The Trip of a Lifetime
lynns164
Psalm 25:4-5
No doubt you have taken some very interesting trips down through the
years. Some are definitely more memorable to me than others.
As a child, I remember going on a family vacation to Washington D.C.
and as we were waiting at a traffic light across from the Lincoln
Memorial, fire shot up through the hood of our car. On that same trip
I developed a classic case of chicken pox.
Another trip that is most memorable was to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for
our honeymoon. As wonderful as that honeymoon trip was there is yet
another trip that has even greater significance to me. It began on May
16th 1965 when I asked the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive my sin and to
come into my heart. This is truly the trip of a lifetime. As Ira F.
Stanphill puts it in his chorus "Happiness is to be forgiven, Living
a life that's worth the living, Taking a trip that leads to Heaven,
Happiness is the Lord."
http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis2/happiness.html
David the psalmist is referred to by God as "a man after My own
heart who will do all My will" in Acts 13:22. Listen to the
heartbeat of a man after God's own heart: "Show me Your ways, O
LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You
are the God of my salvation; On You I will wait all the day" (Psalm
25:4-5, NKJV).
I. The Psalmist's Request of God
"Show me Your ways, O LORD;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,. . ." (vv. 4-5a)
This is one way to pray for your self without being selfish!
The substance of your petition denotes your fellowship with God.
"Andrew Murray says, 'Humility is the disappearance of self in the
awareness that God is all.'" Clyde Cranford, Because We Love Him:
Embracing a Life of Holiness (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, Inc.
2002), p. 188.
The size of your petition denotes your faith in God.
"Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and pow'r are such, None can ever ask too much."
--John Newton (1725-1807) "Come, My Soul, Thy Suit Prepare"
Text from: THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House,
1941)
"The prayer of Psalm 25 complements the wisdom of Psalm 1."
-- P.C. Cragie, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
II. The Psalmist's Relationship with God
". . .For You are the God of my salvation;. . ." (v. 5b)
The psalmist does not merely have a religion he has a relationship
with the living God.
Do you have a settled conviction that you have a scriptural
conversion?
Can you say with Paul the apostle, "I know whom I have believed and
am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed unto Him
until that day" (2 Timothy 1:12b)?
III. The Psalmist's Responsibility to God
". . . On You I wait all the day." (v. 5c)
It has been said, "Teach a man his rights and start a revolution;
teach a man his responsibility and start a revival."
What is it to wait on God?
Matthew Henry writes:
1. It is to live a life of desire towards Him. Our desire should be,
not only towards the good things God gives, but towards God Himself.
2. It is to live a life of delight in God. Desire is love in motion,
as a bird upon the wing. Delight is love at rest, as a bird upon her
nest.
3. It is to live a life of dependence on God, as the child waits on the
father.
4. It is to live a life of devotedness to God, as the servant waits on
his master.
5. And it is to make His will our rule; for our practice or for our
patience, as the will of His providence my ordain.
THIS WE MUST DO EVERY DAY AND ALL DAY LONG.