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Psalm 25 and we're going to just
take a general look at this Psalm as a whole but I want us particularly
to view it through the lens of verse 14. And David says, the
secret of the Lord is with those who fear him and he will show
them his covenant. The secret of the Lord is with
those who fear him and he will show them his covenant. Now this 25th psalm is a truly
remarkable psalm of David. It's certainly remarkable in
the way in which it has been composed because this psalm is
an acrostic poem. You'll notice the psalm consists
of 22 verses and each one of those verses follows the successive
letters of the Hebrew alphabet for example verse 1 in the Hebrew
text begins with the Hebrew letter Aleph verse 2 begins with the
Hebrew letter Beth and so on it is the golden alphabet and
this of course is not the only acrostic and alphabet psalm to
be found in the Psalter In fact, there are no less than nine of
them. And the question that we need
to, I think, ask right at the very outset this evening is why? Why did the psalmist write in
such an elaborate fashion? And a number of suggestions have
been put forward down through the centuries. Some would tell
us tonight that it is purely just a literary device which
adds beauty to the text. And it's certainly true, it does
do that. But then there are others who
suggest that the psalmist used this particular method because
they wanted to speak comprehensively on a subject from A to Z, as
we would say. And this is certainly true of
Psalm 119, isn't it? Another alphabet psalm where
the central theme is the word of God. And in each of those
22 sections the psalmist explores the nature of God's law exhaustively. But I believe that the main reason
why the psalmist wrote in such a way under the inspiration of
the Spirit of God was to aid the memory. You see, these Psalms
were designed to be committed to memory by the Lord's people
in order that they might be shared with their children and with
their children's children and future generations of the people
of Israel. And I think there is abundant
evidence for this in the Old Testament. And friends, what
a blessing it can be when we memorise portions of the Word
of God, when we store up God's precepts in our hearts and minds
so that the Word of Christ dwells in us richly in all wisdom. You see, these Psalms were not
merely given to entertain us. so that we might sit back in
our seats tonight and think to ourselves, well, what beautiful
words, what wonderful structure and symmetry. No, no, these Psalms
were designed to instruct us, to teach us, and to lead us in
God's ways. They are Psalms of instruction. And this is something that we
can find right the way through Psalm 25. Notice, for example, how David
prays early on in verse 4. 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. And then look at verse 8. Good
and upright is the Lord, therefore he teaches sinners in the way
the humble he guides in justice and the humble he teaches his
way and then finally later on in verse 12 he says who is the
man that fears the lord him shall he teach in the way he chooses
you see the psalm from beginning to end is all about teaching,
learning and instruction. David, as it were, wants to bring
us tonight into God's schoolhouse so that we might sit at his feet
and learn of him. And I trust that we have come
into this house of prayer tonight with that same teachable spirit
and with that eagerness to listen and to learn all that God would
instruct us. from his words. Well so much for the structure
of the psalm. What exactly is the content of
the psalm? What exactly is Psalm 25 designed
to teach us? What does God want us to take
home from it this evening? Well you'll notice that the psalm
begins on a note of shame. There is a note of personal shame. throughout the psalm. You see
the psalm has been described as the second of the penitential
psalms, the psalms of confession. And you'll notice that David
is obviously writing this particular psalm as an older man. He is
perhaps writing, as many believe, right at the very end of his
life. Because as he looks back upon his former days, he remembers
acutely the sins of his youth. And he feels deeply anxious,
troubled, and ashamed. And that's why we find him praying
here in verse 7. Do not remember the sins of my
youth, nor my transgressions. According to your mercy, remember
me for your goodness sake, O Lord. You see, David feels utterly
plagued by his past. His former sins rise up before
him and he feels deeply distressed and ashamed. And isn't this often the experience
of the Lord's people in this world? And especially those who
are reaching or have reached the evening of life. And of course
the devil takes full advantage of this. You see the devil trades
in guilt. And he delights in nothing more
than raking up the past. He brings our former sins before
us. He rubs our noses in them. And he says and he whispers in
your ear, what a terrible person you have been. Just look at all
those terrible sins that you've committed in the past. What a
poor specimen of a Christian you are. Do you really imagine
that you're going to be there with the Lord on that last day?
