Our text this evening is the 25th Psalm. So if you would turn back with me to the prose translation of Psalm 25. It is one of the most important questions that you and I could ask. That is, what is biblical spirituality? What does it mean for a man to say that he walks with the living God? Moreover, what does that look like? What does it look like for a soul to walk intimately with the living God? What does it look like for a man to be made new by God's grace? In short, once again, what is biblical spirituality? I suppose, friend, you and I might have any number of answers to that question, but our text answers quite decisively all of those questions at once. You notice at the very onset, this 25th Psalm begins with a very simple, a separation. He says, basically, that he holds his soul before the Lord. The idea there is it's an allusion, of course, to the sacrifice, to the heave offering. He holds his soul before the living God. And that really sets the tone for the entirety of the psalm. The man is laid bare before the living God, and conversely, you and I, we get to see something of the psalmist himself. As it were, as his soul is lifted high, and so before the Lord, we also get to see really the inner workings of his heart. Now, as you look through this 25th psalm, you'll notice that it is a psalm that of course is filled with petition. As the psalmist lifts himself before the Lord, there are three basic cries. The one cry is that the Lord would become his instructor, his guide, and so he prays that God would teach him. He prays for divine pedagogy. But then as you read throughout the psalm, you'll find that the man is under affliction as well. And so he prays for merciful preservation. And then punctuating all of those requests, of course, is a plea for gracious pardon. As you look at the psalm, you'll notice that really these petitions recur all the way through. Each petition is repeated in different ways. And so as you look at the psalm, you'll notice that unlike previous psalms, it doesn't really divide evenly. into basic components. There's not a section for petition, and then for confession of faith, for instance. Everything is really interspersed, and there's a reason for that. If we were looking at this text in the Hebrew, you would notice that this is actually an acrostic. Every line begins with the next consecutive Hebrew letter. It's an acrostic, and in many ways, like Psalm 119, It is catechetical. It's teaching us, as it were, the ABCs, if you like, of biblical spirituality. It's not a catechism as a system of theology. It's not giving to us really a form of dogmatics. It's giving us in a very catechetical, very instructive way, the fundamentals of life with God. It's a primer, if you like. Not so much on the dogmas that are to be believed, but a primer on what it is to walk with the living God. The fundamentals, if you like, biblical spirituality. You notice that this is precisely the idea, because as you work through this 25th Psalm, you'll notice that the focus never stays only on the psalmist. There are Psalms, of course, whenever that is the case, but not this, not this. In this case, the 25th Psalm moves from the Psalmist and then to the people of God generally, time and time again. It oscillates between a focus on the Psalmist and upon all of the people of God in all time. What you and I are taught then friend is that this is a primer. Not just for this particular man, but he's giving us a pattern of godliness, a pattern of what it is to walk with God for all of the godly. This is normative for biblical piety. This is normative for you and for me. Not just true of David. But again, friend, we miss the point of the Psalm if we don't catch that what his emphasis here is, is principally what it is. to know and to know intimately the Lord. He is giving us the fundamentals of the experience of the godly. And as he does so friend, as you look at these, at all 22 verses, you may distill all to a simple theme. And that is that the godly plead God's blessings by faith. It seems so very simple, but as we look through the psalm, and with God's help, I trust we'll see that there's depth, incredible depth to that. The godly plea to God's blessings by faith. Friend, I want you to notice in verse two, the psalmist apprises us immediately of the grounds of his petition. Note how he begins, he says, I trust in thee. And then twice in that second verse, he makes petition let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. And friend, in the original, the sense of that first line, the very first clause of that second verse, is that this is something of an argument. In other words, you could read it, I trust in thee, therefore, let me not be ashamed. And I want you to notice that the ground of his pleading here, is principally because he sees that he has an interest in the grace of God because he trusts in Him. If you come down to the 20th verse, he makes that actually quite explicit. Look there at the 20th verse with me. He says, Oh, keep my soul and deliver me. There's his petition, but then this, let me not be ashamed. Why? For I put my trust in thee. He makes explicit that the cause, friend, the reason why he is so bold with God, the reason why he expects the Lord's deliverance, all of what he's prayed before to come to fruition is because he is one who trusts. That 20th verse is important, friend, because really what you and I notice here is the psalmist is saying of all of the petitions that has gone before, everything that he has prayed for in the preceding verses, He expects the Lord to provide because he is one who believes. And so friend, that's why he says in the fifth verse that Jehovah is the God of his salvation. And then he goes on to describe. He goes on to describe what kind of faith he has. You notice that there, if you're looking at verses three and five and 21, he talks about waiting upon the Lord. In our particular psalm, that word weight, or the Hebrew word behind our