The Uplifted Soul #1

Psalm 25 display seven ways to trust God were going to walk through them one by one, and I know that you're going to find something in this that speaks deeply to your heart so I'm glad that you're here hello and welcome again to the truth pulpit with the hungry founding pastor of truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. I built right in today. John continues in his ministry of teaching God's people. God's word you don't put things in life are seemingly out of control and you just don't know what to do given situation. You often fall back on the fact that Scripture tells you to trust God. But sometimes that's easier said than done business. What you actually need to do in order to truly be in a place where you're trusting today as Don continues in a series set apart for God will give you a step-by-step approach to trusting your heavenly father no matter what comes your way in life. Here is our teacher with part one of a message called uplifted soul truthful phrase. These seven points as prayers one thing or another simply to have a a a systematic device to help us see the different aspects of it. First of all you're going to see that the trusting God involves that a prayer of protection or a prayer for protection when you are trusting God you are counting on him to shield you and guide you and guard you and protect you as you go through life. There is a conscious dependence upon him, that the things that that affects you and the things that matter to your heart are things that God is going to care for. Over time, that is one aspect of trusting him in the first verse of Psalm 25 is like a summary theme for the rest of the song. Look at verse one with me here. David says to you, oh Lord I lift up my soul. Stated simply, David here is giving us a view giving us an overview and then he works it out in detail. He says Lord I lift up my soul to you my soul with everything all of my desires all of my affections. All of my priorities. God, I handed over to you for safekeeping. I give it to you to care for and to watch over what exactly does it mean to to lift up his soul to the Lord, you know if you've heard the chorus that's based on these verses onto the Lord, do I lift up my soul. I know that you're already giving thanks and I'm not actually going to sing it without some kind of accompaniment that wouldn't be good but you're familiar with that course onto the, oh Lord, do I lift up my soul. Oh my God I trust in the let's a nice chorus. But again, you sing these Old Testament scriptural courses in the wonderful as far as they go but they don't they don't interpret the meaning of the Scriptures for you. What we want to do is say what did David mean when he said I lift up my soul to the Lord well. It has the idea this phrase has the sense of II believe for protection to Yahweh or I seek refuge in the Lord. There's this idea of coming underneath his care underneath his protection in the sense that I lift up my soul to the Lord. Yet he is expressing an earnest trust.

A confident appeal that says I am going to put my trust in the Lord. David is saying.

I lift up my soul.

I flee for protection.

He's coming he's consciously placing himself under the care of Yahweh consciously placing himself under the care of Yahweh in the totality of life and what he's doing is as he goes on in verses two and three saying that he wants God to prove that his trust in Yahweh is not in vain. But in verses two and three here where he says oh my God in you. I trust do not let me be ashamed. Do not let my enemies exult over me, he says. Indeed, none of those who wait for you will be ashamed. Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed. Somehow we don't know really the exact setting of this Psalm but but somehow David was under the oppression of of human opponents who had strength and power and were threatening his well-being and rather than collapsing in fear in human opposition.

He takes the posture of one is going to put his confidence in Yahweh. He takes the trouble to express his trust in the Lord.

He says there in verse three. Look at it again with me. He says none of those who wait for you will be ashamed. This idea of waiting has the sense that I am expectantly looking to you to take care of me. He says I will wait on you. In other words, I will accept and trust your timing and wisdom in this period of my life. What does it mean to trust God.

It means that you are conscious of placing yourself under his protection. You are conscious of of accepting the outworking of his providence and his timing even if for a time, it seems difficult and you do it with a sense that I am not squandering my spiritual opportunity here as I do this God will show in time that my trust and confidence in him was well-placed. That's an idea of what it means to trusting God.

There is the sense of seeking him for his protection. Are you facing human opposition are there people who are threatening your well-being are there those who have perhaps power and authority over you who are prepared to use it to hurt you. Here's your Saul. Here's the call.

Here's the example by which you go and say Lord in the midst of this oppression, I come to you and I lift my soul up to you, by which I mean I am taking refuge in you.

I will find the contentment of my heart as I remember, your faithfulness, and as I trust in it and as I wait on you to display it to me. There may be times speaking from scriptural testimony and speaking from personal experience, there may be times where you are waiting for years for the Lord to display the fact that he will vindicate his faithfulness and that your trust in him will not be in vain and you wander from month to month and from year to year. Where is my deliverance in this well beloved come back to this. Come back to verse three here and remind yourself again and again. No, those who wait on him will never be ashamed they will not be disappointed.

The one who believes in him will not be ashamed will not be found to have squandered the affections and the priorities in the resting of his heart are you waiting on the Lord, are you trusting in him like that to protect you in the midst of what you're facing. David's given you a great pattern.

