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58. Mercy and Truth

 Psalm 25:10

All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

 The conditional promise regarding Mercy and Truth is a natural consequence of obeying the Law of God; keeping the commandments of the covenant results in blessings; one of the blessings is enjoying God’s mercy and truth walking on His paths. “Keeping his covenant” means believing and remaining faithful to the covenant God made with His people; it means fearing, loving and trusting in God above all things. “Keeping his testimonies” means obeying the ten commandments and all the related commands of the Torah. This kind of fear and obedience has never been accomplished by anyone other than Jesus of Nazareth; but those who believe in Him have received the righteousness of God and the obedience to all the commands of the Lord. If you keep his covenant and testimonies, then you will receive mercy and truth. In Christ the believer has kept the covenant and so all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.

“Mercy and Truth” are two attributes of God that are mentioned together many times in the Psalms and in the Bible. These two are even often thought to be special messengers, or angels, of God who bear these qualities to people from God. Mercy inadequately translates “chesed” from the Hebrew. “Chesed” means that God is faithful to His covenant, which is based on His unconditional love for his people; “faithful love” is a better translation; “committed love” is also good. Truth translates the Hebrew “emeth,” which also means faithfulness or reliability. Thus both Mercy and Truth have “faithfulness” connected to them: God’s faithfulness is the foundation of all God’s Words and Promises. Our response is simple trust in every Word and Promise.

“The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17). Moses gave the promises of the Law, but no one could receive those promises because the human being is incapable of keeping it. But Jesus gives grace and truth as a result of His perfect keeping of the covenant. When we receive that wonderful grace gift God grants grace and truth. “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth” for us who believe. God is faithful and every promise is ours in Christ.

57. Guide and Teach

 Psalm 25:9

The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

 The conditional promise of guiding and teaching is for the meek. There are many promises for the meek. The meek are the teachable, who are empty enough to allow the filling of spiritual truth, and the humble, who are aware that they do not know it all. This excludes the proud and the arrogant, who can learn nothing new for they are full (of themselves) and already know it all and don’t need any help or mercy from God. The meek have already been beaten up and beaten down by life and its bullies. and something of self has been knocked out by hard knocks. They admit they don’t know it all, don’t have it all together, and can’t go it alone. They are empty, open, and ready to receive help and instruction from the Lord. For these kinds of people God promises guidance and teaching.

The teaching of the way includes not only imparting new information but also the desire and ability to do what the teaching says. It is not “teach to know,” but “teach to do.” The guiding in judgment is especially important because He leads the meek in making right choices. (In some ways, life is all about choices.) Certain choices have a huge influence in the general course of life and the fullness of it. Therefore, how wonderful is this promise that He will guide in judgment. Proper discernment of the right way, the opportune moment, the beneficial road, the proper timing, and the most helpful decision leads to life lived for meaning and purpose.

It is the Holy Spirit through His Word that leads us to make the right choices and to walk on the right way. Choosing by wise judgment the right path: “that has made all the difference.” Allow yourself to be “meeked” and trust Him to guide; the blessings will surely follow.

56. Teach in the way

 Psalm 25:8

Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

Jesus Himself makes the promise of sending the Teacher, which is the Holy Spirit, who will bring everything to remembrance. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit fulfills the promises. Here in the Psalm, the Lord will teach sinners in the way because He is good. God does lots of things and keeps lots of promises because He is good. His essential character of goodness causes Him to do many good things for His people. One of those good things is teaching or instructing.

“Teaching sinners in the way” is more than imparting information; it also means motivating and impelling the sinner to actually do the things of the way that he is learning. The emphasis of “teaching” is in the “doing,” actually obeying the Commandments of the Lord. “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” (Luke 11:28). “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24). “Go and make disciples…baptizing…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

This is the real miracle of the promise: that the teaching of sinners in the way actually involves change in behavior. This change in obedience is attributed to the teaching, leading, and guiding of the Holy Spirit who lives within the spirit of the new man. Thus this promise is truly remarkable: you can teach old sinners new tricks. Through daily repentance and remembering of Baptism the old man drowns and dies and a new man arises and comes forth unto newness of life. (Romans 6).