Do you really imagine that you're going to hear those words of
the Saviour, well done good and faithful servant, enter into
the joy of your Lord? Why it's doubtful whether you'll
ever get in there at all. And it is indeed a fact that
the closer we get to God, the more acutely we will feel the
sins of our youth. They seem so black, don't they?
They seem so ugly, and we feel so utterly ashamed that we ever
committed them. Dr. Harry Ironside, an American
pastor in the early 20th century, tells the story of an elderly
Christian man who came to see him one day, deeply troubled
by the sins of his youth. He said to Dr. Ironside, everything
seems to be so dark. Whatever do you mean? exclaimed
Ironside. You've known the Lord now for
over 70 years. You've been a faithful church
member. You've helped others in the Church of Jesus Christ
come to a living faith. You've walked with God most of
your life. What do you mean everything is
dark? oh the man explained in my illness
since I have been lying here so very weak my memory keeps
bringing up the sins of my youth and I just can't get them out
of my mind they keep crowding in upon me and I can't help thinking
upon them they make me feel so miserable and so utterly wretched
and depressed well Ironside turned to this particular psalm and
then read to him the words of verse 7. Remember not the sins
of my youth, nor my transgressions, according to your mercy. Remember
me for your goodness sake, O Lord. And after he read those words
to him, he said, now tell me, he said, do you remember what
happened 70 years ago when you came to Christ? when you confessed
your sins to him and put your trust in him as your Lord and
Savior. Do you remember what happened
next? Well, the old man couldn't remember. Well, said Ironside,
don't you remember that when you confessed your sins to God
that he said to you, your sins and your iniquities will I remember
no more? If God has forgotten them, then
why should you think upon them? Well, the old man relaxed and
eventually a big smile came across his face. His frown lifted. And he said, oh, what an old
fool I have been, remembering what God has forgotten. And the
man found peace and reassurance because he had been instructed
in the nature of God and his gracious ways. Who is a pardoning
God like thee? Or who has grace so rich and
free? And friends, isn't this the glory
of the gospel? Isn't this the wonder of the
Christian message and position this evening? You see He has
dealt with our sins completely, finally, once and for all. He has punished them in the body
of His Son upon that cross on Calvary's hill. He has cast them
behind his back. He's put them into the very depths
of the sea. He's removed them from us as
far as the east. It's from the west. And he says
to his people, your sins and iniquities I will remember no
more. Yes friends, we may remember
them. Others may remember them. The devil may remind us of them.
but God has made an end of all our sins and he will never hold
them against us ever again. Hallelujah. We can say with the
hymn writer, my sin, all the bliss of this glorious thought,
my sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to his cross
and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh my soul. Or in the words of
Paul, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. It was the words of this 25th
Psalm that were very much on the lips of the young Margaret
Wilson, one of the two Margarets who were martyred for their faith
in 17th century Scotland. and you remember how they were
made a spectacle of and how the soldiers took them and tied them
to wooden stakes in the middle of the Solway Firth as the tide
was out and then they waited for the tide to turn to sweep
them away and as the tide turned and the waves were coming in
and the crowds gathered The soldiers tried to get young Margaret Wilson,
just a teenager, to recant and to repent of her crimes. What
was her crime? She wanted to worship according
to the Bible and not according to the king. She could say with
Luther, my conscience is captive to the word of God. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. And as the waters came up to
her chest, she began to sing sweetly aloud the words of this
25th Psalm. My sins and faults of youth do
thou, O Lord, forget. After thy mercies think on me,
and for thy goodness great. Thus young Margaret Wilson died,
in full assurance of faith and hope and joy because she knew
that all was well with her soul. But this psalm is not only about
the shame of former sins. No, no, it's all about communion. Sweet communion with our God. And that brings us to the words
of our text here in verse 14. where David goes on to say the
secret of the Lord is with those who fear him and he will show
them his covenant now this word secret that is
used here in our version is a very interesting word a very rich
word the Hebrew on which it's based is very expressive the
word was originally used of a couch or a cushion It was the seat
on which a circle of intimate friends would congregate on hot,
sultry evenings in the East for sweet fellowship and private
consultation. And thus we could literally translate
the Hebrew word, as it is in many modern versions today, such
as the ESV, as friendship. The friendship of the Lord. Well
the intimacy of the Lord is with those who fear him and he will
show them his covenant. And this again is the marvel
of Christianity isn't it? This is the wonder of the gospel
tonight. Because Christianity is not simply
about going to church, reading the Bible, saying prayers. No,
no, it is essentially about a personal relationship with God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the living God condescending
to us in his mercy and grace to make us his friends. Do you
remember how the prophet Jeremiah put it in the Old Testament?
