Dealing With That Which Seeks to Destroy You - Psalm 25

What is it that is trying to destroy you?   Who is your adversary?

Satan – His Dominions and Minions have one goal in mind – to steal, kill and destroy.

John 10:10 (NIV)  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The World’s System of Living Life

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)  Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Out Own Sinful Nature

We cannot identify the specific situation in David’s life that led him to write this psalm. Because of his repeated requests for forgiveness, many commentators conclude that his trouble was linked to his sin with Bathsheba (vv. 7, 11, 18). In return for David’s violence against Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, the Lord judged David by proclaiming that his family would be marked by betrayal and violence (2 Sam. 12:9-11). With this in mind, it would seem that Absalom’s revolt against his father may be the setting for this psalm.

Pastor and teacher Harry A. Ironside wrote, “David realized deep in his heart that the suffering was to a certain extent the result of that sin of so long ago in the case of Bathsheba. God was still visiting that sin upon him governmentally….If we think of David as in those circumstances when he wrote these words it may help us to understand them better. We cannot say positively that they were written at that time, but they would fit that occasion in a wonderful way.”

David was facing both an external and an internal crises when he wrote this psalm. Externally, enemies were attacking him. Inwardly, he was battling the guilt of his sin. Three themes are prominent in this psalm: forgiveness, guidance, and trust.

Look to God – Psalm 25:1-3

Understand that you cannot face this on your own – you cannot live a self-sufficient life.  In order to navigate life in a godly fashion, one must understand their own weakness – their own inadequacies.  As long as we look within – to ourselves – for power, wisdom or direction we will only find frustration and failure.  However, when we come to the conclusion that we “can’t” but God in us “can” then we will receive His guidance and strength.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

At the very onset of dealing with that which seeks to destroy you, we must look with confidence and trust to Him.

Psalm 25:3 (NIV)  No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.

Ask For Direction – Psalm 24:4-5

Show Me – yada – Make me know personally

Teach Me – lamad – cause me to learn – train me educate me in a course of action

Straying from God’s path had created this mess – ask God to teach how to stay on the right path – not just know the path, but help me to stay on the path.

Be Reminded of God’s Mercies – Psalm 25:6-7

Understand that sin had consequences – but God forgive sin.  (1 John 1:9) Rather than focus on external circumstances, there are three things David asks to remember. Remember God’s Mercy and Love -  Remember Not My Sin -   Remember Me

God is Good – All the Time – Psalm 25:8-10

Guides – Walk along side – directing along the way

Teaches – To Goad – to keep one on course.

Ask God’s Forgiveness – Psalm 25:11

“For the sake of your name.” – God’s name represented His Character.  He did not ask God for His Forgiveness to simply get out of trouble, or for his own comfort.  It was all about God rather than him.

David did not minimize or excuse his sin – He confessed it – he owned it.

Why Fear God? – Psalm 25:12-14

What does it mean to fear God?  We fear God when we recognize who he is and show Him the reverence He is rightly due.   We acknowledge His authority over every area of our lives.  We accept our accountability to Him.

When we do that – He will show/instruct us how to live.  We will be at peace and prosper.  We will have intimate fellowship with Him.

Look to God Always – Psalm 25:15-22

David was caught in the deadly snare of sin’s consequences. Although many years had passed since the night he had tragically given in to his lustful desires, his horrible sin with Bathsheba continued to haunt him. Comparing himself to a bird trapped in a net, he knew that he had but one hope of escaping the clutches of his enemies: the intervention of God on his behalf.

Commentary

First David asked the Lord to turn to him, to face and give him His full attention, because he was all alone and afflicted (v. 16). David accepted that his crisis was justly deserved: it was a part of God’s judgment for his awful sin. Therefore, he cried out to God for mercy. The benevolence of God was his only hope.

Second, David asked the Lord to deliver him from his troubles, which were large and ever growing larger (v. 17). His situation was worsening every day. As his troubles grew, so did his anguish.

Third, the distressed king again asked God to give him His full attention, to look on him in his distress (v. 18). Citing his affliction and pain, David drew God’s attention to the suffering he was experiencing because of his sin. In begging God to forgive him, he was asking the Lord to deliver him from the situation he was in.

Fourth, David implored God to observe how his enemies had increased and how viciously they hated him (v. 19). Cruel hatred (chamas sinah) is hatred that is so strong that it seeks to slay the one hated. Consider for a moment David’s leadership of the nation from his enemies’ perspective. His great sin was no secret: he had committed adultery with the wife of one of his most loyal men who had risked his life for David on many occasions. Then, he had arranged the death of this faithful follower in an attempt to cover his sin. Many, if not most, of us would have difficulty following a man with these crimes in his past. Others felt that he had ambitiously tried to displace Saul as king (2 Sam. 16:8). David’s enemies felt that their opposition of him was justified, and that, by killing him, they were acting in their nation’s best interest.

Fifth, David begged God for His divine protection (v. 20). Keep my soul is more modernly translated as guard my life (NIV). Only the Lord could protect David from death and rescue him from his enemies. He pleaded for God to deliver him from the shame of being slain by men of his own nation, and even worse, his son. His execution would also disgrace the name of the Lord who had chosen him to be king and made a covenant with him.

Finally, the king called upon God for protection on the basis that he was a changed man (v. 21). Adultery and murder had been replaced in his life by integrity and uprightness—straight adherence to the path of righteousness. David realized that he could keep no secrets from God: the Lord knew his heart and knew that David walked in complete obedience to His laws (Word). His only hope was in the Lord. Therefore, he declared that he would wait on the Lord to do what He deemed best. He placed himself and his crisis in God’s hands and entrusted his life to Him.

Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary - The Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible – Psalms I.