This promise is also good news for us because once the sinner starts living in the way of the Lord he begins to enjoy the consequences and blessings of obeying the commandments of God and a truly blessed life results.

This promise is unconditional in that the cause of the promise being fulfilled is the goodness and uprightness of the Lord. There is the implied condition of the person admitting he is a sinner in need of instruction in the way. Repentance and faith, meekness and teachability, brings the promise to fulfillment in our lives.

55. Remember me…not sins

 Psalm 25:6, 7

Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses,

for they have been ever of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions:

according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.

 While “remember” is not given here as a direct promise from God the promise is backed up by other passages of Scripture, wherein God Himself promises He will “remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34). The Psalmist’s prayer holds God to His promise, and we can do that, too. “God, you promised you would remember my sin no more, but that you would remember me. Now do so today; keep your promise.”

God does not remember my sins and transgressions; indeed, He forgot all about them. They are forever gone, and they cannot be brought up again. Although humans can’t always do it, when God forgives He also forgets. We do not need to confess the same sin over and over again (unless we keep doing the same thing over and over again) because it is already forgotten; there is no need to remind God or our selves about the same old sin that has been forgiven and forgotten. We pray, “Remember not my sins,” so that we do not wallow nor return to our own vomit. We get up, wash our face, and go on with life.

But we do ask God to remember, and He promises to remember, His mercies and me. God is able to distinguish my sins from me the person. He forgets my sins and remembers me. He remembers me for His goodness’ sake, according to mercy. This means that when God, the Almighty Judge, looks upon me He sees Jesus, his blood and righteousness, His mercy and life; He does not see my sin, but He remembers me as He sees me through Jesus Christ.

We do not actually need to remind God to remember His tender mercies and to remember me for His goodness’ sake. He remembers how to remember and how to look at me, forgetting sin and remembering mercy. But I need to be reminded that this is how God is regarding me when I approach Him in prayer and in need. I am the one who gets mindless and forgetful; so I need this reminder every day: God forgets my sins but remembers me.

54. Blessing and Righteousness

 Psalm 24: 5

4. He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of His salvation.

 The condition of verse 4 applies to the promise in verse 3 and to the promise of verse 5. If you are clean and pure, then you will receive blessing and righteousness from God. The Good News is: “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”(I John 1:7). “If we confess our sins he…(will) cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9). He makes us clean and pure; the clean and pure and holy and righteous person shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of His salvation.

This means that for the NT believer every time (weekly and daily) he confesses his sin and receives forgiveness he will receive Blessing from the Lord. Forgiveness itself is a blessing but it also brings many other blessings from the Lord: a life of peace and joy, the love and presence of God, present hope of eternal life, sure promise of future life, and all the spiritual, material, physical, mental, emotional and relational blessings God promises.

The confessor also receives righteousness from the God of His salvation. The amazing promise of righteousness from God opens him up to all the promises of God that are based on the condition of being righteous: “If you are righteous, then these blessings follow.” So many blessings are promised to the righteous (the obedient, the forgiven, the cleansed, the pure, the holy, the one who trusts and fears and loves God) that once we are declared righteous by faith in Christ we are not able to remember and receive them all. But, little by little, we conquer more promised land and enjoy more blessing by believing the promises for those who have received righteousness from the God of their salvation. Possess what has been given.

53. Stand in Holy Place

 Psalm 24:3

 3. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place?

4. He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

 “Ascending into the hill of the Lord” and “standing in his holy place” are two promises of one thing: “Coming into the presence of the Lord.” This is a conditional promise since it is impossible for any sinner to be in God’s Holy Presence with sin clinging to him. If you have a clean outward life and a pure inner heart, and if you have not regarded any idol in your heart or been dishonest with anyone, then you are given the right to come into the Presence of a Holy God.

The Promise is wonderful, but the conditions are terrible, for no one can meet them. Purity, holiness, and righteousness are demanded of any person who should want to go to heaven or dwell in the presence of God. That only makes sense for holiness cannot be tainted or touched by anything unholy or unclean, for God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil.”

