A Psalm Of Listening To and Trusting God | Pastor Mike Holwerda

Psalm 25.

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul,

O my God, in you I trust.

Let me not be put to shame.

Let not my enemies exalt over me.

Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame.

They shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to 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 long.

Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love.

For they have been from of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth

or my transgressions, according to your steadfast love.

Remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.

Good and upright is the Lord.

Therefore he instructs sinners in the way he leads the humble

in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness.

For those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

For your name's sake, O Lord.

Pardon my guilt, for it is great.

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 God,

out of all his troubles.

Well, good morning and welcome to Christ Community Chapel.

My name is Mike, one of our pastors here.

Really great to be with you on this last Sunday of 2024

for you here in the sanctuary over in East Hall.

Tuning in online. Welcome.

If you don't mind, I thought I would share with you

one of my worst decisions in 2024.

It was back in August and I decided to do a camp out

in the backyard with my two sons, Braden and Kason.

Braden is eight.

Kason was just two at the time.

I had grand visions of this night.

Right? Tent in the backyard, fire, s'mores.

It would be, really great memories.

And it started well.

Emphasis on started well.

Put the tent up, made the fire, roasted the marshmallows.

All was going well.

Around 830 we went into the tent and do a little bit of reading.

Wind down. We would be asleep by nine, right?

Jason is two.

And if you don't know

who Kason is or what he's like, the best way I can describe Kason.

He not a regular cup of coffee,

not a regular cup of coffee.

More like a regular cup of coffee with about 13 shots of espresso poured in

at one time.

Just full go.

His bedtime is 730 and so 830 we were pushing it.

830 became nine.

Still a lot of laughing, a lot of fun.

Nine became 930, a little bit

less laughing, 930 became ten

and there was no laughing, no laughing in the 1010 became 1030.

Whatever the opposite of laughing is, that's what was happening in the tent.

So I had hit my limit as a dad.

I brought Kason inside and he went to bed in his own bed.

Right. And I fell asleep around 1230.

I woke up.

Braden was leaving the tent.

He said he had to go to the bathroom.

A few minutes went by. He didn't come back.

A few more minutes went by. I didn't come back.

So I went inside to check on him to see how it was going, and I went inside.

And where do you think I found my eight year old son,

but sleeping happily and soundly in his own bed.

So now it's 1245, the middle of the night.

Both my sons are sleeping inside and I do what any normal dad would do

in that moment.

As I go back outside and I sleep in the tent all by my self,

my wife asks you the next day, why don't you just come to bed?

And I still have no idea.

I felt like I really had to sleep in the tent that night.

There are bad decisions that we make

that we laugh about, like they make for good stories.

There are other bad decisions we make that we don't laugh about.

We don't even talk about, let alone want to think about

bad decisions that caused us not laughter, but lament

and pain and guilt and shame.

And if there's a world where we can have less bad decisions

that haunt us and more good decisions that help us,

we would sign up for that.

And Psalm 25 is an amazing gift for us

because it's going to show us the way.

So let me invite you to turn to Psalm 25.

If you are new to our church, new to the Bible, we have Bibles, in

front of you, the pews here and in the back of East Hall,

and you can find your way to page 429,

Psalm 25 on 429.

I want to hold out for us one big idea

and then three main points for our time, one big idea

and then three main points.

The one big idea from Psalm 25 for us this morning is simply this.

The best decision is to make it God's decision,

the best decision that we can make.

Not just a pretty good decision or good decision or better than most,

but the best decision you and I can make about what it means

to be married or single, how to spend our money or our time

is to make it God's decision.

God, I'm going to choose to let you choose.

I'm going to decide to let you decide.

That is what is best

and to find our way underneath this one big idea.

I have three points.

Three points in this big idea.

First, this big idea gives us three words

to learn, two truths to internalize,

and then one outcome to trust.

Three words, two truths, and then one outcome.

Let's get started.

Point number one.

Three words for us to learn.

We live in a world where we are

given recommendations and suggestions all the time, right?

If you're watching something on Netflix,

it's going to recommend or suggest other things for you to watch.

If you are shopping on Amazon, other things for you to purchase, right?

