Please turn with me in your Bibles once again to Psalm number 25. Psalm number 25. And this evening, Psalm number 25, we're gonna be looking at verses eight down to verse 15. Verse eight to verse number 15. And our title this evening is The God We Pray To. The God We Pray To. Last Wednesday evening at a prayer meeting, we looked at verses one to verse seven, very much looking at how we are to pray before God in heavenly prayer, heavenly prayer. And we saw that from the Psalm, the Psalm of David, we're to pray in reverence, to think high and lofty things, as we see from verse one. to lift up our souls unto the Lord. We're to pray in confidence, trusting in our God. We're to pray in deliverance, because we overcome in Jesus Christ, knowing that the victory is in Jesus Christ. We're also to be guided by the Lord's will as we seek his face. And we also looked at verse six and seven. We're to pray in acceptance. We are sinners. We do not deserve the least of the Lord's mercies. And we wish for the Lord to remember us in mercy, to remember not the sins of our youth. Which brings us now on to verses eight, to verse number 15, verse eight, beginning with, good and upright is the Lord. Good and upright is the Lord. Where the focus is a little bit more on the God we pray to. the God we pray to. And so often in our prayers, and I think sometimes when we maybe read books on prayer or we think about prayer, it can become a little cold. It can become a little mechanical. Now, there are things we can learn about prayer, and these are good. There are things we can all learn about how to pray better. Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. But we must be careful in carrying out prayer we don't forget the one whom we're addressing. The one we're talking to. The one we are crying out to. Because otherwise it can become very disconnected. It can become very mechanical. And it can become more about the people around us rather than the God we're crying out to. We must not forget the God we are praying to. The one we are addressing. See, prayer is not wonderful because of our actions. Prayer is wonderful because of the God we speak to. The one we have access to through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Prayer is heavenly because of the one we address. Prayer is all about God. Prayer is an act of worship. Prayer is a wonderful privilege for the people of Almighty God. And it is something that, to varying degrees, every Christian does. The first time we trust upon the Lord, we cry out to Him in prayer. We may not vocalize it, but we cry out to Him. And as we said, it's not all about do this and don't do that. We must be thinking in our prayers, who is God? Or perhaps as we think about in our catechism, what is God? Who is God? Could we describe him? Could we exalt him in our prayers? This is important. This is why we cry out, Heavenly Father, He's not just any father. He's an exalted father. He is a glorious and high king. Could we describe him? Could we exalt him? So we must know about our God. So we're gonna look at the God we pray to in these verses as we meditate upon these things here this evening. Number one. God is good. God is good. Verse 8, good and upright is the Lord. And also verse 10, all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Just on to halfway through that verse. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Now, If you went out into the world and you told people that God is good, it might seem so obvious, probably, maybe not even worth thinking about. But it is vital that we think about that God is good. He is the source of everything good in our lives. He's the source of all beauty. He is the source of all kindness. He is the source of all that is right in this world. but more than that. It's not just that God has good qualities about him, it's far more than that. God is good. He is, one way of thinking about it, as John wrote in his first epistle, God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. He's pure goodness, pure truth, in all that he is. It's not just that he does good, He is goodness Himself. There's no other being in this created world that we could ever describe in such a way. Our Westminster Confession of Faith puts it this way. God is, quote, abundant in goodness and truth. That's in paragraph one in chapter two. And it also says in chapter 2, God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness in and of Himself. The writers of the Westminster Confession of Faith were not trying to fill up space. What do I mean by that? Sometimes we read some description about God and we may think at the back of our minds, is he just trying to use every descriptor that he can think of just to fill up space? It's a bit like somebody in college and the person doesn't know the answer and he's just trying to write down as much as possible. No, they were very careful thinkers, the Westminster Divines. And every word you'll see is carefully thought out, how they thought about God, because they all had something important to say about Him. And take that away, you lose something important. So, in our Confession of Faith, it talks about how He hath all goodness in and of Himself. He is goodness in and of Himself. He needs no goodness from outside of