Who Is The One Who Fears The Lord?

We are looking at Psalm 25 this afternoon, so I invite you to turn to Psalm 25, looking at the last half of Psalm 25.

Psalm 25, verses 12-22 is our text for this evening.

Psalms 25:12–22

Psalm 25, verses 12-22, the very words of our living God.

Psalms 25:12–22

Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.

My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses.

Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.

Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me.

O guard my soul and deliver me.

Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.

May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.

Redeem Israel, O Lord, out of all his troubles.

There we'll end the reading of God's holy and inspired word.

May God now be pleased to bless it to us.

Well, when you think of fear,

what is the first thing that pops into your mind?

I think for most of us, it would be something threatening.

A danger that is going to harm us.

Something that we need to run from.

An intruder that needs to stay out of our life.

However, when we think of the fear of the Lord,

which is a statement that comes up quite a bit in Scripture,

when we think of that,

we should not think of a threat,

but rather a friend.

We should not think of a danger to avoid,

but an intimate friend

that we want to draw near to.

Now, this does not negate the high reverence

with which we view the Lord.

A reverence that causes us

to want to be careful to walk in His ways

and do the things that are pleasing to Him.

But this is not in light of Him being an angry judge,

but of Him being a friend,

our God and Savior.

And that's what we see in this psalm here.

And I want us to consider three benefits

that stem from fearing the Lord.

They are God's relationship to us.

And second, our relationship to God.

And then third, our relationship to others.

So first, God's relationship to us.

And he begins with a question here in verse 12.

Who is the man who fears the Lord?

This is a pivot point in this psalm.

And David's asking this question

not to take a census.

How many of you are out there

who fear the Lord,

but rather in order to drive home a point

as a teaching moment

in order to show us the benefits?

But we have to ask the question,

what is the fear of the Lord?

Again, fear of the Lord

is not fear of His judgments

that cause us to free from Him.

But such a high regard for the Lord

from seeing His great glory

that causes us to want to draw near.

To serve Him and to worship Him.

It's not the same.

This illustration is going to fall short.

But it's similar to seeing a celebrity.

We're drawn towards that person.

We want to run up and get their autograph

or meet them.

Because we see their greatness

and we see their status

and we see that they have the ability to bless.

And so we want to run up to Him or her

rather than run away from them.

I still remember when I was a teenager

and my favorite rock band

was coming in town.

They were in town

and we were going to see the concert later on.

And my friend calls me and says,

hey, I found out which hotel they're staying at.

And so we hopped in the car

and we went across town, downtown

to go to the hotel that they were at.

We had no plan.

I had no idea how this was going to turn out.

But hey, it was worth a shot.

And of course we get there

and there's kind of a crowd out front

and they had heard the same news.

And so we decided,

you know, we're going to just run in there

and act as if we belong there.

You know, walk by the desk,

say hi, how's it going?

And just keep going in.

And so we did that.

And lo and behold,

we ran into the lead singer.

And we were so excited.

We didn't want to run away from him.

We ran up to him.

We wanted to get his autograph.

And then he started to ask us questions.

He started to ask us where we're from

and take an interest in us.

And we just couldn't believe it.

And then the mob starts coming.

He goes, hey, I have to go.

And he bolts and runs off.

But we were just amazed at that.

And every illustration falls short.

But what I want you to pick up from that

is that is what it looks like to fear the Lord.

It's not this lead singer running away

as what happened when the mob started to come.

But rather it's us wanting to run up to him,

wanting to draw near

because we see a level of greatness.

And we want to be near him.

And not only that,

we want to be like him.

The former quarterback

for the Nebraska Cornhuskers

looked almost exactly like Patrick Mahomes,

who's the famous NFL quarterback.

And they even showed this on TV.

They showed a comparison.

He had the same haircut.

He had the same even earbuds.

He had the same mannerisms.

He had the same swagger,

as the kids say nowadays.

Too bad he didn't play as well.

But nevertheless,

he looked just like Patrick Mahomes.

And that's because he saw his greatness

and therefore wanted to be like him.

And that is a snapshot

of what it means to fear the Lord.

We see his greatness

and we want to draw near to him

and we want to be like him.

And so that is a picture

of what it means

to fear the Lord.

You know, oftentimes we treat God

as if it's a privilege

for him to have us

on his team.

Or as if he fears us.

Desperately hoping that

we'll come to him.

But our God

is the most blessed being there is.

And we should marvel

at the privilege

that the King

has summoned us

to him.

To be in his presence

where he blesses us.

And he even takes note of us.

It says here,

who is the one who fears the Lord?

Him will he instruct

in the way that he should choose.

Now this is not the sense of

God will just tell you

what decisions you should make

in life.