If you're on social media, it's going to suggest or recommend to you

other things, other people for you to follow.

So we are used to a world where we receive recommendations

and then we decide, right

in this day and age is one person put it we are the Caesar

in the Coliseum of our faith.

What a great word picture.

We are the Caesar.

We are the one with the power and the control and the decision

making ability in the Coliseum of our lives.

It's very easy for that kind

of thinking to bleed over into our faith

and into the Bible, into how we approach God.

God becomes another person who gives us recommendations

for us to sift through, even strong recommendations.

But recommendations none the less.

We can say yes or we can say no.

We are the Caesar in the Coliseum of our lives,

but we find a much different approach to God, a much different posture to God.

In this Psalm.

Look with me at the very beginning,

verse one and the beginning of verse two says to you, O Lord,

I lift up my soul, oh my God, in you I trust.

The psalmist opens with words of conviction

and trust to you,

oh my God, in you I trust he is lifting up his soul.

He is placing his life in the hands of God, saying, in you I trust.

Which means look with me.

Verses four and five.

This is what trusting God looks like for the psalmist.

Verses four and five make me to know your ways, O Lord.

Teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me.

That's strong language, isn't it?

Make me literally cause me to know your ways.

Teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth.

See, the psalmist is looking to God for answers.

He is looking to God for direction.

He is not looking to God for recommendations,

but he's looking to God to make decisions and notice

your ways, O Lord, your paths.

He's not interested in maybe one decision or two decisions, but he's interested in

God making a decision on everything in his life.

If I were to paraphrase the three words the psalmist has learned,

and the three words for us to learn are simply this God, you decide,

God, you decide, not me, but you.

You decide which way I will go.

You decide how I will live.

You decide the path that I take.

God be my guide, be my teacher,

be my decision maker.

When was the last time

that you let God decide?

You simply said to God, it's up to you.

It's your choice.

God, you decide.

You're in the midst of an argument with your spouse,

and you know that you are in the wrong

and you're trying to decide, are you going to apologize first,

or are you going to keep leaning in to your argument?

You've started to make a little bit more money than you're used to,

and you're trying to decide, how much of this do I spend?

How much of this do I give?

And you just said, God, you decide.

I don't really care.

You're struggling with anger,

alcohol, gambling, pornography.

And you're trying to decide, do I confess these sins or do I hide them?

Is it not really, really hard to say?

God, you decide in those moments

it is so difficult to give up that kind of control.

But isn't that what we want?

Isn't that why we gather?

Don't we want to be the kind of people

and the kind of church that looks to God and listens to God and trust God

and says more often, more quickly,

more seriously, God, you decide everything.

How does that happen?

How do we become that kind of people?

And that kind of church brings in my second point, two truths for us

to internalize these three words come

from two truths that we need to internalize.

Now, when I say internalize, I simply mean that an idea would work

its way from our head, all the way down to our heart, right?

With any new idea, we are learning it.

That's in our head.

We are processing it as it makes its way down.

And then it's it finally settles, right?

And we believe it and we have conviction on it, and it is settled deep within us.

It sounds easy. It's a lot harder.

And one of the reasons it's so hard for a new idea to settle deep within us is

we already have existing ideas down there that we need to replace it with.

We already have existing ideas that need scraped out

and replaced for a new idea to find its way down there, right?

It's the idea when you buy a new house

and there's old wallpaper on the walls before you can put paint up, right,

you have to take down the wallpaper, right?

Or if you are grilling in the summertime and it's been too long

since you've actually cleaned your grill, at least you should

scrape out the existing food so you can cook something new.

Let me give you

an example how this plays out.

If I were to tell you that I am 38 years

old, you would be learning that right now

and you'd be trying to process that with how my face looks.

And for that to actually settle deep within your heart,

you'd have to replace the existing idea that I look

28 going on 18.

The only way for new ideas to settle deeply

within us is if it replaces existing ideas that are there.

There are two truth for us to internalize is forever

going to say three words God, you decide.

The first is about ourselves.

Notice the way the psalmist views himself.

He says in verse seven

about himself, remember

not the sins of my youth or my transgressions.

Verse 11,

pardon my guilt, for it is great.

