You Are Not the Only One

• 2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.
• 3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

This psalm begins with a declaration of confidence to God. “Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.” Now look at verse 2 He is telling God how much he trusts him. “O my God, I trust in thee” then he asked God to “let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me”  because I trust you. We have hope in God, so we don’t have to worry about our enemies making us feel ashamed. See Romans 5:5 “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

There are times in our lives when persons will make us feel ashamed. It could be because of our past. It could be because of something we did last week that we apologized for the problem is not yours! 

• 4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
• 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
• 6 Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses; for they have been ever of old.
• 7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.

 Verses 4-7 shows David asking God to direct how he lives his life. The only way that he can do that is to grow in his knowledge and understanding of God’s “ways” or His will, “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me.” Why does David want God to do that? Because “thou art the God of my salvation” [but David adds what his part is in this process “on thee do I wait all the day.” He is not waiting for a man to direct his path or to teach him. David knows that he is not a perfect man. None of us are perfect. So, David is reminding God about how “[His] tender mercies and [His] loving kindnesses; [and how he has relied on God in the past] for they have been ever of old.” We tend to think that God remembers all of our sins, but he does not. David reminds God that he does not want him to remember “not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: [How should God remember him?] according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.”  (See 1 Chronicles 16:34 “O give thanks unto the LORD; for [he is] good; for his mercy [endureth] forever.”) One of favorite worship songs is from this verse.

New Testament Scriptures

• John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
• Ephesians 5:8 “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now [are ye] light in the Lord: walk as children of light:”
• 1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” We need to remember that the Blood of Jesus does covers all of our sins. Not just the past sins, but our current sins and the ones we will commit in the future. Jesus’s death paid the price for that to happen.

• John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses; [however,] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

• John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.“The Comforter will teach us all truth.

• John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.” 

As we allow the Holy Spirit to teach all of us our thoughts and thought processes change. We start to see the good in people and ourselves. We begin to allow the Holy Spirit to cleanse us of all things that are contrary to His way of grace and peace.

God is So Good: Verses 8-11

• 8 Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

 God is a gracious and merciful God. He is “good and upright;” therefore, He will teach sinners who want to learn how to love Him. Never allow one’s pride to prevent them from learning. I have actually had someone say “I don’t need to read the OT or even study the wisdom books – which includes some of the teachings included in the psalms. Now isn’t that interesting. I learn something new every time I study God’s word. Longman 2014, expressed this conundrum succinctly “Those who think they know it all will not listen to correction, but the humble will allow themselves to be guided” (144).

Scriptural References

• Prov. 3:3 “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:”
• Prov. 3:5 ^“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
• Prov. 3:7 “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.”
• Prov. 15:33 “The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.”
• Prov. 21:24 “Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath.”
• Prov. 29:23 “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
• 9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

• 10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
• 11 For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

Verse 10 mentions the Lord keeping “his covenant” Longman explains what the word covenant means in this verse.

The word ‘covenant’ (bĕrît) rarely occurs in the book of Psalms, although the book as a whole can be described as covenantal. Most covenants come with demands, but the Mosaic covenant and its laws are probably in view here. God’s ways are loving (ḥ esed) and faithful (’ĕmet) to those who keep the law (144).

Verse 10 speaks to the covenant not because David is stating that he has kept all of God’s covenantal laws perfectly. Why do we know that? He ends this stanza with this statement.  11 For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great. 

References

Cayce, Ken. 2017. “Books of the Bible.”  http://www.bible-studys.org/About%20Me.html. Accessed August 29, 2018

Longman, Tremper, III. 2014. Psalms : An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. Accessed September 15, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central.