Of course, there's guidance

from the Lord

in his sovereign providence.

But this is in light

of the context of Psalm 25,

specifically verses 4-5,

where we saw that God

teaches us his way

to walk in his way.

That's what this is referring to.

He personally instructs us.

And this should amaze us.

It would be like

meeting that lead singer.

And not only does that lead singer

take an interest in us,

but says,

hey, I tell you what,

why don't you come with me

and I will teach you

how to play guitar like me.

What a privilege that would be.

It actually is a great privilege.

It costs a lot of money

to learn from the greatest.

Well, that is what we get with God.

For nothing.

He teaches us his way.

He instructs us

in the way we should walk

to be like him.

And this will bring true

and ultimate blessing.

Verse 13,

His soul shall abide in well-being

and His offspring shall inherit the land.

There are two amazing blessings here.

First, the one who fears the Lord

and has taught his way

abides in well-being.

And of course,

this doesn't mean

that you get health, wealth,

and prosperity.

It's our idolatry

of this world

that would cause us

to think that.

Rather,

it says our soul

will abide in well-being

even in the midst of difficulty.

Even in the midst

of troubles and trials,

our soul will rest secure.

This could be translated

as His soul shall dwell at ease.

And the second blessing

is that His offspring

shall inherit the land.

That's not referring

to our physical children.

Although God is often pleased

to work through the means

of our catechizing them,

of our sharing the gospel with them.

But this is referring

to being a part

of that family

that will inherit

the true and better promised land

of which the land of Israel

was a type in shadow.

Really, this is ultimately

referring to Jesus' offspring,

the people given to Him

by His Father

to redeem them.

As Isaiah 53 says,

Christ will see His offspring

and will be satisfied.

What an amazing blessing it is

that the greatest,

most glorious,

most blessed being

would not only give us

access to Himself,

not only personally teach us,

but even adopts us

into His family

and allows us to live

in His presence

and dwell with Him forever.

And we are part of His

intimate group of friends.

We see in verse 14,

the friendship of the Lord

is for those who fear Him,

and He makes known to them

His covenant.

So for those who fear the Lord,

those who by His grace

have had their eyes

opened to His glory

to behold the glory of God

in the face of Christ.

That is through the gospel.

We are His friends.

Now, this word means

secret counsel,

but the idea is

stuff that you would only share

with friends.

And it's not that God

has some secrets for you,

but this is referring

to that specific knowledge

of the Lord

and His ways

that believers have,

that the world does not have.

It's what Jesus is talking about

in John 15, 15,

where He says,

No longer do I call you servants,

for the servant does not know

what his master is doing,

but I have called you friends.

For all that I have heard

from My Father,

I have made known to you.

Jesus communicates to us

this saving knowledge of God,

revealing His will,

revealing the way of salvation,

and He is our friend.

He is for us.

He comes alongside us

and helps us

and bears our burdens.

And this should cause us

to want to draw nearer to Him.

A second benefit

that stems from fearing the Lord.

First, we saw God's relationship to us.

Now, let's look at that

from a different angle.

Our relationship to God.

Our speaking to God.

We see in verses 15-20

some pretty intense suffering.

Pluck my feet out of the net.

I am lonely.

I am afflicted.

The troubles of my heart

are enlarged.

Bring me out of all my distresses.

Plural.

Forgive all my sins.

How many are my foes?

With violent hatred,

they hate me.

You see here,

this is intense suffering.

But before we jump right to us,

we need to realize

that this is ultimately

the suffering

that our Lord Jesus Christ went through.

And it's the suffering

that He went through

for us

on account of our sin.

Because this is what was required.

A whole life of suffering,

not just on the cross,

but a whole life of suffering

in order to pay for

and atone for

your sin

and my sin.

And so when we read the Psalms,

we read of our Lord Jesus Christ's suffering.

We read of His sufferings.

The sufferings He went through

for our sake.

But this also describes

the sufferings we go through.

For a disciple

is not above his master.

And if the world hated him,

it will hate us.

But when we fear the Lord,

we bring our fears to Him.

When we fear the Lord,

we bring our fears to Him.

As we see here,

consider all the troubles I'm going through.

Consider my enemies.

Consider their violent hatred.

We bring this to the Lord.

In verse 15, He says,

My eyes are ever toward the Lord.

For He will pluck my feet

out of the net.

The psalmist describes himself

as prey that's been caught

in a hunter's trap.

And that's the suffering

that He went through in this world.

That's some of the suffering

that we go through

in this world.

The enemy wants to lay a trap for us.

Our enemies of sin, death,

and the devil

wants to trap us.

Wants to snag us.

And sometimes we get snagged,

but we look to the Lord

to pluck us out.