The psalmist is deeply aware of his flaws,

of his issues, of his sinfulness.

His guilt is great, which he knows.

His sins are even greater.

And the phrase that is really interesting is the phrase

the sins of my youth,

the sins of my youth.

Now, youth does not mean age eight or 10 or 12.

It's more like the age of a young adult

18, 20, 22, 25, up to 30.

So the psalmist is looking back at a younger version of himself

five years ago, ten years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago.

And he's just shaking his head.

I can't believe I thought that.

I can't believe I said that.

I can't believe I did that.

He is looking and remembering all the bad decisions

that he has made, and he is not laughing at them.

Have you had that experience before?

When you look back at a younger version of yourself

and you just shake your head like you can't believe you thought, said

and did the things that you thought said and did,

you look back at your poor judgment and even worse decisions?

Maybe I can put it to you this way.

If you really needed advice today, like you really needed guidance

and wisdom today, would you think to ask

a younger version of yourself I really needed direction,

would I think, to ask 18 year old Mike because I'm

sure he would have the answer?

The first truth.

But he's a work its way from our heads, all the way down to

our hearts is simply this.

We are not as wise as we think we are.

We never are.

We have made bad decisions.

We will continue to make bad decisions.

And so of course, we would let God decide.

The second truth we need to internalize is about God.

Notice the way the psalmist describes God.

Verses six and seven.

Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions,

according to your steadfast love.

Remember me for the sake of your goodness,

O Lord, each of us right?

We have certain things that come to mind quickly and easily about God.

And for the psalmist, notice what it is

mercy, steadfast love, goodness.

Actually steadfast love is repeated twice.

The psalmist does not have a high view of himself,

but he does have a very high view of God,

that God is full of steadfast love for him.

And notice the phrase here.

Another interesting phrase.

They have been of old.

They have been of old.

The psalmist is looking and thinking and reflecting about God,

and despite his flaws, despite his own sins and bad decisions,

he looks at God and believes that God is full of steadfast love for him.

He believes that God values him, that he is worth something to God.

That God loves him.

So the second

truth we need to internalize is a little bit better.

We may not be as wise as we think,

but we are worth more to God and we realize

we are worth more to God.

I mean, really, it's a tricky combo

to not think highly of yourself, but to think

that God thinks highly of you.

And it's tricky

because for those new ideas to settle deep within us, we have to do away

and replace the existing ideas that have already settled within us

and have been there, perhaps for a long time.

You see, some of us have thought ourselves

wise for too long,

too much success and school,

too much success at work,

and pride and accomplishments have cemented our own sense of wisdom.

Why would I even care what God says?

Some of us have counted

ourselves too unworthy for too long.

Why would God even care about me?

We look at our mistakes and our failures and our sins,

and we say that God loves everyone

as long as everyone does not include me.

Can I just tell you that the hardest doctrine to move from our heads

down to our actually in our hearts is that God loves us?

That God really does love and value you.

The greatest spiritual predicament

each of us find ourselves in is thinking that we know best.

Our wisdom is high, but thinking that God could not care

less about us, our worth is low.

And so how do we replace these existing ideas?

How do we scrape them out so new ideas can settle deeply within us?

But we need to go to a place that can somehow

deflate our sense of wisdom and inflate our sense of worth.

And there is only one place we can go for that, one place that is powerful enough,

and that is the cross of Christ, is it not?

Is it not the cross of Christ

that shows just how bad our decisions are,

just how foolish that we have been

showing us how great our guilt is,

and even greater our sins.

It was so bad that Jesus

Christ had to die for us,

but is it not also the cross of Christ

that shows us the great love of God,

that we mattered that much to God,

that he valued us to that extent,

that his own son came and did die for us?

When we look to the nails of the cross,

they are meant to puncture our inflated sense of wisdom.

And when we see the blood of our Savior,

it's meant to raise our deflated sense of worth.

It has been my prayer all week long

that God would whisper to us,

you are not as wise as you think you are.

But he would shout,

but you are worth more to me

than you realize.

Three words come when these two truths

are deeply internalized in each of us,

and on some level, you might think that would be enough.

You might think that if we believe that our wisdom is low

and our worth to God is great, then we would say, God, you decide.