translation, is a word that really comes from the idea of stretching. Stretching one's hands, even to the point of straining muscle and ligament, and stretching towards someone or towards something. That's the kind of faith a psalmist has. It's a faith that stretches. It's a faith that strains toward God. And he further describes the effects of this faith. It is a faith that makes men meek, verse nine. It's a faith of those who fear God, verse 12. And it is a faith that induces men and women to keep the covenant and testimonies of the Lord. But friend, the ground of all, the foundation of this entire song, and the reason why he expects a favorable hearing from the Lord is because he is one who believes. Let me not be ashamed in all that I've prayed for, why for I put my trust in thee. Faith, friend, here is acknowledged to be the sinner's only ground. that only which interests him in the grace of God. He is a man persuaded that it is by grace through faith alone that he may expect God's mercy. Beloved, we need to note this because here you find, first of all, that the godly see this and rest their case with God upon this truth. Not upon self, there's no mention here of any meritorious works. He doesn't pretend for a moment to say that he has earned anything from God. It is only because he is one who has indeed lodged himself in the promises of God by faith that he expects the Lord to act. Friend, it's important for us even to note at this point that the 25th Psalm makes clear that even faith itself is not meritorious. Faith itself doesn't earn anything here. Again, if you go back to the language of waiting, that is the idea of stretching and straining towards someone or towards something. Friend, if you think about that in the context of a rescue, if you think about that in the context of somebody being saved from drowning, if somebody reaches their hand up to lay hold of the help that is offered, friend, you don't credit the hand for the rescue. All praise goes to the rescuer. You see, faith can, that is, simply bear trust. It's an indifferent thing. Men can trust in things that will not save. Men do trust in things that will not save. And so, friend, at the end of the day, faith itself cannot be meritorious. It is the object of faith, that which faith lays hold of alone. that makes faith saving. And friend, that is the very purpose of faith. It is to look beyond itself. And I want you to notice, friend, even in this Psalm, you see that. It looks beyond self to lay hold of Jehovah, but it looks beyond self as well, even beyond sense, beyond feeling. The 25th Psalm is a Psalm that is really bookmarked with really confessions of affliction. If you're looking here to find some kind of sensible expression of the Lord's love, if you're looking for the psalmist to confess that he knows somehow sensibly the Lord's nearness, you'll look in vain. What does he have? And all that he has in the psalm as we see it is the promise. And friend, that promise at its most fundamental, at its most basic level is the one that you and I know so well. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That at its root is the only reason the believer expects any good from God in this life and in the life to come. And so at its most fundamental, friend, he has that promise before him, as well as the promise that those who do so, who do believe, every providence will work out together for their good, that they are made more than conquerors, even over the greatest of afflictions. But that's what he has. Friend, I want you to notice that in this sense, faith, in the exercise can seem like a very insignificant thing. You don't find here any record of fireworks. You don't find any record that there was some kind of extraordinary experience that accompanied the man believing. All that we have here is a man believing. I suppose an analogy could be drawn from just the very commonplace example of us signing documents. It's a very simple thing, isn't it? Putting pen to paper, putting one's name on a document. Seldom is it accompanied with fanfare. Seldom is it accompanied with a sense of enthusiasm, of extraordinary change, but it's binding. It's binding. And there's a sense, friend, as you read through this 25th Psalm that the psalmist knows that it's binding. Because God himself has made out the contract. Whosoever believes, they shall be saved. Whoever really has laid hold of Jesus Christ has the Lord God as his portion. That's the contract. And so the psalmist in the 25th Psalm is saying, my name is there. I've signed, I believe. And so he carries, as it were, that very contract back before the Lord. in these arguments. Let me not be ashamed for I trust in thee. Beloved, you and I, we need to see faith that way. All that faith is, is taking the Lord Jesus Christ as he offers himself to us. And all the promises that are in him. And all that faith is, as it were, is putting our name there. that the Lord offers faith simply says, well, then so I take him. The 25th Psalm we're told that very pointedly friend that that document is so binding. The covenant is so secure that even in the greatest of afflictions, the believer can rest upon that, that none who do so will be put to shame. And we find this friend because Well, we find that this is so secure. We find that it is so stable in this psalm because we find that the psalmist's affliction which he prays against here has been brought upon him for his own sin. And that brings us to our second point. If our first was faith or the grounds of his pleading, The second is his cries for forgiveness. Now, in order for us to understand that, friend, you need to look at verses two, three, 16, 17, 19, and the first line of verse 20, and see they're all of the psalmist's cries for deliverance. This is a very common theme that threads the entirety of the 25th Psalm. This is a plea that God would turn back his affliction. But punctuating those Please. There in verse seven, verse 11, and again