Him. He is sufficient of Himself. And so He is perfectly, completely, could even use the word happy, blessedness in and of Himself. It's important that we think of the God we cry out to. He is goodness, abundant in goodness, most good you could say. God's goodness is of vital importance that we believe this, especially in prayer. I want us to think about it like this. What do you do when you're in times of trouble? You have a difficulty. You have something that's bothering you. Maybe it's costing you sleep. You just don't know what to do. Who do you ask for advice? Who do you pick up the phone to? Someone you think is of good character. You don't pick up the phone to someone you think is evil, do you? Not usually, anyway. You go to someone you think is going to do the right thing. They care for you. You respect them. They will do what is good and right. That's why you ask their opinion. You don't go to the help of evil people or people you consider to be morally wrong. Who is better than God? Who is of more pure goodness and truth than God Himself? Who else to guide us when we don't know what to do than God Himself? See, it very much depends, our prayer life, very much depends on how we see God and how we see the opinions of mere men. As good as those men may be, We will get things wrong, all of us, but God will never ever get things wrong. And more than that, morally good and pure, good and upright is the Lord. And this is the goodness that brings sinners to repentance. Briefly turn to Romans chapter two and verse four. Romans chapter two. And verse number four. Paul writes to the Romans under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Romans 2 and verse 4. Or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Before I was a Christian, I knew I was a sinner. And I took great joy in that fact. It's a shame for me to say that. I lived a godless life. I was proud of my sin. But when did I cry out to him? And I saw that he was good. You see, you go out into the world, you share the gospel with people. They don't see the goodness of God. They think God is evil. They believe the lie of the devil. Yea, hath God said. Well, God's keeping something back from you. Do you see that tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Do you see that thing that God is keeping back from you? That's You shall be like God's, knowing good and evil. That's better than what God has promised you. And that's what the world thinks. God is keeping something back from you. When we see that God is good and not keeping anything back from us, sin is, you know, we're creating the image of God. Sin is against God first and foremost, but it's far more than that. And once we see the goodness of God, sin is no longer sweet. It becomes bitter to our taste. Sin against God becomes heartbreaking and no longer fun. That's what happens. That's when we can cry out to the Lord, forgive me for my sin and truly mean it. It's not just that I've been caught in public doing something that has caused public scandal. It's far more than that. I have wronged the One who is goodness abundantly, in truth, in all things, in Him. It is Him I cry out to. Dear friends, you must see the goodness of God. The moral perfection of God. He is the perfection of love and righteousness. In Him, there is no shadow of turning, as James writes in James 1.17. This goodness never fades. We may see people in the world we think a lot of, and they have a degree of goodness, but that goodness fades at times, and maybe increases at times. But with God, it is always perfectly good, in and of Himself. If any of us, in any way, any cold, anything that we do is good, it's because we follow the One who is good. We seek the help of Him who is good. And as it says here in the psalmist, therefore, verse 8, will He teach sinners the way. Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will He teach sinners. the way. Because He is good, He will teach us. Because He is good, He seeks us to also walk in that which is also good. What happens when we forget His goodness? And we do at times. We all do at times. This is the times when we feel distracted. This is the times when we feel discouraged. These are the times that are particularly could say dangerous for the Christian. Because the devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We must always keep before our eyes, I mean the eyes, I mean the eye of faith. So that we don't drop the hands in discouragement. We see the goodness of God and all that. The Lord provides for us and He teaches us the way that is good. Our second point this evening is God is gracious. God is gracious. So He's good and He is gracious. Verse 9, the meek will He guide in judgment. And the meek will he teach his way. Verse 10. