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by Gary Sims
11/25/03
Not For Sale
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The Psalms
Psalm 25:1-10 – The Candle of Faithfulness
Key Verses: (NRSV)

1: “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” – What a great way to start a prayer. David holds nothing back in his praise for the Lord.
2: “Do not let my enemies exult over me.” – Half of the psalms discuss, in some fashion, the enemies of the psalmist. In this case, David is calling for God’s favor, lifting him over his enemies.
4: “Make me know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.” – Knowledge and wisdom is the ultimate prize in a growing relationship with God.
7: “Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions.” – Do not only forgive our sins, Lord; blot them out of your memory.
8: “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way.” – We are not left to our own devices. God teaches and leads us into His Glory and into His Light.
9: “He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble in His way.” – Becoming humble before the Lord leads to knowledge, righteousness, and justification.
10: “All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep His covenant and His decrees.” – Learn what God wants you to learn and then follow His teaching. The result is a connection with a loving and steadfast God.

Points to Contemplate:

Do you expect that God will bless your life? Will He lift and support you over those who oppose you? Verses 1-3 ask for that blessing. Why do you think God wants to bless you? What makes you different than the billions of other earthly inhabitants? Why would He lift you above the masses in some special way? Could it be that He has always promised to do so? Could it be that He wants to bless you so that you can be a blessing to those you meet?
Do you share David’s thirst for knowledge? In verses 4 & 5, David asks for understanding. “Teach me,” he says. Are you ever able to get enough of what God has to teach? Do you seek to expand your knowledge of God’s plan for your life? Are your areas of influence in behalf of Christ ever growing? Do boundaries and restrictions fall away from in front of you as your knowledge grows?
When you ask for forgiveness of your sins, as David does in verses 6 & 7, do you really expect results? How would it feel to suddenly have a major transgression just completely blotted from memory? What would fill the void? Do you see that sin is a barrier that keeps you from God? If it is removed what will fill that void? God? As a result, do you recognize that requesting forgiveness is the same as asking Him to be near and close?
Are you keeping God’s covenant and decrees? As a result of humbling ourselves to grow close to God, David says in verse 10 that we will recognize His steadfast love and faithfulness. When we are right with God, is the result that we are in His favor? In this favored state, are we protected from harm? Are we lead in the paths of righteousness, away from the evil we do to ourselves and away from the harm that others inflict? Isn’t that what “instructing sinners in the way” is all about?

Promise of the Gospel:

“Oh that you would bless me
And enlarge my border,
And that your hand might be with me,
And that you would keep me from hurt and harm!
And God granted what he asked.”
Prayer of Jabez - 1 Chronicles 4:10

For this first week in Advent, we light the Candle of Faithfulness.

FUMC Devotionals
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