If God has given His only begotten Son to save us from our sins and his wrath for our joy and His glory, then surely He will guide us in His truth and teach us. As Charles Spurgeon says:
Reader, is he the God of your salvation? Do you find in the Father’s election, in the Son’s atonement, and in the Spirit’s quickening, all the grounds of your eternal hopes? If so, you may use this as an argument for obtaining further blessings; if the Lord has ordained to save you, surely he will not refuse to instruct you in his ways. [2]
Nevertheless, I must add, that this argument (that God will teach those he saves) does not exclude our taking the time to learn from him, because the psalmist finishes this verse, "for you I wait all the day long."
So we should take time to learn from our Savior because since he has saved us, surely he will teach us. And it should not be overlooked that this is all phrased in the form of a prayer. We should pray, knowing that God will answer our prayers to teach us since the ground of his instructing us is his saving us. And we should, therefore, wait for him to do so.
God will teach us, for he has chosen to save us. Therefore we should ask him to teach us about his mercy and love expressed in our salvation. David continues to pray:
"Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!" (Psalm 25:6-7, ESV)
God, please think about your mercy in saving me, not of my sins to condemn me!
"Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions"
Amen, Lord. Please forget the plethora of sins I've committed against you in my foolish rebellion. But how shall an omniscient God forget anything? For surely you know EVERYTHING! It must be that David was pleading with you to not remember his sins against him, that is, in judgment. For he appeals to "your steadfast love."
"according to your steadfast love remember me"
Yes, do the same for me, O, Lord, please! Don't hold my sins against me in judgment; but forgive me because of your "steadfast love." Don't think of me apart from "your steadfast love"! I never want to be separated from "your steadfast love"! And I praise you that nothing "in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39, ESV). I want to find my identity in, be all wrapped up in, immersed in, permeated with, enraptured by, captivated with, controlled by, and satisfied with "your steadfast love" forever and ever! Remember, Lord, the greatest expression of "your steadfast love" in your one and only Son's propitiatory death for my sake! For it is written, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8, ESV). So while you look upon me with your holy gaze that penetrates to my deepest part and heart and thoughts and motivations, as you see with perfect clarity the horror of all of my sins, clearly also see that your ferocious wrath has already been perfectly unloaded on Christ for all my sin. Your judgment has fallen on Christ in perfect justice for the way this sinner has profaned your glory. So "remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me"
"for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!"
Yes, Lord, think of me in accord with your steadfast love, harmonizing with your covenant love "for the sake of your goodness." David goes down to the deepest foundation of his salvation in "your steadfast love" and goes up to the highest purpose of your redemption which is "the sake of your goodness," or as he says a few verses later: "For your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great" (v. 11, ESV). Make your goodness known through redeeming me, Lord! Display your glory in forgiving sinners like me, God! Let your holy name be honored and marveled at because of "your steadfast love"!
[1] All Scripture quotations are from: The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001.
[2] Spurgeon, C. H. (1995). Morning and evening : Daily readings (July 8 PM). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
1 comment:
Thanks again Adam,
I cannot speak enough on the beauty of our LORD or how great His steadfast love for us is! But most of all I rejoice that He DOES do it for His name sake! Amen!
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