Psalm 25:1-3 To you, O Lord, I pray. Don’t fail me, Lord, for I am trusting you. Don’t let my enemies succeed. Don’t give them victory over me. None of those who have faith in God will ever be disgraced for trusting him. But all who harm the innocent shall be defeated.
4-7 Show me the path where I should go, O Lord; point out the right road for me to walk. Lead me; teach me; for you are the God who gives me salvation. I have no hope except in you. Overlook my youthful sins, O Lord! Look at me instead through eyes of mercy and forgiveness, through eyes of everlasting love and kindness.
8-10 The Lord is good and glad to teach the proper path to all who go astray; he will teach the ways that are right and best to those who humbly turn to him. And when we obey him, every path he guides us on is fragrant with his loving-kindness and his truth.
11 But Lord, my sins! How many they are. Oh, pardon them for the honor of your name.
12 Where is the man who fears the Lord? God will teach him how to choose the best.
13 He shall live within God’s circle of blessing, and his children shall inherit the earth.
14 Friendship with God is reserved for those who reverence him. With them alone he shares the secrets of his promises.
15-20 My eyes are ever looking to the Lord for help, for he alone can rescue me. Come, Lord, and show me your mercy, for I am helpless, overwhelmed, in deep distress; my problems go from bad to worse. Oh, save me from them all! See my sorrows; feel my pain; forgive my sins. See how many enemies I have and how viciously they hate me! Save me from them! Deliver my life from their power! Oh, let it never be said that I trusted you in vain!
21-22 Assign me Godliness and Integrity as my bodyguards, for I expect you to protect me and to ransom Israel from all her troubles.
One of the saddest stories in the Old Testament is the story of King Saul, the first king in Israel. Saul was tall and handsome with a commanding presence. But Saul was impulsive, easily swayed by public opinion, and lacking faith in God. The prophet Samuel ordered Saul to wait until Samuel arrived to sacrifice, but when Samuel delayed, Saul panicked and did it himself, losing everything in the process.
One of the challenges of modern life in the IT era is that many of us have developed extremely short attention spans. We have become so accustomed to obtaining instant answers from Google that the laborious library research students used to do seems impossible. These days, there are apps for nearly everything and people order food, clothing, and all kinds of other things online, anticipating swift deliveries. Friends who are university professors are struggling with questions about student integrity when students submit AI generated papers and theses. Where does legitimacy stand in such matters? But God doesn’t work that way.
Look what the psalmist is saying in verses 1-3. To you, O Lord, I pray. Don’t fail me, Lord, for I am trusting you. Don’t let my enemies succeed. Don’t give them victory over me. None of those who have faith in God will ever be disgraced for trusting him. But all who harm the innocent shall be defeated.
These words are written by someone who has been waiting, expecting God to act, and who has yet to see any deliverance. Now the writer is sweating bullets, wondering if God is really going to come through for him or not.
One of the frustrating things about God is that He sees entire situations, not merely our side of them. While we are struggling and demanding God extricate us from persecution, God is also looking at our persecutors, arranging details so that those same people might repent from their evil deeds. As an example, people love to hate George Soros, and indeed Mr. Soros has authored a great deal of evil. But God remembers when the morning stars sang for joy that Mr. Soros was born as an infant, and incredibly, God still loves Mr. Soros. While some of us are thinking that no horrible fate could be too bad for such an individual, God continues to call to him and will do so until he dies.
At the end of time, if God chooses to reveal it to us, we will see that every single murderer, every Hitler or Stalin or Tamerlane or Caesar was given the chance to repent. Even now, as Vladimir Putin orchestrates attacks on Ukraine, God continues to call Mr. Putin to himself. We’re fond of spouting platitudes about divine love when it’s applied to us; however, we find it incomprehensible when God applies it to those whom we despise.
We conveniently forget that during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commanded his followers “There is a saying, ‘Love your friends and hate your enemies.’ But I say: Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way you will be acting as true sons of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust too. (Matthew 5:43-45)
So what are we to do? We are to wait on God, trusting that He knows the end from the beginning and that He will act at the right time. And while we are waiting, we should also echo the prayer at the end of Psalm 25: Come, Lord, and show me your mercy, for I am helpless, overwhelmed, in deep distress; my problems go from bad to worse. Oh, save me from them all! See my sorrows; feel my pain; forgive my sins. See how many enemies I have and how viciously they hate me! Save me from them! Deliver my life from their power! Oh, let it never be said that I trusted you in vain!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to trust that You are working things out. Show us Your mercy! Deliver us from our enemies! And forgive our sins, for they are many. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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