in verse 18, our cries for pardon. A friend, what I want you to notice is that 18th verse makes explicit for us the connection between the psalmist's pleading for pardon and his pleading for deliverance. Note what he says there in the 18th verse. He says, look upon my affliction and my pain and forgive all my sin." Friend, note how related his deliverance and pardon are. They're inseparable. And as you look at verse seven, and if you look at verse 11, the same thing is inferred, and justly so. But what you and I see here is that the psalmist connects in this moment, his affliction with his sin. And simultaneously, he connects in this moment his deliverance with pardon. Friend, what you and I see here is a man then who discerns both his own sin as well as the rod of God upon him in providence. He is not like those who are insensible when God deals with him for sin. He's not one like we read in Hebrews 12, who despises the chastening of the Lord. You remember, I've said this to you now several times, but the word despise there in the original, it's not the word for hate. It's the word for ignore. Our psalmist is a man who is sensitive. Sensitive in his conscience, both friends, so that he can see his own sin, and so that he can discern the Lord's chastisement for it. And beloved, what you and I are trained here is this is normative for the godly and for walking with the Lord is that this is habitually so in the godly. Those who walk with the Lord are those who do make such connections, who do discern such things in their own lives. A friend, I need to say this to you, that not every cross that God lays upon the backs of his children is of course a rod of chastisement for specific sin. We know that that's not the case. We know that oftentimes the Lord deals with his people, not so much to deal with particular sins, but again, to put them to trial as it were. But in this particular case, the psalmist knows that this is chastisement for sin. And I want you to notice how specific the psalmist sees this. He does look, in verse seven, back to particular sins. He names them, the sins of his youth. We shouldn't take that terribly generally. I think we have a tendency to do so. We need to see this as a man who has examined himself under the rod. In other words, whenever he found himself afflicted, you see a man who does that work of self-examination. He does that work of introspection. And friend, every one of us ought to. Whenever you and I do encounter affliction, it is utterly necessary for you and I to be asking the question, is there sin in me that is being visited? Friend, and sometimes the answer is, we can't discern anything. But other times, like we find in Psalm 25, the psalmist could. He could. Then friend, I want you to notice, not only does he examine himself under this, but you see here that as he discerns it, he also confesses it. Friend, you and I, we could quickly overlook this point. It could even seem somewhat mundane to us, but it shouldn't. Note that the man here is pleading for God to be merciful. But by confessing his sin, friend, you and I, we should not miss this. He is saying that he deserves this and so much more. Do you realize that, friend? When the man here is under the rod, under the chastisement of God, and he sees the sin that is there, friend, the necessary inference is that he is saying that these things have rightfully and have justly fallen upon me. And by necessary inference, he's also saying, and I deserve so much more. Because every sin certainly is infinite in its guilt and worthy of infinite punishment. Can I just stop for a moment, friend, and make that contrast between the men of the world and our psalmist for a moment? I found this really staggering. When men in the world today, when they encounter affliction, they ask the question, why has God done this to me? They say, how dare he? Whatever have I done to deserve this affliction? Note how opposite the psalmist is. Friend, as soon as he meets affliction, he drives himself to self-examination. And then if in self-examination, he sees there the sins, friend, that he sees necessarily warranting this, not just those ordinary failings, friend, but even those specific sins, those backslidings that would call forth a special rod. And he concludes that all of this was done justly. Friend, it reminds me certainly of Jacob, Genesis 32, where you have a man there who, afflicted and facing great fear, begins by saying that he's unworthy of the least mercies he's received. Friend, by necessary inference, that means that Jacob also knows that he is unworthy of future mercies and of greater mercies though he pleads for them. Here you see a man who pleads for forgiveness, as a man who is sensitive, friend and conscience towards sin and God's dealings with him. I want you to notice just as we leave this point this evening, that it is not just the removal of affliction that the psalmist aims at. Friend, he is looking to see pardon. to be reconciled once again to his God. A carnal man will pray to be removed from affliction. Friend, a carnal man will not cry for pardon that he might be restored to the Lord. And that brings us to our third point then. It's really friend is the crux of that which he prays for here. It's that one petition that recurs almost every other verse. You see it most explicitly in verses four, five, eight, nine, and 12, where he prays that the Lord would be his guide or his tutor. In verse 12, he says, him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. What kind of teaching does the psalmist pray for here? What kind of teaching does he crave? For that friend, as we close, I want you to look at the 14th verse. And there we find that the psalmist says, the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. And he will show them his covenant. That word secret does not so much indicate something that was hidden. It doesn't indicate that he's looking for secret knowledge. The word in the Hebrew indicates