In this prayer for protection in the first three verses yet again. He goes further and then this is just this is this is just so multifaceted in and what it means to and what it means to trust you find. Secondly, in this all that he also offers a prayer for guidance. A prayer for guidance.

He displays his trust in God by asking God to direct him as he moves forward in life.

Look at verses four and five here. He says make me know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation for you. I wait all the day the ways in paths that he describes here. These are metaphors for simply the direction and the unfolding of God's will for his life.

He saying God I I am looking to you and I and I ask you to to direct me into order my steps so that I am walking in your ways. I am on my life is following the path that you have laid out for me. In essence he says God as I look to an uncertain future.

And as I consider the decisions that I have to make that are of of consequence for the rest of my life. I am asking you to lead me. He is trusting God for God's sovereign power to order his circumstances. First of all, he is trusting God's care for him to be actively involved to be as a theologian say to manifest his eminence in his situation, his presence to be with him and God's ability to order things so that David walks in the steps of God would have him to go.

This is part of trusting God. He says you are the God of my salvation and watch this is he's looking to the future contemplating the steps it is going to take the spirit of what he is saying here is God I am dependent upon you. I am trusting you.

I need you to help me God. It's my desire to walk in the steps that you would have me to go but I lack the wisdom to know what that looks like I lack the ability to make that happen. I am weak. I am ignorant and I humble myself before you and I ask you to powerfully do that which I cannot achieve on my own. One of the things that I find again and again as were going through these going through these songs is that the songs portray a godly man in the spirit that is that is so contrary to what is often portrayed even in the so-called evangelical church pastors who are who are very self-assured and very slick and very very cool like they're the ones that are in control and they know where they're going and do it this way and and everything is packaged so contrary to what you see being laid out for us in the humble prayers of McKay humble prayers of a man of God. David is asking to know the ways of God because he is expressing the fact that it presupposes that, but he's not sure that he's not self-confident in this and the values the opportunity he values the importance of walking in the steps of God would have him to go in and he's enough of the man to say Lord I'm not sure I need your help lead me and what lies ahead is asking God for guidance. Well, that's enough. There to pull us up short incident to make us stop and ask ourselves some questions.

Do we know something.

Do you know something about that kind of humble spirit that that that says Lord I I am not really sure and and and to care enough to ask and to humble yourself and to take the time God show me lead me direct my steps so that I would walk in the way that you would have me to go see this is this is a manifestation of trust of laying life out the life ahead before God and saying, Lord, lead me, help me.

Show me and as you think about it just the just the fact that the David takes the time to articulate it like this, you know, as you read Psalm 25 you're not reading the words of a man who's in a hurry on his knee. He's he's walking through this. He's talking through Eddie's he's committing his way to the Lord in a conscious, deliberate way that shows the fact that this matters to his heart and is an expression of the trust that he wants to walk-in.

He prays for guidance as well as for protection see the different hues different colors that the different texture trust in what he is expressing here.

I love the song.

Well, there's 1/3 way that he manifests his trust as he walks through the song he offers a prayer for pardon. He asked God to forgive him of his sin and he is expressing still further dependence as he walks through these next couple of verses the dependence of this all the trust, the humility, the laying out of his heart and not presuming on God are arrogantly simply demanding what he wants but coming with a sense of self-examination. Again, the humility of this is rich. He says in verses six and seven, he says. Remember, O Lord, your compassion and your loving kindnesses. They have been from of old verse seven do not remember the sins of my youth for my transgressions, according to your lovingkindness, remember me for your goodness sake, O Lord, one of the aspects of David's trusting God of his humility of his transparency before the Lord, is that he does not whitewash his sin is transparent before the Lord in the fact that he has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and notice this beloved. Here's where you see the dynamic of trust being expressed in these words of confession David here is is confessing his sin and asking for mercy. Watch this in the context of depending upon the revealed character of God.

He does not confess his sin is one who is simply entitled to it by his very existence is if as if God owed him forgiveness. He's expressing something much different. He appeals to God to remember to to act on to to be motivated by his own character look at it there in verse six with me again. Remember, oh Lord, what your compassion and your loving kindnesses. The plural speaking to to an abundance of what God has in his and his soul in his attributes of of mercy and grace.

