Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

We all have to make decisions in life.

Some sources suggest that the average person will make 35,000 choices per day.

Assuming a 7 hour sleep schedule that means 2,000 decisions per hour or even more finely refined one decision every two seconds.

You and I have been given free-will and a multitude of choices in life.

What to eat

What to wear

What to spend money on

What jobs and careers we pursue

How to vote

Who to spend our time with

What we will say

How we will say it

etc

Every choice we make carries with it consequences both good and bad.

This ability to choose is an incredible and exciting power we have been entrusted with by our God for which we have an obligation to be good stewards of.

20th century philosopher Albert Camus said “Life is a sum of all your choices.”

35,000 choices a day makes 12,775,000 choices a year and if we extrapolate that over the general assumed course of a life of 70 years that comes out to 894,250,000 choices.

Put those 894,250,000 choices together and that is who you are.

The reality of it is many of those choices don’t necessarily make up who your are, it is the choices made in the hard circumstances of life.

The choices made that take longer than two seconds to decide.

The choices we make to follow what we discern as God’s will.

The decisions that affect us and not only but those who are around us as well.

How do we make those tough decisions especially that are born out of times of difficulty?

Those times where we dont know what to do?

Where do we turn when faced with the question what am I to do?

Psalm 25 is a Psalm of David in which David is coming to the Lord in dependence upon Him.

It is David’s heart as a God-fearing man on display in a season of crisis and hard times.

The Psalm pictures life and its choices as a difficult journey that we cannot navigate successfully on our own.

Psychologist M. Scott Peck wrote “Once we truly know that life is difficult— once we truly understand and accept it—then life is no longer difficult.”

David knew that the path of life was not easy and so lets see where he turned when faced with the question of what am I to do?

Trust In God Alone

It cannot be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt but David could have potentially written this psalm after his sin with Bathsheba and during the rebellion with Absalom.

What terrible, difficult and confusing time for David.

He shows great trust in God by coming to the Lord and it is through prayer that David comes to the Lord in trust.

In his trouble David says LORD I appeal to You.

Th phrase is quite interesting.

When you appeal to someone it indicates a desire to arouse a sympathetic response or to make an earnest request.

Appeal is also related to take a lower courts decision to a higher court for review.

Lastly when we appeal we call upon another for corroboration, vindication or for DECISION.

The original language indicates David as saying to you I lift my soul.

Appeal is essa and it means to raise from a lower to a higher position, lift up and raise high.

Other may turn to horoscopes, tarot cards, or other means of divination to make their decisions, but these are only manufactured substitutes for God - false idols.

David is lifting his heart to the Lord are the only true source of decision.

In the dark and confusing hours of life when we dont know what we are to do, we must lift ourselves in appeal to our God, there is no higher authority.

We must find our encouragement and strength in our Lord and God.

It has been said by many “if the outlook is bleak, try the uplook.”

David continues on and says my God I trust in You.

I believe in and I place faith and am full of confidence in You.

The list ends there, David trusts no one by God his trust is in God alone.

In his trust David says do not let me be disgraced and do not let my enemies gloat over me (do not let them have victory and power over me).

No one who waits for you will be disgraced.

Now disgraced is the sense of being ashamed or embarrassed or even full of remorse.

David stressed His confidence in turning to the LORD.

He lifted up his soul without shame and confidently declares the truth that no one who waits upon the LORD will be put to shame.

The one who waits is one who hopes in and trusts confidently in regards to the future.

The LORD will answer and meet the needs of the one who waits upon Him.

No one will be let down or disappointed coming to find they trusted in something later proven unworthy.

Waiting upon the LORD is not passive either, to wait upon the LORD is to be active in service to the LORD.

Not a waiting room but the waiting of a server attending the needs of the one being served.

Those who act treacherously without cause will be disgraced.

Seek the Lord’s Path

I think in order to avoid acting treacherously in hard times and following worldly wisdom that says that the ends justify the means or seeks vengeance when vengeance is the Lord’s we see David as he has turned to God is now seeking to know God’s ways.

It makes no sense to turn to God if we are going to keep going in our own way, we must seek God’s ways.

David asks God to make His ways known to him and asks the LORD to teach him His paths.

This indicates that God’s ways require instruction and learning.

In order to make the right decisions to follow the right path you have to be headed the right way.

We know in scripture there are two paths in life.

Unfortunately its true all roads lead to God but only one path is the right path or the path of righteousness.

No one happens upon this path by mistake or accident this path is learned and must be shown.

Instruction and guidance is emphasized in order to be on the right path.

Guide me in your truth and teach me.

God shows sinners the way and leads the humble in what is right and teaches them His way.

The word of God and the revealed truth of God are the main instruments that God uses to instruct, teach and guide.

The Lord instructs us, but he instructs us through his word.

If you want to know God’s guidance, get in His word.

It is not enough to be instructed though.

Seeking the way of the Lord does nothing if He guides us but we do not follow.

Obedience is a necessary part to seeking the Lord’s path.

David says in verse 10 that ALL the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep his covenant and decrees.

The decrees and the covenant summed up in the law or torah later expanded to be the law and the prophets.

Those two words and the word of God speak of obedience.

Since David turned to the Lord trusting in Him only it wasn’t a huge leap to trust the Lord in obedience also.

David meditated on the position of the Lord - He is the God of His salvation.

If in salvation He could be trusted why not in obedience to His guidance and instruction.

David also meditated on the character of God - verse 8.

The LORD is good and upright, these two words denote moral excellence and moral rightness.

He always says and does what is right and God can be trusted to guide those who obey His word.

Elisabeth Elliott, who’s written a lot on guidance, and of course she was the widow of Jim Elliott, that martyr missionary from the last century—Elisabeth Elliott said this. “Does it make sense to pray for guidance about the future if we are not obeying the thing that lies before us today?

How many momentous events in Scripture depended on one person’s seemingly small act of obedience?

Rest assured: do what God tells you to do now, and depend upon it, you will be shown what to do next.”

It is important to obey, it is not enough to know, but what we know must be applied and put into practice in our lives or it is useless to us.

How does one begin to obey?

Verse 9 David shares how obedience begins with those who are humble.

The path of the Lord is found in His mercy.

David calls upon the Lord to remember His compassion and faithful love - hesed.

He says they have existed since antiquity (since the beginning).

In contrast to remembering Your love and compassion Lord David asks the Lord to forget his sin and rebellion.

Horne rightly stated “when God remembers His mercy He forgets our sins.”

David invites the Lord to remember him on in keeping with His faithful love and because of His own goodness.