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. So God is good. He does what is right and good. All that he does. All his actions. All the things that unfold in history. They're for a good, righteous and holy reason. See, we must remember in the challenges of life, God is good, but he's also gracious. But why would he hear us? I want us to think about this. See, we can think of God as good. We may agree with that. God is good. But when then we look at ourselves and say, well, we're sinners. Why would God hear I have broken the law of God, why would He listen to me? If we stop there, we may become discouraged. We may not seek, as we ought to, the throne of grace. If we only, if we stop at our guilt and go no further, forget that God is gracious, willing to forgive all who look to Jesus Christ and seek forgiveness in Him. What would that effect have? And by the way, we don't come when we seek forgiveness in our own name. We don't come in our own reputation. Verse 11, for thy name's sake O Lord, pardon mine iniquity. It's only through Jesus Christ. It's only because God is gracious in His character. See, we don't deserve anything. When we examine who God is, when we see the truth of who God is, we know we don't deserve anything. We deserve the wrath of God. But because of what Jesus has done, He has made the way open for us. Righteousness is not set aside in the gospel. Righteousness is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and because of Jesus Christ, pardon and forgiveness is ours by faith. It's ours by grace. That's only because our God is a gracious God. He blesses and gives us things we don't deserve. He teaches, verse 8, therefore will he teach sinners the way. We don't deserve these things, do we? Even when you think of Adam prior to the fall, what does a mere creature deserve? What does God owe any creature, even apart from sin? Even if you'd never sinned, what does God owe us? Nothing. We depend on Him. We have never given God anything. Remember how we said earlier, goodness in and of Himself. Because God doesn't depend on us for anything. We depend on Him for everything. Our God is gracious. And when we know that God is gracious, we're not just going through a performance. We are so grateful that He will hear us. We're so glad. Now, We must realize that in prayer it's not about our performance. It's about the perfect law keeping of Jesus Christ. That we are heard at all. But I also want to point out the scriptures do point out that if you're backsliding in sin or living in a certain way, it can hinder prayers. You also need to balance these things in scripture. Just one verse we're going to look at here in relation to that. 1 Peter 3 7. 1 Peter 3 7. Peter writes, In verse 7 of chapter 3, 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7. Likewise ye husbands dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, as being heirs together of the grace of life. Very interestingly, Peter writes that your prayers be not hindered. That your prayers be not hindered. While it is God is gracious and we are heard by grace as we approach before the throne of grace, we must also not get casual in our living. God is gracious in specific ways and as it points out in the Psalm, Psalm number 25, two specific people. Those specific people are described as the meek. Verse number 9, the meek will he guide in judgment. The meek. It's an interesting title. This grace given to us by the Spirit of God, those whom God has taken pity upon and have been receivers of grace, that grace does not leave you where you are. It changes you. It transforms you. It makes you Christ-like. Now, none of us are perfect. We still have sin. But we are changed to be more like Christ. It talks of this in the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 5. It says, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Saving grace is transforming grace. It is grace that saves you from your sin. It transforms you. The meek are given so much because God is gracious. It's not because, oh, look at me, I am so meek, I am so wonderful. No, it's because of how gracious God is. And he then changes those people whom he has given grace to. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. He teaches us to be like Jesus. I think ultimately, We do fail in this, but we are to be like Christ. That's the standard. Yes, we fall short, but we still aim to be like Christ. And Christ is described himself as meek in Matthew 11 and verse 29. Matthew 11 verse 29 says this, take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. We are to follow the example of Christ. Christ is the perfect embodiment, you could say, of what love is. That's what it means. He is meek. And those who have been changed by this gracious God, He will guide in judgment. The meek will be He teach His way. He'll teach them because He is good and gracious and kind. God opens the eyes, He gives faith. Now there's an interesting phrase here used in our Psalm, Psalm number 25. It says in verse 10, all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. That may seem to, that might trouble some people reading that. Well, it's all of mercy, it's all of grace. What does it have to do with anybody keeping the covenant? But how do we keep this covenant? This is a covenant. of grace. A covenant of grace. And so we keep it by faith alone. Those are those who keep the covenant. And that faith is a gift of God, lest any man should boast. We keep it by faith. Charles Spurgeon described it this way. Gracious souls, by faith, resting upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus. keep the covenant of the Lord, and being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, they walk in His testimonies, by faith, resting upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. A