That, of course, leaves us sinners out of the Presence, out of heaven, and out of hope, until we hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ: He has cleansed our hands and our hearts and forgiven our idolatry and dishonesty. Christ has sanctified us (made us holy) so that under the blood of Christ we may safely and joyfully enter into the Holy Place where God dwells. That Holy Place is carved out in our hearts as a sacred dwelling place for a Holy God, and we may through repentance and faith stand in that special place. What a privilege we have as beloved children of God; what a privilege we often neglect as needy children of God.

This forgotten promise is available for us to enter into when we need comfort, safety, protection, answer to prayer, or just to enjoy the Lord. It is awesome to think that the Lord allows us to stand in his holy place, but it is more awesome to think that we so often forget His promise and neglect the privilege. “Enter the joy of the Lord.”

52. Dwell in House

Psalm 23.6

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 [Twelve different unconditional promises are enclosed in this One Great Psalm. Psalm 23 is worth memorizing and meditating on to help make these promises my own. One could weeks on this one Psalm, but life goes on, and 127 more Psalms go on with 100’s more promises to believe. Dwelling on only one promise can change a mood and brighten a day. Today we finish Psalm 23.]

 The simple, straightforward promise for the NT believer in Jesus Christ is that after this life we will live in the palpable presence of God for eternity. We have the Promise of Heaven, to be “with the Lord” forever. This promise of eternal life through faith in Christ renders death nothing more than a door into the eternal bliss of a perfect paradise. A strong hope and a powerful joy is expressed in these words: “And I will dwell.” “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.” (Philippians 1:23).

After a long, and blessed, and happy life lived with my Shepherd and Host all the days of my life I am climaxed with this eternal promise of a blissful afterlife, forever. Life is not only more than good; it is forever.

I love the fold of the Good Shepherd, where I abide continually. At the banquet I rejoice to present myself as an invited guest. I choose Him as my portion and serving Him is my delight. To crown it all, the last of all the blessings is to dwell in his house: this implies intimacy and friendship. This loving relationship begins now and goes on forever. The happiness of “dwelling in his house” is without interruption and without end. The house is the dwelling place of the Lord God where I deal with Him on an intimate level. Times of refreshing are experienced from the presence of the Lord.

“Dwelling in the house” is a present experience, as well as a future hope. When we look beyond the narrow scene of this present world and fix our eyes on the eternal house in the heavens we dwell in His house. Here goodness and mercy surround us on every side. We are now in actual possession of a perfected spiritual nature, perfect in love, peace, holiness, thought, feeling, judgment, knowledge, and in spiritual energy. This possession exists in us alongside the evil enemies, so that possession is obscured but nevertheless real. We enjoy a state of spiritual glory such as eye has not seen nor ear heard, and our physical eyes and ears still cannot comprehend it.

A beautiful place is prepared for us, a wonderful house. Our highest conception of beauty and blessedness, purity and perfection is woefully imperfect to adequately grasp is glorious promise.

51. Goodness and Mercy

Psalm 23.6

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

 God promises His individual sheep that goodness and mercy, kindness and steadfast love, will pursue him and stay with him every day of his life. Since the Good Shepherd is always with us so His characteristics of goodness and mercy will always be with us, even on those days when these qualities seem to be absent. No matter what he sees and feels, goodness and mercy is still there for him and he can reach out and take hold of it in any time of need. No day will be without it.

It is possible to imagine goodness and mercy as two angels, persons sent by God, present with us at all times, never leaving, always protecting, always serving, ever looking after our welfare. These promises, these blessings, these persons will be there without fail every day for the rest of our lives. This is so because of his mercy, not because of my merits; neither will they be absent because of my sin and failing. Goodness and mercy will follow me because He promised; He said so.

Goodness will supply every want; mercy shall forgive when sins crop up: provision and pardon is given by these guardian angels every step of the way. The believer lives on Promise: The Shepherd will never leave or forsake. Every promise is centered in Christ; He has the right and the title to the performance of every one of them, and He has given to us the full right and title to use His rights and privileges as our own.

