Trust in His Goodness

Continuing our Summer in the Psalms

This morning, we continue our Summer in the Psalms. We have been finding some helpful truths in these poems or songs that were originally used in worship for the people of God. We have been reminded that the Psalms were written by flawed and sometimes failed individuals that found that in the midst of life’s sufferings that they could still trust in God because although they had failed Him, He would never fail them.

We continue that theme this morning as we look at Psalm 25 verse 1-10.

Psalm 25:1–10 NIV

1 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. 2 I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. 4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. 5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good. 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 toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

You can trust Yahweh.

This Psalm begins where we all want to arrive. The first verse of this Psalm that we have read from the NIV as “In You, Lord, my God I put my trust” could also be translated as “I offer my life to you, Lord.” Ultimately that is what trust in the Lord is all about. If you trust in the chair in which you are sitting, you aren’t too concerned that it will fall in, so you place your full weight on the chair. Imagine if the chair you are sitting in was pretty rickety. You wouldn’t have just sat down without any concern of it falling in. You might not even have sat down in it at all. Usually when we have a chair that we do not trust to hold our weight, we will throw it away so that nobody experiences the failure of the chair.

When I place my trust in the Lord, or when I offer my life to the Lord, I am placing all that I have and all that I am in the hands of God - knowing that He can be trusted! At the West Virginia camp, we had a trust drop - it’s a bit terrifying, but the people in your group would line up in 2 lines, and lock hands and you would stand up on this stump that was above them, turn your back to them, cross your hands across your chest and just fall. It takes some serious trust to do it. I have always been a pretty big guy, so I was pretty scared to do it, but my team encouraged me to get up there - so I did. And, just as I fell, I heard them all yelling and thought they were saying, “no”, so I began to turn and fell right through them. Luckily, I didn’t get hurt, but I got back up and did it the right way.

There is little in life that we can truly trust, and all too often the very things that we trust are the things that betray our trust. And, unfortunately, far too often it is people that betray our loyalty and trust. Even Jesus experienced this kind of betrayal - his trusted followers fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane while He was praying for His life, while Judas was off selling Him out for 30 pieces of silver. He understands what it’s like to not be able to trust.

But we can truly place our life and our trust in the hands of our heavenly Father. While we probably have a difficult time understanding the true feeling of having enemies that want our absolute demise, we can certainly understand having those that are against us.

The Psalmist trusts God, but he is certainly concerned about how things will work out - he is saying basically, “I have lifted up my soul, my all, to you — don’t let it be for nothing.” While he is going through a personal struggle with trust, his struggle is one that the community can understand because they all feel the same struggle.

This Psalm is an acrostic - if we would look at the whole Psalm, and not just the 10 verses that we read as our text this morning, each line begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet in succession - the Psalmist, in using the letters of the alphabet is describing the trust that can be experienced from “A to Z” if you will.

2. Yahweh knows the way.

Several years ago, before we all had GPS units that we carry with us everyday, we went on vacation to Niagara Falls. We had reservations at a hotel that was not real close to the Falls, so when we got into Canada, we decided to spend some time at the Falls instead of driving straight to our hotel. Later that night, as we got in the van, I thought I had it in my mind which way we were to go. The hotel, I believe was about 20 minutes from the Falls, but that night it took us probably about an hour to get there - why? because I did not know the way - I knew the general direction we were to go, but I didn’t know the way. I didn’t find the way until I stopped to ask directions from somebody that was local. After that long drive, we finally pulled into the hotel for the night.

So many people refuse to ask directions! Yes, that is often me when I am trying to find someplace - but now I don’t need to ask for directions because I have a GPS unit in my possession. When I am driving all over Pittsburgh to deliver books for Choice Books, I have my GPS on my phone that gives me step by step directions, and I still struggle to stay on the right path sometimes.

If we struggle to find our way geographically through a city, how can we expect to find our way through the complexities of life without direction. The Psalmist reminds us of the need for direction as he asks God to show him the right path - that God would help him find the way. We don’t really like to admit our weakness and that we are in need of anything, but we are reminded as we read this Psalm that is attributed to King David that even a leader like him needed to ask God for direction and sought to be taught by God. You and I need that direction, guidance, and instruction as well.