third point this evening, is God is glorious. God is glorious. Verse number 11, For thy name's sake, O Lord, See the emphasis here. For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. It is great, referring to we are great sinners. Our offense against God is great. God is glorious, and this Psalm of David, he's calling upon the Lord, and he's appealing to the name and the reputation of God. The glory of God. That God would be glorified in answering this prayer. His name, his reputation would shine forth. that he would go before God and this would promote his radiance, his beauty. Now the radiance of God, the beauty of God, that shining, wonderful light that is God, that truth that is God, that can never be increased or decreased. But God, in and through pardoning sins and different things, His name is published. His name is magnified. His truth of who He is has been shared to others. It's all about God. It's all about the glory of God. Even our forgiveness. Even our access to the throne of grace. It's all about the glory of God. As Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans chapter 11 and verse number 36. He says this, for of him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. So whether it's our forgiveness, whether it's the salvation of someone, whatever it is, God does all these things for His glory. Our prayer, see, Our prayer is to be about making his name known, his reputation known. Not about us. Not even about us. We're not the center of the show. We can never add to the glory of God. You may think, does anybody believe that? Yes, there's a phrase that the Jesuits would use, which means, in English, to the greater glory of God. They believe you can kind of add. the glory of God. The reformers would disagree with that, of course. God's radiance cannot be added to. And when we think of the glory of God, I think we use this phrase a lot. God is glorious. Of course He is. But what is that? When you see something shining, radiant, beautiful, It's impressive, isn't it? It catches your eye. And so much so, you can't take your eyes off it. There's nothing else you would like to look upon. But that radiant thing, that radiant one, that is God. He is most glorious. And the more we see of Him, the more we wish to look upon Him. Shining forth in creation. We see the power of God in his creation. We look around, we see mountains and valleys. You see water and all the beauty of nature. And we see the handiwork of God, as we see in Psalm 19, verse one, the heavens declare the glory of God. And what else does it say in Psalm 19, verse one? Psalm 19, verse one, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. I don't know if any of you are into making things. And, you know, sometimes friends of mine, they'll make various things and you may, maybe it's the, you know, the friend of somebody shows it to them or whatever it is. But there's some great satisfaction that people take when they make something. It shows a skill that the person has. It shows an ability. If they paint, if they carve wood, whatever it is, it shows a skill that they have, perhaps a few other people have. How many people could create those mountains? How many people could not only make, but maintain, sustain the sun, the moon, and the stars? None of us could. None of us could speak a universe into existence. You see, that is the glory of God. And the more we see that radiance, that shining radiance of God, we look to Him in our prayers, we delight in Him. Even our good works are not about us. It's all about God. So when we ask for forgiveness for our sins, when we ask for the grace to do things, to carry out things. We ask that, just like David says here, for thy namesake, for thy reputation's sake. You know, we are all so concerned, aren't we? Even as mere people, we're concerned about a reputation. Have you ever, in school, when you're growing up, you've done something embarrassing? Maybe you fell down in front of everybody, and you're a bit embarrassed, you get up, your face is all red. You're concerned about your reputation. or people are saying something about you. Now the thing is, usually in our cases as mere creatures, the things that people are saying about us, I can speak for myself, often, if they knew what was in our minds, they'd say far worse things than us. I think Charles Spurgeon said something to that effect once. But God is good in every sense. God is glorious in every sense. And to talk of His name, whatever it is we say of Him, it's good. It's shining forth that light. It's spreading that radiance. So when we cry out to the Lord, and we're asking for forgiveness, because we daily need forgiveness, it's for His glory's sake. We're not coming to Him and saying, forgive me, Lord, I didn't mean that. or forgive me because my reputation's on the line. It's about His glory. It's about His reputation. Actually, if we follow the Lord in the world, the estimation of the world, the way they look at us, will drop. The world didn't even respect Jesus when He was here. He came into His own, and His own received Him, not. In every sense, we must die to self in order that he is exalted. But in dying to self and being humbled, this side of eternity, glory awaits the believer. If