
among unbelievers,
but we do
have a cruel
enemy, Satan,
who wants to
bring us
down.
He will do
whatever he
can to
bring us
down.
He hates
us with a
cruel
hatred.
but greater
is our
Lord.
And we
come to
him and
we say,
oh, this
enemy, he
hates me
with utter
hatred.
He hates
your people
with utter
hatred.
And the
Lord knows
and the
Lord keeps
us and
the Lord
preserves
us.
And our
own sin,
our own
flesh, it's
the same
way it
wants to
drag us
down, but
we come
to him,
we ask
him to
help us.
our greatest
temptations.
And we
say in
verse 21,
may integrity
and uprightness
preserve me
for I wait
for you.
Oh, the
enemy wants
to bring us
down, but
oh, Lord,
Lord, let
me not be
brought down
with him.
May integrity
and uprightness
preserve me
for I wait
for you.
I come to
you.
I depend
upon you
for this
integrity.
I come
to you.
You may
help me
walk in
your ways
and not
give in
to the
enemy or
stoop to
his level.
And so
that his
name is
not reproached.
A third
and final
benefit stemming
from fear in
the Lord is
our relationship
to others.
Look at
verse 22.
Redeem
Israel,
O God,
out of
all his
troubles.
The
psalmist
turns
now from
himself to
God's
people.
When we
do not
fear the
Lord,
when we
do not
stand in
awe of
his
greatness
and see
his glory,
we tend
to be
consumed
with
ourselves.
We
tend to
be worried
and fixated
on our
problems
and our
troubles.
How is
this going
to work
out?
Will it
work out?
What do
I need
to do?
God
won't
hear me
because
I'm
just
too
sinful.
He
will
not
pardon
my
guilt.
And so
we end
up carrying
our
sorrows,
bearing
our
troubles,
focusing
on
ourselves,
and we
have a
weight
too
heavy
to
ever
bear
another's
burden.
We
end up
being
self-focused,
self-centered.
We end
up using
others to
help bear
our
burdens,
being so
focused on
what we're
going through
and our
suffering,
and therefore
we miss
others.
Suffering.
However,
when we
fear God,
when we
see His
great goodness
in the
face of
Christ,
we know
that He
hears us,
He cares
for us,
and He
loves us
with an
infinite love
that we
can't
imagine.
then we
trust Him.
Then we
lay our
burdens
down,
knowing that
He will
take care
of them.
Cast all
your anxiety
on the
Lord,
for He
cares for
you.
Then we
can turn
our attention
to others
and help
bear their
burdens
and thereby
fulfill the
law of
Christ.
We see
David do
that here
in this
prayer,
turning and
praying for
God's people.
really the
top thing,
not the
only thing,
but the
top thing
we can
do in
service to
elders is
pray for
them.
But this
is also
Christ praying
for us.
Remember,
the Psalms
are the
words of
Christ.
He prays
that we,
the true
Israel,
will be
delivered
from all
our
troubles.
Here we
see our
Savior's
heart.
He does
not look
down at us
and say,
suck it
up.
Look at
all I've
done for
you.
I suffered
worse.
Stop
complaining.
I'm
sovereign.
I'm the
one who
brought this
into your
life after
all.
Deal with
it.
Rather,
he prays
to God,
oh God,
deliver my
people from
all their
troubles.
His heart
is warm
and compassionate
towards us.
He is
merciful and
sympathetic.
prophetic.
He sees
our
suffering and
not our
sin.
And because
our Lord was
delivered from
all his
troubles and
has entered
heaven as
our forerunner,
so will
we.
And this
beloved,
she calls us
to marvel in
standing off
such a Savior
who,
though he is
high and
exalted,
dwells with
the lowly,
causing us to
fear him and
therefore draw
nearer to
him.
Amen.
Let's
pray.
Let's
pray.
Thank you.