He sang God remember what you're like as I appeal to you in the confession of my sin. I appeal to you. I ask you to remember the broad breath of your grace the deep mercies that abide in your eternal character and got on that basis, I asked you to show kindness to me. They been from of old Lord, you have always been like this. You've always been a gracious and merciful God, and so I appeal to you are with what I'm about. God had promised to keep his people as his own, not because they were deserving, and God keeps you not because you deserve it. God keeps you and enables you to persevere in the face because this is his character. He is full of loyal love and compassion and mercy on his wandering children like you and me. So it's from his own love and character that he forgives us and that's what we appeal to. That's what we asked him to remember as we appeal and ask for forgiveness and and look at what he says in verse seven. This is very very rich. He says do not remember the sins of my youth for my transgressions, or seems to be a bit of a past and the present aspect to his confession there the sins of my youth or my current transgressions don't remember them. Lord, in other words, Lord, don't deal with me don't treat me according to what my sins deserve act in relationship to me separate from my sin, he says in and notice how he separates his sins from himself, as it were. He says don't remember my sins. But remember me remember my remember my broken soul before you remember me, the one that you set your love upon and and and look upon me and deal with me separately and apart from the sins that I've committed. He separates himself. He disowns that sin. There's this rejection of self God.

This is who I wasn't and I reject that I separate myself from that. I stand apart from it, and I asked you and mercy to deal with me as I stand here alone, not according to what my sins deserve for you and me on the side 3000 years after David wrote this 2000 years after the cross, when you are confessing sin and you should be confessing sin on a regular basis draw. Spurgeon said I I have. I don't believe that a Christian ever stops repenting for I fear that he never stopped sinning and so there's this ongoing dimension to our sense when you confess your sins, you should ever tie your confession to a conscious remembrance of the cross of Christ and remember that the the basis upon which you can appeal to God and ask him to forgive you now is a fact, the 2000 years ago as Savior interceded for you and shed his blood on the cross in order to continually wash you from your sins. And so it's not simply a matter saying, oh God, forgive me for this or that it's God, I ask you to cleanse me once more because I am appealing to the ever availing power of the blood of Christ to cleanse me from sin.

First John 17 says the blood of Jesus his son cleanses us from all sin. If we confess our sins he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness will for those of you that that have particularly tender consciences and God bless you for being like that. That's a gift from God to have a tender, conscious, and you seems like your your repeatedly confessing sin well that just let that just draw you a little bit closer each time to the cross and to develop an ever deepening gratitude for the fact that God on his initiative has taken what was necessary to cleanse you from that sin out of his mercy out of his goodness at the price of the precious life and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, it's on that basis that you can come to him again and say Lord cleanse me once more and beloved, you never outgrow your need for the cross you've never outgrown.

We will never outgrow our gratitude for the cross are need for the cross are our dependence and our trust in the saving mercy the Christ manifested their you don't come to the cross and then move on to better things your your centered on that is your confessing your sins because it is that basis upon which your forgiveness is secured. We depend upon the cross to be the satisfaction for our sins and beloved. It is always right and appropriate and fitting for you to call the cross to mind is your confessing your sent to the Lord. David had not.

David had not seen the cross. When this was written so he's appealing to the character of God's compassion and his mercies, according to his loyal love for your goodness sake, oh Lord, he appeals to all of that we have all of that as a basis upon which we appeal to God and then we have what all of that character led to in its climax at Calvary and so and so you see what this does for you beloved is your confessing your sin is your remembering the cross like that is it that it's ever it's ever bringing you closer bring me back to the cross back to Calvary lead me to Calvary as we sometimes sing in at our communion services. It comes back there and you're humbled and dependent upon it all over again.

And when that is repeatedly rehearsed in your mind, and humble dependent prayer before the Lord deepens your trust because you find in the cross and ever flowing fountain and ever sufficient would be a better way and never sufficient source of cleansing and a a a forgiveness of that sin that you've committed when you when you stand up after confessing sin like that when you stand up and walk away. You can leave it there, you don't have to carry the guilt and the burden of that with you as you move on because it's been settled there. And here's the thing. Beloved is said that you leave it there because because trusting you are depending you are confident in the fact that Calvary really was mission to wash away even your most recent sin, you move forward without having to carry the burden of the guilt and shame of that on why because God has taken care of it. He is dealt with it and now he is not going to deal with. You according to your sin according to his goodness and mercy. Blessed be his name is going green, declaring the goodness and mercy of God. You're on the truth pulpit.

Don will bring you the second half of today's lesson titled the uplifted soul. Next time, if you'd like to learn more about this ministry, we invite you to click on the truth.

Pulpit.com. There you will find Don's bio as well as all of his teaching resources including a link to join the live services at truth Community Church in Cincinnati Ohio effect here is done to tell you more my friend if you enjoy these broadcast.

I am sure that you would enjoy the live stream of our church services from truth Community Church. We meet Sunday morning at 9 AM Eastern time and Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock you'll find the live stream length prominently displayed at the top of our website.

The truth pulpit.com and you know if you do join us like that, drop us a note at the website to let us know. Even your brief note helps us know that our resources are reaching friends who want to grow in God's thank you and may Christ be with you.

Thanks and friend that concludes our time together today.

I'm Bill Wright hoping you'll be able to join us next time on the truth pulpit as nongreen continues teaching God's people. God's word