He said, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not
the rich man glory in his riches, let not the mighty man glory
in his might, but that him who glories, glory in this, that
he understands and knows, may the knowledge of God. And we can know God tonight personally
and intimately. Why? Because God, the God of
the Bible, has been pleased to reveal himself to us. He brings
us into fellowship with himself and he discloses to us his most
intimate secrets. The secret of the Lord is with
those who fear him and he will show them his covenant. many many years ago now I was
between jobs and I was just looking for some temporary work to do
and I noticed in the paper down in Hove that they were advertising
for postmen and women so I thought well that's a job I can do for
a while and so I went along and about 50 others went along for
it and we all had to do an exam and well I passed and got the
job And my first day as a postman in Hove, I had to go into the
office and I had to sign a personal declaration that I would not
on any account disclose the Royal Mail's secrets. Well, I have
to say that during my short time as a postman in Hove, I wasn't
privy to many great secrets. And when I left the job shortly
after, and I was called to another position, I had to sign again
a form that I would forget any secrets that I'd learnt, and
it was ridiculous. But you know, when I became a
Christian, and when you became a Christian, God revealed to
us his most amazing secrets. Do you remember that wonderful
occasion in the upper room in Jerusalem, when the Lord Jesus
gathered his disciples to him on the eve of his crucifixion? He said this to them, no longer
do I call you servants, for a servant doesn't know what his master
is doing, but I have called you friends. For all things that
I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. Isn't that glorious? And what
do friends do? Well, they share secrets. I love Abraham in the Old Testament,
one of my favourite characters. Abraham, you'll remember, was
known pre-eminently as the friend of God. I don't know about you,
but I find that absolutely glorious. That Abraham was God's friend,
his personal friend. You remember how the God of glory
appeared to him in Mesopotamia. He was a pagan, a worshipper
of idols. And yet the God of all grace
set him apart for himself, revealed his glory to him, and then showed
him his works and ways. And you remember that wonderful
day came when they were walking together towards Sodom. And the
Lord said to the angels who were with him, shall I hide from Abraham
what I'm doing? Shall I keep it back from him?
And of course the Lord didn't, but disclosed to Abraham his
most intimate secrets, because Abraham was his friend. The secret of the Lord is with
those who fear him, and he will show them his covenants. And isn't this, friends, precisely
what happens at the moment of Christian conversion? You may
have attended church for years. You may have sat in a service
just like this on a Sunday evening, and you heard the preaching of
the gospel, and yet it meant absolutely nothing to you whatsoever. And yet there came that glorious
day that was different, when God was pleased to open your
eyes and to open your heart to his word. God revealed his son
to you and you became a new person, a new creation in Christ Jesus. The old was gone and the new
had come. The Bible became a brand new
book. You had eyes to understand and to see things you had never
seen before. God revealed to you his covenant. And what is that covenant? Well,
it's God's committed love to his people, isn't it? The heart
and the essence of that covenant bond is where God promises to
be our God. and we to be his people. He binds himself to us with those
bonds of covenant love and fidelity and he will never give us up
and he will never ever let us go. Is it any wonder the hymn
writer wrote, is there on earth a closer bond than this that
my beloved's mine and I am his. The secret of the Lord is with
those who fear him and he will show them his covenant. But this is not only something
that happens just once in the Christian life, at the moment
of our conversion, but I believe it is also the ongoing experience
of the believer in Christ. God continues to disclose secrets
to us. Do you remember that marvellous
occasion in the Gospels recorded in Matthew chapter 13 where Matthew
tells us that Jesus began to teach the multitudes by means
of parables? And the question we need to ask
is why? Why did Jesus begin to teach them by means of parables?