We look to the Lord

to keep us safe.

And then He says in verses 16-18,

Turn to me and be gracious to me,

for I am lonely and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart

are enlarged.

Bring me out of my distresses.

Consider my affliction

and my trouble

and forgive all my sins.

Beloved, this describes this life.

It's a life of suffering.

It's a life of sorrows.

We live in a sin-cursed world

where things are not always alright.

Where we go through deep,

deep affliction and trouble.

And what do we do?

We bring it to the Lord.

And we ask Him

to turn to us.

That's what the psalmist asks.

Turn to me

and be gracious to me

as if to say,

let the sunshine of your face

come back upon me again.

It's hiding behind

these dark clouds

and I can't feel the warmth.

Turn again to me.

Let the sunshine of your face

come out upon me again.

Satisfy me in my deepest distress.

When we are lonely.

When we are lonely.

When we are all alone

and it feels like

no one understands.

When we are afflicted.

When we are going through

some of the greatest difficulties

of this sin-cursed life

that come upon us.

When the troubles

of our heart are enlarged.

when we just carry them

in our chest

and feel it in the pit

of our stomach

and we are carrying it around.

We go to God

in prayer.

We are invited

to come to Him.

Crying out to Him.

Laying these burdens

before Him.

We ask Him

to bring us out

of these distresses.

Out of our affliction.

Because He does see.

He does hear.

And He will

deliver us.

For only our eternal God

who is infinite in power.

Glorious in might.

Only He

can deliver us.

And only His face

can satisfy us.

There might be a barrier

to see.

In our affliction

we may wonder

if the Lord

will really hear us

because

we have sinned

against Him.

We have this

remaining pollution

that doesn't go away

fully

until we get to heaven.

And so we may wonder

if the reason why

we are going through

affliction

is because we have sinned.

And often times

it's our own sin

that can afflict us.

When we blow it again.

When we struggle

with the same sin

over and over again.

When we fall again.

When we know

that we shouldn't

and we said

that we weren't going to

and we were going to

try really hard.

Our first call

is usually not God.

God

is the last person

we want to go to

with our shame.

Why would He

want to hear from me

anyway?

Look at what I've done

again.

We prefer to avoid Him

thinking that certainly

He doesn't want to

hear from us.

And so we tend

to then handle it

ourselves.

Carry the weight

of our guilt

and shame

ourselves.

struggle

against our sin

ourselves.

Try to conquer

our sin

ourselves

in hopes that

if I can get a handle

on this

then I can finally

have confidence

before God

that I'm acceptable.

And then I can

come to Him.

forgive all my sins.

We don't handle it

ourselves

and re-earn the right

to come to Him.

Rather,

Scripture commands us

to go to a throne

not of judgment

but of grace.

And what does grace mean?

grace means that God

is favorable towards us

when we deserve the

opposite.

That He gives us

His favor

even when we've

merited

the exact opposite.

And we go to this

throne of grace

to receive help

in our time of need

timely help

because there

stands

a faithful

and merciful

and sympathetic

high priest

waiting

for us

there to help

sinners

not the righteous

but sinners.

sinners.

And that throne

of grace

will never

run dry

even if it's

the millionth

time we've come.

God can even say

you haven't come

enough.

You should come

more.

And 1 John 2

says that if anyone

does sin

we have

an advocate

with

the Father

Jesus

Christ

the Righteous

One.

It doesn't say

if anyone

has sinned

you better

take it more

seriously

because God's

patience is

running out.

No it says

we have

an advocate.

He is an

advocate

for sinners.

And He

is the

Righteous One.

It goes on to say

He is our

righteousness

and He is our

propitiation.

He has it

covered.

He has everything

covered for us

sinners.

sinners.

Jesus Christ

is our

righteousness.

He has fulfilled

the whole law

for us

even under

testing.

Not to say

okay now you

do the same.

Let's see how

you do.

Yes we need

to follow His

example but

what we do

is never

our righteousness

before God.

Rather our

righteousness

ever remains

the righteousness

of our Lord

Jesus Christ.

And it's

never transferred

to us.

Even in our

good days.

our righteousness

in and of

ourselves is

never considered

before God

as our

righteousness

before Him.

It is always

Christ.

It's always

His and never

any of

ours.

Ours contributes

nothing to

it.

He's fulfilled

the whole law

for us and we

get credit for

it.

And that includes

Him being our

propitiation.

that is He

has satisfied

God's justice

against us.

It is

satisfied.

It is

finished.

Forever.

Never to

flare up

even when

we fall

into sin.

He ever

remains our

advocate.

He ever

remains our

righteousness.

He ever

remains our

propitiation.