The goodness and mercy of God includes innumerable blessings and are applicable to the varied conditions of life, having the promises of the life that now is and of that which is to come: food and clothing, safety and protection, guidance and direction, refuge and deliverance, pardon and sanctification, answers to prayers; grace to overcome temptation, the favor and presence of God for the future. No condition of life is left unsupplied.

We rely on the character of our God and the veracity of His promises, and say, “Surely….” It is not because of any merit or worthiness in me nor for any service I can render, but it is of his own excellent nature and the glory of His Name. He is good, so he does good; He is love, so he shows love. Raze all self-righteousness and human merit. His goodness is abundant and immeasurable, precious and satisfying, free, unfailing and universal. He mercy is indescribable.

50. Overflowing

Psalm 23.5

My cup runneth over.

Our God is unnecessarily extravagant, wildly generous, and seemingly wasteful. God created way more universe than seems necessary to us to live, what with the billions of distant galaxies that seem irrelevant to our existence. And he made all those stars just for us to enjoy once a year on a clear night. He generates and keeps regenerating more than enough food and provision to feed an ever-expanding world.

He provides everything we need and even more than we need. My cup is not large enough to contain all that our Host wants to pour out for us so that His blessings run over and are wasted on the ground. Our Host is not frugal and definitely not stingy. He is very rich and lives to share His riches and His life with us. And He has more than enough to give to all of us until we are satisfied and twelve baskets are left over. Yet the human complaint is that He has not given enough rather than that He has given too much. God gives extravagantly, but He does not give to satisfy our greeds and selfish desires for more.

Regarding my legitimate needs: He gives as much as all the riches in glory in Christ Jesus in addition to my daily bread; plus our Host is still pouring out in such extravagance that my cup runneth over. Regarding my sinful desires and passions, my greeds and lusts: He will not always allow more to come my way than what He knows I need to support this body and life. Materially, there may be a limit; spiritually, there is no limit and He continues to pour out more spiritual blessings and fulfill more promises than I am capable of receiving.

In prayer, Bible study and worship we drink of that overflowing cup, meditating on the richness and vastness of God’s goodness. Forget not all his benefits: The cup is a pledge of love; the wine of salvation cheers; graces are quickened, faith is strengthened; love is increased; hope is revived; joy breaks out, gratitude abounds. The Lord Jesus living in us is the overflowing cup.

His providence is continually arranging affairs for our benefit and blessing. Scripture is a guide; angels attend the journey; darkness retreats. Redemption enfolds it all; no curse; all blessing; continual grace; possession of glory; resurrection; kings and priests, a kingdom, crowns of glory; the presence of God. That is extravagance running over.

49. Anointing

Psalm 23.5

Thou anointest my head with oil.

 How gracious is this Host, to treat me as an honored guest by anointing my head with oil. Rubbing olive oil on the head is not only hospitable and kindly; it is also an honor for the guest so treated, since it is fairly costly. This gracious and extravagant Host wants me to know I am very special to Him, that I am regarded with esteem, that I am to be treated with respect and dignity. This is how my God, my Shepherd, my Host thinks of me all the time. The oil is like undeserved liquid love covering my head.

The symbolism of anointing oil means more than a social nicety, for the anointing is the inner abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. OT prophets, priests, and kings were anointed with holy anointing oil, setting them apart for holy service to God. They were to be directed by the Holy Spirit to do and speak the roles called forth by Him.

The Holy Spirit anointed the Messiah (Anointed One) without measure to be Prophet, High Priest, and King for His people forever; He died and rose for us through the power of the Anointing; He will save and rule for eternity.

The same Holy Spirit anoints and fills us who believe in Jesus, and this ongoing presence of God is a special blessing for NT believers. When my head is covered with the anointing oil of the Spirit I bring every thought captive to Jesus Christ and I have the mind of Christ. Such wisdom and love is an unimaginable blessing, but it can be imagined, pictured in the mind, and received by faith in the spirit. This Promise is remarkable, not only to make me feel special but also to make me feel useful.