But I know from my experience and pastoring

for about ten years, and you probably know from your own experience that actually

making decisions and giving up control to God can be very, very hard.

We even making decisions our own way,

with our own thinking and our own wisdom for a long time.

And we need a little extra convincing that if we actually let

God decide, that would be a good thing.

We need one more thing, which is my third point and outcome

to trust an outcome to trust, right?

We just need to know this is the practical point.

What actually happens if I say, God, you decide

how I spend my money, you decide what kind of marriage I'm to have.

You decide God, what will the outcome be?

There is a very popular

comedy series, kind of mid 2000 called The Office.

I'm sure many of you are familiar with it.

Starring Steve Carell as Michael Scott.

Wildly quirky, quirky, funny

and politically incorrect, office manager.

And there was one episode that I came to mind

when I was preparing for this sermon is he's driving his car

with the other main character, Dwight Schrute, for Michael Scott.

Dwight. Good.

They're driving,

not sure where they're going, but they are keenly focused on the GPS.

They put in the directions, they put in the address.

They are following the GPS wherever the GPS goes,

no matter what.

And so it comes to a point where the GPS says, take a right.

And Dwight is saying, Michael, don't take a right.

And Michael is looking at the GPS and he says, no, I have to take a right.

And he takes a right.

And of course, where do they end up?

But driving directly in to a lake

and on some respect,

I think that is our greatest fear with God

that if we are Dwight and we're sitting in the car with God,

he will drive our marriage and our finances and our life into a lake.

We're not actually convinced that the outcome is good.

Let me show you something at the end of the psalm,

verses 16 through 20.

This psalm is written

by King David, which is an important name to know.

And when he's praying this Psalm, he is not in a good place.

Look with me.

The final few verses

says, turn to me and be gracious to me,

for I'm lonely and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart are enlarged.

Bring me out of my distress, 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.

What do we know about his situation?

We know he is lonely and afflicted.

He is in distress with foes

who hate him, and yet he is trusting God.

He is saying, God, you decide.

And the question is, what happens to King David?

What's the next day of his life?

What's the next season of his life?

Where does trusting God take King David?

And this is where we

need to to read the whole Bible together.

The whole narrative together,

because we don't actually have record of what happened the next hour,

or the next day, or the next week or month in King David's life.

But if we fast forward in the Bible and we move ahead,

we will realize there's another King David.

There is someone from his line and his family that finds himself

in a very similar situation, saying a very similar thing to God.

The first verse of the New Testament describes

Jesus as the Son of David.

He is a king who is in the line in the family of David.

And we know that there is a moment in a season of his life

where he was exactly like King David in this song.

He was in the garden, hours away from his arrest

and his crucifixion, where he was lonely and he was afflicted.

He was in distress with

foes who hated him and were coming to betray him.

And he's in the garden with the cross only

a few hours away.

And the three words that Jesus says

to the father in the garden, his father,

you decide.

Jesus knew those words.

Looking at everything in his life, he said, father, not my will,

but yours be done.

Father, you decide.

And at first the outcome does not look great.

It seems like God is driving Jesus into a lake.

He experiences betrayal, suffering,

pain and death,

but only for three days.

Three days of suffering, three days of death

gave way to an eternity of glory and joy and life.

It ended really, really well for Jesus.

Perhaps the best

decision Jesus ever made was to say God,

you decide.

I don't know the decisions you have in your mind or in your life right now.

Small decisions, big decisions as you start a new year.

I'm sure you're thinking about lots of things,

but Psalm 25 says, you know what?

This year make it God's decision.

Whatever it is, let God decide and find out for yourself.

The best decision always

is to make it God's decision.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven, you know my own heart.

You know the ideas that are buried within me.

You know the ideas that are buried in each heart of people here.

You know, our struggle to think that we are two wise

and yet to unworthy.

And so I pray that you would use this Psalm.

The point is towards your son and your cross

and your good news,

that maybe we are not as wise as we think we are,

but we are worth more to you than we realize.

May that lead us to listen, to trust, and to have you not be

someone who just recommends things but decides things for us.

Would you do that? I pray in Christ's name.

Amen.