It's all

Him.

He has done

it all.

The Father

is satisfied

and has

raised Him

from the

dead and

He is

seated at

the right

hand of

the Father

on high.

That means

He is

forever

satisfied

with us.

And so

we can go

to Him

in all our

afflictions,

even our

self-afflicted

wounds.

We come

to Him

and we

say,

deliver us

from our

afflictions

and forgive

all my

sins.

and so

we come

to Him

as beloved

children

and not

ever as

enemies,

asking God

to deliver

us from

our

enemies.

Verses 19-20

Consider how

many are

my foes

and with

what violent

hatred they

hate me.

Oh, guard

my soul and

deliver me.

Let me not

be put to

shame, for I

take refuge

in you.

we have

foes

that hate

us

with violent

hatred.

We may not

experience this

all the time

among unbelievers,

but we do

have a cruel

enemy, Satan,

who wants to

bring us

down.

He will do

whatever he

can to

bring us

down.

He hates

us with a

cruel

hatred.

but greater

is our

Lord.

And we

come to

him and

we say,

oh, this

enemy, he

hates me

with utter

hatred.

He hates

your people

with utter

hatred.

And the

Lord knows

and the

Lord keeps

us and

the Lord

preserves

us.

And our

own sin,

our own

flesh, it's

the same

way it

wants to

drag us

down, but

we come

to him,

we ask

him to

help us.

our greatest

temptations.

And we

say in

verse 21,

may integrity

and uprightness

preserve me

for I wait

for you.

Oh, the

enemy wants

to bring us

down, but

oh, Lord,

Lord, let

me not be

brought down

with him.

May integrity

and uprightness

preserve me

for I wait

for you.

I come to

you.

I depend

upon you

for this

integrity.

I come

to you.

You may

help me

walk in

your ways

and not

give in

to the

enemy or

stoop to

his level.

And so

that his

name is

not reproached.

A third

and final

benefit stemming

from fear in

the Lord is

our relationship

to others.

Look at

verse 22.

Redeem

Israel,

O God,

out of

all his

troubles.

The

psalmist

turns

now from

himself to

God's

people.

When we

do not

fear the

Lord,

when we

do not

stand in

awe of

his

greatness

and see

his glory,

we tend

to be

consumed

with

ourselves.

We

tend to

be worried

and fixated

on our

problems

and our

troubles.

How is

this going

to work

out?

Will it

work out?

What do

I need

to do?

God

won't

hear me

because

I'm

just

too

sinful.

He

will

not

pardon

my

guilt.

And so

we end

up carrying

our

sorrows,

bearing

our

troubles,

focusing

on

ourselves,

and we

have a

weight

too

heavy

to

ever

bear

another's

burden.

We

end up

being

self-focused,

self-centered.

We end

up using

others to

help bear

our

burdens,

being so

focused on

what we're

going through

and our

suffering,

and therefore

we miss

others.

Suffering.

However,

when we

fear God,

when we

see His

great goodness

in the

face of

Christ,

we know

that He

hears us,

He cares

for us,

and He

loves us

with an

infinite love

that we

can't

imagine.

then we

trust Him.

Then we

lay our

burdens

down,

knowing that

He will

take care

of them.

Cast all

your anxiety

on the

Lord,

for He

cares for

you.

Then we

can turn

our attention

to others

and help

bear their

burdens

and thereby

fulfill the

law of

Christ.

We see

David do

that here

in this

prayer,

turning and

praying for

God's people.

really the

top thing,

not the

only thing,

but the

top thing

we can

do in

service to

elders is

pray for

them.

But this

is also

Christ praying

for us.

Remember,

the Psalms

are the

words of

Christ.

He prays

that we,

the true

Israel,

will be

delivered

from all

our

troubles.

Here we

see our

Savior's

heart.

He does

not look

down at us

and say,

suck it

up.

Look at

all I've

done for

you.

I suffered

worse.

Stop

complaining.

I'm

sovereign.

I'm the

one who

brought this

into your

life after

all.

Deal with

it.

Rather,

he prays

to God,

oh God,

deliver my

people from

all their

troubles.

His heart

is warm

and compassionate

towards us.

He is

merciful and

sympathetic.

prophetic.

He sees

our

suffering and

not our

sin.

And because

our Lord was

delivered from

all his

troubles and

has entered

heaven as

our forerunner,

so will

we.

And this

beloved,

she calls us

to marvel in

standing off

such a Savior

who,

though he is

high and

exalted,

dwells with

the lowly,

causing us to

fear him and

therefore draw

nearer to

him.

Amen.

Let's

pray.

Let's

Let's

Let's

Let's

Let's

Let's

Let's

pray.

Thank you.