David's Faith-Rest

Psalm 25 is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet (footnote in the New International Version and New English Version). This tells me that David and other Old Testament writers used the same kinds of memorization techniques we do today, because they work. If you want to remember something forever, make it rhyme and set it to music.

In you, Lord (Jehovah-self-existing One) my God (Elohim-supreme God), I put my trust. I trust in you;   “trust:” take refuge in.

do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, We believers know the Lord’s ways are far above our ways, and that we must be taught His Word to really know Him. Knowing the mind of Christ is our life support system in the world.  for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. “Savior:” deliverer. “hope:” total confidence.

Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

“mercy:” compassion; undeserved nurturing care, as for a fetus in the womb. “love:” kindness.They are from old, and God is immutable. He never changes.  Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; We’ve all been stupid and arrogant in our youth. Praise God, He does not remember those transgressions against us. Psalm 103:12 “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good. 

God loves us not because we are good, but because He is good. Perfectly Righteous. He loves because of Who He is: Righteousness and Love.

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. God doesn’t leave us guessing; feeling our way through life. He has made Himself and His plan known to us, and has given us the means to learn Him.
All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. God provides for His own. If a believer wants to know the Word and obey it, God gives us help.

For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. It is not for our righteousness that God forgives and blesses us. It is for His Name’s sake. Deuteronomy 9:6 “Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.” Psalm 23:3 “He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” Because of the integrity of God’s Own character, He forgives and provides for us believers. It is an issue in the Angelic Conflict. Satan tries to make us believe we’re abandoned, because we are such filthy sinners. We will always be secure in God’s tender care, because we belong to Him. It is a family thing.

Who, then, are those who fear (reverence) the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land.The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. The Father makes known to His children the family treasures, their responsibilities and expectations. What is His is ours. We are heirs by right of relationship.

 My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare. Satan has set the snare. Our Lord’s omnipotence will release us from it. I John 4:4 “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.^”

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

Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.
Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.
See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me!

The Lord knows all about this: John 16:32-33 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” He’s been there before us, and He is here with us. He will see us through.

Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you. We depend on God’s goodness and faithfulness, not our own. He is our creator, savior and sustainer. The more we know about God, the greater will be our comfort and confidence in times of distress. We in the Church have what we call the “Faith-Rest Drill.” It consists of the things we know about God’s character and His promises. When troubled or bereaved or confused, or lying awake at night, we repeat these characteristics and promises to ourselves for strength and assurance. It works.

Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

Israel=David=all believers in all dispensations, when it comes to the perfect provision of God, Who never changes.

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

Faith-Rest

First comes God-consciousness to the soul of every human being. He realizes there must be a designer. As a natural man, he cannot understand God’s plan of grace. The law, history, poetry and prophecy of the Bible confuse him. If, at God-consciousness, he desires to know more, God makes the gospel known to him. Upon receiving and believing the gospel (the good news that Jesus has paid the penalty for his sins and that salvation is free by merely receiving it) he becomes a new creation: child of God. IN CHRIST. He now has the Holy Spirit indwelling and can comprehend the Word of God.

The believer who truly wants to know God will seek to understand God’s Word. That is the only way to grow up in grace, but we need help. The Holy Spirit is here to help us. In the Church age, we have the completed canon of scripture, so the whole realm of Bible Doctrine is accessible to us, but we need guidance in learning and categorizing it, for our advancement to maturity and for our testimony in the world. Starting at Genesis and reading through Revelation will give you a “feel” for God’s authority and God’s plan, but there is a system of law, history, poetry, gospels and prophecy. Some of it has direct application to the whole human race, some to the nation Israel, some to the Church, and some is prophecy yet future for the Church and for Israel, and for the earth. God gave us pastor-teachers who are gifted for this service and are trained in the original languages and categories of doctrine. In God’s system, the pastor-teacher is given authority to do that job in the local church. If you reject his authority, you will not learn. If you are praying but not studying, you will not grow. If you are trying to do good works without knowing God’s expectations, you are spinning your wheels. We are instructed to learn God’s Word and pray for understanding.

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31-32

“but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” I Peter 3:18

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5. Wisdom is knowledge properly applied.

David lived in the age of Israel. The Holy Spirit didn’t universally indwell each believer then, but He did temporarily enable certain Godly believers, for the purpose of understanding and teaching His Word. Some were especially gifted for this knowledge. David was one of them. He was a beloved child of God, a spiritually intuitive poet and also a prophet. His lifelong close fellowship with the Father gave him insight into truths that were not commonly known in Israel. David and a few other similarly spiritual and gifted men had the privilege to learn directly from the Father and the opportunity to share with Israel and with all future believers the wonderful truths of our Lord. They wrote of things they had not seen, but believed, because the Holy Spirit imparted those truths to them. In David’s case, he did experience a great deal of pain and tribulation, like Jesus, as well as the deep, loving fellowship with God that is expressed throughout His Psalms. We in the Church age have seen the prophecies of the Messiah’s first advent be fulfilled, though David and the other prophets who wrote of it did not live to see it. They believed it, however, just as firmly as we believe it, after the fact. They knew these things by faith. Just as we do.

Throughout history, God’s people have identified with Him by faith. He has revealed Himself in His Word to all generations. It is faith in His Word that saves us and sustains us in the devil’s world. When His people maintain trust in His perfect Word, and conduct our lives by it, that is a practice we call “Faith-Rest.” It means we are at rest in the absolute truth of God, Who has promised to provide everything we need in this life and eternity. It means we have Sabbath every day, because God has done all the work, and asks us to simply believe and trust Him.

Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses and others practiced Faith-Rest, by trusting in the provision of God for all their needs, even though they didn’t understand their own situations. The Exodus generation spent 40 years in the wilderness because they didn’t trust God to supply all their needs, in spite of all He had miraculously done for them. He continued to provide throughout those 40 years.

Hebrews 4:1-3 Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.  For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,

“As I swore in My wrath,
They shall not enter My rest,”

although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.”

They were saved people, but they didn’t fully trust God’s promises. They never entered His rest. We must not make that mistake. We have the Word. We have the promises. We know (or are learning) His essence (Sovereignty, Righteousness, Justice, Love, Eternal Life, Omniscience, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Veracity, Immutability). There is nothing too great for Him, and He loves to bless us.

Memorize His promises. Claim His promises. Rest IN HIM. David did, and he shared that faith with us. We can do it, too.

Psalm 25:4-5

Make me 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.