really that idea of pulling someone close to oneself. to hold them intimately, so as then to speak to them." And Fred, we know that he's not here looking for any kind of special revelation, because in the very next line, he tells us the substance of the knowledge he's looking for. It's the covenant, which is revealed in the word of God. But when he speaks here about the secret of the Lord or intimacy with the Lord here, He's saying that he wants that knowledge of the covenant in an intimate way. A notional understanding of the gospel is insufficient. Friend, he wants something that penetrates the heart. He wants something where he can say that indeed, he not only knows these things upon the printed page, but as it were, as the disciples on the road to Emmaus found that the word burns in his very heart. The truth is powerful and effective in his life. And he knows he's one who walks with the living God. Friend, I want you to notice that it is this that the psalmist returns to time and time again. He pleads all of this simply as one who believes. who has an interest in the promises of the gospel as he exercises faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he craves this as he is one who is conscious that the Lord's rod has been upon him for sin. Friend, it's this that he yearns for. And I want you to notice, friend, that the psalmist teaches us that intimacy with the living God, friend, it's possible. It is possible to know more than just about God, says the psalmist. One, as it were, can be drawn intimately to him. And the truths, friend of the word, can really take, as it were, root in the heart. And you can find by experience that he is one who sticks closer than a brother. It's possible, friend. Staggering as it is, the psalmist holds that out as being a reality. I want you to notice, friend, that here you see again and again as the psalmist craves this kind of tutoring, as he craves this kind of instruction, you see here that this is the longing of the godly. They don't simply want to know about God, they want to know him. Friend, you find this in Psalm 51, in a very pointed way. When the psalmist prays there, simply restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Beloved, he was already a man in the covenant of grace. But what does he crave? He craves more and more of that experiential acquaintance with the gospel. that has been marred by his fall, but that can indeed be restored by the grace of God. Beloved, even in the new covenant, we're told that the chastening hand of the Lord is grievous. But even so, beloved, the godly will and must take the same pattern with our psalmist. So the question for us this evening as we close is, first of all, do we know God? Do we want to know God? The question is not, do you want to know about him? The question is, do you want to walk with him, to be drawn intimately to him? And friend, if the answer to that is in the affirmative, then here is a mark of one who wants to. The psalmist is a man who is sensitive to sin. and a man who is also careful to meditate upon God's providences. If you want to walk with God, then friend, these marks are necessary. It's necessary to have a tender conscience as the psalmist does. Friend, the real and the formal mark of one who wants to walk with God is one who knows that the only reason he may expect good from the Lord's hand is as he lays hold of Jesus Christ by faith. Beloved, only those who pray as the Psalmist does, let me not be ashamed for I put my trust in thee, will know the secret of the Lord. Only those who plead on the basis of the covenant of grace, that is receiving grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, will know this intimacy. And friend, for those who know it, For those who do have that saving faith and who are, as we see here, people who are sensitive to God's dealings, who are sensitive towards sin, who do have a longing to walk with the Lord, you notice what blessings are theirs according to the psalmist. His soul shall dwell at ease and his seed shall inherit the earth. He will have the secret of the Lord. Friend, when he mentions there in verse 13, the blessings that are his, I want you to know, friend, that yes, there are real temporal consequences to having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptures hold that out. Every providence now accrues to your good. Every single one. Such that even the psalmist who as a man still with sin and dwelling him, even he can see it at the end of an affliction that it was in faithfulness that God afflicted him. There are real and temporal consequences to embracing the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. And that sense, friend, his soul shall certainly dwell at ease. Nothing can really hurt him. But even more than that, friend, is that 14th verse. He will walk with the Lord. He will not just know about him, he will walk with him. Friend, if all of this is true, then what can the world offer you this evening? What can sin offer you tonight? If this is possible, if men can walk so closely with the Lord, then friend, what can anyone offer you? It even comes close, comes to the foothills of what the psalmist knows. And beloved, if this is so, then you and I, we ought to make this Psalm a pattern for our own lives. This is a primer for biblical spirituality. What that means, friend, is that you and I, we approach God only through the Lord Jesus Christ, holding, as it were, the covenant, holding, as it were, only those promises as the grounds for our hope. And we ought to walk as those who are so ever sensitive and ever increasingly sensitive to the Lord's dealings with us and toward our own sin. We should be a people, friend, who crave the Lord's fellowship more than that of the world. What the psalmist holds out, friend, is that if we are such, for made such by God's grace. Beloved, note verse 14. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. That is not a possibility. That's a divine promise. Amen.