So, where do we find that help that we need? How does He guide us?

First and foremost we find it in His Word.

Secondly, we find direction from the Holy Spirit living within us.

Thirdly, we find direction through other believers who have been through some of the same circumstances we may face.

Caution! For all 3 of these, I have a caution, and it is this - Be sure that the direction is really from God!

When it comes to finding direction in His Word, we need to make sure that we read it in context - that we understand His Word based on good study. You can’t just go and put your finger on a verse and take that as God’s direction for your life. You’ve probably all heard the joke about the guy that wanted to find God’s direction for his life, so he just opened his Bible and read the first verse that he saw, his finger landed on Matthew 27:5 “5 Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself.” He thought to himself, that can’t be it, so he decided to do it again, and he landed on Luke 10:37 “37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”” Certainly that couldn’t be right, so once more he opened his Bible and this time he landed on John 13:27 “27 After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.””

When it comes to being directed by the Holy Spirit that is within us, but sure to check what you think the Holy Spirit is directing you against God’s Word because the Spirit will never lead you to do something that His Word teaches against. Many years ago, a well known singer of Christian music went through a divorce, and there was no mention of any infidelity or abuse, but the one who filed for divorce claimed the God had released her from the marriage. Let me make this clear - the Holy Spirit will never give you instruction that does not follow the directions given in His Word!

We really do need each other in this journey of faith that we are on. We need encouragement from one another, and we need to learn from the mistakes and the pitfalls as well as the right paths. When I first got into cycling, I went on a ride with a couple of guys that were very experienced. They knew a whole lot more about riding than I did. As I was riding, I had a very difficult time keeping up with them, both because they were in much better physical shape than I was, but also because they had better equipment than I did. They gave me some pointers to help me out, and I was able to improve with some minor tweaks to what I was doing. In the same way, we can learn from those who have been on the path that we are on, but again, the caution is that the instruction within the community of believers - yes, especially teachers and pastors needs to be checked against the Word of God. Paul said this about the Berean believers in Acts 17:10-11 “10 That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so.”

3. Yahweh is compassionate, loving, faithful, and good

Ultimately, it is these characteristics that make clear that He can always be trusted!

He is compassionate

None of us could stand before Him with any confidence or go to Him boldly in prayer if it were not for His compassion.

We all could say along with David that we need Him to look at us with compassion rather than justice. None of us deserve His grace or His compassion that He gives, but He sent His Son because He IS compassionate. We don’t want Him to remember us for the sins of our youth - and because of Jesus, and His sacrifice, He throws our sins into the sea of forgetfulness - we often continue to feel the guilt of our former sin, but if we have asked for God’s forgiveness, He has forgiven because of His compassion.

He is loving

In fact, the New Testament tells us in 1 John 4:16 “16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.”

There is nothing that any of us have done to earn His love. There is nothing you have ever done or could ever do that will separate you from His love!

His love is unfailing! It is unending! No matter what you have done or where you may find yourself, always know that God loves you! That doesn’t mean we can’t turn our back on His love, but even if we would, it wouldn’t nullify His love for us.

He is faithful

Every couple I have ever counseled prior to a marriage have committed to be faithful. In the marriage ceremony, all of us who are married committed before God and the people who were present that we would be faithful. That commitment to faithfulness alone will not convince anybody if you do things that prove you are unfaithful.

Faithfulness in a marriage or in a friendship is only as strong as the commitment we make to it. Even if we are unfaithful, God remains faithful. He is faithful to provide for His people, He is faithful to care for His people, but He is also faithful to follow through with punishment and judgement for those that do not keep the covenant that is made with Him through obeying His demands.

One step of the covenant making procedure in the Old Testament times was listing the blessings that would be enjoyed if you remained faithful to the covenant that you were making. At the same time, covenant partners would also list the curses that would come if you were not faithful to the covenant that you were making. God will always be faithful to the covenant that He has made.

God is GOOD

All the time! And all the time, God is good!