And Jesus of course tells us the reason, doesn't he, in that
chapter. He says that it was both to conceal and also to reveal
the truth. Jesus said to his disciples,
to you, to you, it has been given to know the mysteries, the secrets
of the kingdom of heaven. But to those outside, Everything
comes to them in parables, so that seeing they may see, and
not perceive, and hearing they may hear, and not understand. But, he says, blessed are your
eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For assuredly
I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to
see what you see and did not see it and to hear what you hear
and did not hear it. And then right at the end of
the chapter it says all these things Jesus spoke to the multitude
in parables and without a parable he did not speak to them. that
it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Prophet, saying,
I will open my mouth in parables. I will utter things kept secret
from the foundation of the world. Isn't that incredible? God sovereignly
disclosing the secrets of the kingdom of God to his disciples. Now you may be thinking to yourselves
tonight, well that's all well and good but these are the original
twelve. These are those who were to lay
the foundation of the Christian church by their apostolic ministry
and teaching. You say there are no apostles
today. And of course in that sense you're
absolutely right. They are not. But I still believe
that in a certain sense God continues to reveal secrets to his children. Now before you charge me with
heresy and stone me and run away with the idea that this is some
kind of unhealthy mysticism I'm teaching here tonight, let me
say straight away that God does it to his people today by a combination
of his word and spirit. and never the one without the
other. You see, it's not God coming to us, revealing new truth
and new revelation to us. No, no, that would be a denial
of the authority and the sufficiency of the Bible. But rather it is
God, by His Spirit, speaking to us from His Word. And isn't that the new covenant
role of the Spirit's ministry? Do you remember how Jesus explained
it in John 16? Jesus said, I still have many
things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However,
when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into
all truth. For he will not speak on his
own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will
tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for he will
take of what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father
has are mine, therefore I said that he will take of mine and
declare it to you. You see the Holy Spirit is the
Spirit of Truth. The Holy Spirit is the author
of Holy Scripture and the Holy Spirit is always consistent with
Himself and therefore whatever He says in our hearts will correspond
and echo with what He has said in the Bible. The Holy Spirit
is the spirit of truth. And he has come, Jesus said,
to lead you and to guide you into all truth. But the question is how? How
does the Holy Spirit fulfil this role today? Well of course he
does so by means of illumination. The Holy Spirit enlightens our
minds, opens our understanding so that we might understand the
Scriptures. And illumination is absolutely
vital and essential because the Christian is still very much
partially sighted with regard to the things of God. Oh yes,
it's true that as Christians we've been brought out of darkness
into God's marvellous light. Yet we still do not possess 20-20
vision, do we? We see, says Paul, but we still
see only through a mirror, dimly. And that is why we are constantly
dependent upon the ministry of the Spirit to enlighten our minds,
to open our understanding in order to guide and to lead us
into God's truth. That's why we need that prayer
of the psalmist. We need to pray it daily. Open
my eyes. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful
things from your law. Do you remember that incredible
discovery that was made back in 1922? One of the greatest
archaeological discoveries the world has ever known by the British
archaeologist Howard Carter. He was searching in the Valley
of the Kings for an intact royal tomb that hadn't been robbed
by grave robbers. And he knew that there was one
there. He felt it in his bones. He spent his lifetime searching
for it. Money was running out. He was
sponsored by Lord Carnarvon. This was his final term of searching
and he was desperate. And then that glorious day came
when he came across a set of steps that were in the sand and
as he dug out these steps he found that they led to a chamber
and that chamber was sealed. Could this be it? And Lord Carnarvon