you have glory today as a believer, there will be humiliation to come. But if you have humiliation in this world for the sake of Christ and for his name, Glory awaits. This is what we cry out in prayer. We want to make his name known. And our final point this evening is God is great. God is great. So God is good. God is gracious. God is glorious. And God is great. And there are many other things that could be said about God. And I would encourage you, brethren, brothers and sisters in Christ, to study who God is, so that it would enrich and deepen your prayer life. But we look at verse 12 now, and we're gonna look at the remaining few verses here. What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. Why would we fear the Lord? Which do you tremble before more? The opinion of God or the opinion of men? What man is he that feareth the Lord? God guides those who see His greatness. Now we see but a small, almost window into the glory and the greatness and the power and the majesty of God. but by faith we see his greatness. We don't see it in its fullness this side of eternity. And we tremble before it because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Without the fear of the Lord, what do you have? What do we have without the fear of the Lord? And isn't that what is lacking in our world today? There is such a, when people talk about God, a casualness. You can say a carelessness in approaching the throne of grace. And you see it, sometimes you'll maybe go to in different parts, maybe you're on holiday, you visit a church, you don't know anything about the church, you come into the building, you hope there's a good sermon or something like that, and you come away discouraged by the casualness of the service. I don't know if you've ever experienced that. There's no sense of men trembling in the presence of God. John Knox said this once, I have never once feared the devil, but I tremble every time I enter the pulpit. It is a great and wonderful, privilege to come into the presence of Almighty God. In public worship, it is a wonderful privilege. And those people who see the greatness of God, who tremble before God, they tremble before God but they tremble before none else. You see that? Verse 13, his soul shall dwell at ease because if the Lord is on his side, if he is his high tower, his fortress, what does he need to fear? His soul shall dwell at ease and his seed shall inherit the earth. Now, I know we don't experience that perfectly, do we? We have worry. We have anxiety, we have sometimes sleepless moments. We don't experience that perfect bliss that we will one day in heaven. But we have a taste of it. We have tasted by faith. The great, we've seen the greatness of God. And just remember this friends, when we do struggle, be reminded in your challenges, whatever your challenges may be, God is greater than your challenges. God is greater than the things you cry out to Him for. He is able. The one who fears God the most is often the one who is at most ease. Why? And the storms surround you in life, you know the one who's in control of that storm is God, not our enemies. It's not, we may look at, say, the school system and say, oh, it's going a certain direction, or the churches are going a certain direction, and we may become discouraged, but who is in control of all these things? God, the greatness. God. It says in verse 14, the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. Again, they fear God and He will show them His covenant. This is speaking about all believers. The secret of the Lord. These things are revealed and shown unto God's people. There's many brilliant men in the world who don't see this because they have not been born again of the Spirit of God. Just one verse that looks at this. Deuteronomy 29, 29 says this. The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. God has taken pity upon us. He has shown us His revelation, His truth. You see, many people will look at the Bible, not believers, and they don't understand it. They'll read through it, and it seems like a sealed book for them. And it is, not intellectually, but their hearts, and yes, their minds. The fall has affected the mind as well. Cannot see, will not allow them to see the greatness of God. These things belong unto us, not by our strength, not by our power, but by the power of God. Verse 15, mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. Perhaps you're here this evening and as you cry out to the Lord, you may feel trapped in a net. There's almost maybe a picture, remind us of verse one. Oh, unto thee, oh Lord, do I lift up my soul. Perhaps it's a bit of a picture, like the bird being caught in the net. I can't get away. But what is the response of faith? Look unto the one who delivers. In prayer, we look unto Him. We wish to fly away, don't we? and be with the Lord, away from the cares and the difficulties of this world, the entanglements and the suffering. But be reminded of this, when we cry out to Him in prayer, He is able to answer our prayer. He is wise, He is good, He is gracious, He is kind. And whatever way He answers our prayers is the wisest way to answer them. We may not understand, but he is good and let us trust him here this evening. Let us cry out to the Lord in prayer.