came across from the UK and stood beside him and the world's press
were there and everybody was waiting with bated breath. What
was behind that wall? Howard Carter punched a hole
through the wall and then he called for a light to be given
to him. He put the light through the
hole and as his eyes grew accustomed to the light conditions, suddenly
he began to see things kept secret for thousands of years. And Lord
Carnarvon said to him, tell us Howard, what is it you see? What
do you see? Howard Carter uttered those immortal
words, I see wonderful things. Wonderful things. His eyes were
opened. You see, without that light,
without the illumination, he could see nothing, just pitch
blackness. But with the aid of that light,
his eyes were opened to see the golden glories of ancient Egypt. Wonderful things. Many of us
have been to exhibitions and seen those wonderful things for
ourselves. But oh my friends, isn't this
the experience of the Christian believer? There are times when
we read our Bibles prayerfully upon our knees and the Holy Spirit
comes in an unusual way and opens our understanding and enlighten
us and the passage comes alive and the truth of God grips our
heart and makes us want to shout and to sing. The Holy Spirit
is the illuminator of the sacred page. And then there are occasions
in the Christian life when we may have been going through a
time of great challenge and a great suffering and great struggle
and darkness and we've been engaged in prayerful fellowship with
the Lord, calling upon Him, pouring out our hearts to Him and all
of a sudden God has sent a word into our hearts and it's come
with such force, with such sweetness, with such consolation, that we
know that it has been God communicating with our soul. And then there
are other occasions in the history of the church, exceptional occasions,
especially in times of spiritual awakening and revival. And God
has been pleased to give intimations to his servants about future
events. And these things have literally
come to pass. These are historical facts, friends,
and we just cannot deny them. We cannot rule them out completely
because our God is a sovereign God. But let me say that these
are exceptions to the rule. And we don't make a rule out
of exceptions, do we? We say that the exception proves
the rule, and that is that God speaks to us by His Spirit, through
His words. The secret of the Lord is with
those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenants. But there is one final question
that we just need to consider before we close tonight. And
I think it's perhaps the most important question of them all.
And that is, does God confide in this way with all his people? With all his children? And I
think the answer must be an emphatic no. Because you'll notice that
there is a condition attached. Notice what David says here in
this 14th verse. He tells us that this is a promise
that is exclusive to those who fear the Lord. He says, the secret
of the Lord is with those who fear him and with those alone. In other words, it would be the
height of presumption for any person who lives a worldly, careless
life to imagine that God will confide in them. No, no, this
is a fellowship. This is sweet counsel that is
reserved for those who fear his name. And when the Bible talks
about walking in the fear of the Lord, It's not of course
talking about that fear of dread, the fear of a slave to a harsh
master, but it's talking about the fear, the respect of a child
to a loving father. It is that fear of reverential
awe and adoration. It is that love for God that
is so great that we would be afraid of doing anything that
might grieve or displace his holy name. The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom, the beginning of knowledge, the beginning
of understanding. Oh, how I fear thee, living God,
with deepest, tenderest fear, and worship thee with trembling
hope and penitential tears. Serve the Lord with fear, David
says, and rejoice with trembling. There's that marvellous balance,
isn't there, in the Word of God. Fear on the one hand, trembling
joy on the other. The secret of the Lord is with
those who fear him and he will show them his covenant. Oh may God grant that each one
of us here in this service tonight may long for that closer walk
with God, that we might walk with him more intimately in the
light of his word, that we might experience more of his friendship,
more of that disclosure, more of that revelation of his covenant
love.
The Secret of the Lord
| Sermon ID | 10132413335246 |
| Duration | 37:58 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Psalm 25:4 |
| Language | English |
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