Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul

"Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day... What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins. Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred. O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee" (Psm. 25:1-5,12-20). What we have here is the bulk of Psalm 25, a Psalm of David in a time of distress. What we also have here is a personal testimony, and that testimony is mine. The Lord led me to this Psalm last night when I prayed and asked him, What is going on in my life? The reason I'm copying this, and the reason I've said it is my testimony, is because it is the testimony of others as well. Some maybe now, some maybe past, and some in the future. But one thing I can tell you about this,and that is what the apostle Paul told us in the book of Romans: "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Rom. 15:4). This is what I want to talk about here today. Patience is probably the most important virtue that we can possess, because in reality patience means that we continue steadfastly in faith and holiness through all circumstances that we face in our lives. This is why Jesus made the following ever famous statement: "In your patience possess ye your souls" (Lk. 15:19). The flip side of that statement would be, If we do not continue steadfastly in faith and the love of God, we will not be saved.

So Paul made it clear that our hope depends on our being steadfast in the faith, and he also said that our hope depends on the "comfort of the scriptures." That's where this Psalm and my testimony about it comes in. I was in distress somewhat when I asked the Lord to show me something in the scriptures that pertains to my situation in life at this moment in time. When he led me to this Psalm I saw that David was in a similar circumstance as myself, in terms of the spiritual principle. My external circumstances and David's external circumstances are not really similar at all, but how he felt about what he was dealing with in his life was VERY similar about how I was feeling about my situations. I read through the Psalm and identified personally, like right here, right now; with almost everything he was saying in his prayer and song. So that brought comfort to me, knowing that someone who continued in the faith till the end, and someone who had a heart after God, was in the same boat that I'm in. You see, I don't question my heart, my love for Jesus, or my determination to keep his love and peace humming at the core of my being without hindrance. I've been living that way for a long time, and I'm not going to depart from it. What I do question sometimes is, What is it I'm missing, and what is God trying to say to me that I'm not hearing or seeing? When trying circumstances just keep on keeping on, and things seem to go from bad to worse in situations that I'm encompassed by, I have to wonder, What did I get wrong? But when I get an answer from the Lord like I did with this Psalm, I am comforted to know I am in good company, and that I am merely working my way through everything that's going on in my life; and that there will be a good outcome of it all, as long as I continue in patient well doing. It was that way for David, and it will be that way for me and for you if we just hold fast to the course. This is why we have exhortations in the new testament like the following one from the apostle Paul: "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith" (Gal. 6:9,10).

I might also note that we cannot just decide that we're in league with the people we read about in the Bible, but if we know ourselves well enough, and we know that we have continually sought diligently after the Lord, and that we've kept his way; then there is no one else FOR us to identify with. That is why we have the scriptures, even as the apostle noted in Romans 15:4 which I copied above. So continuing steadfastly in the faith, which is to continue to be pure in our hearts from sin; and continuance in the kind of fruit and works that come from a heart purified with the love of God, is how we obtain salvation (Mat. 5:8; I Jn. 3:2,3). In fact Jesus made it very clear that we must go that route or we will NOT inherit salvation: "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Mat. 24:10-13). Jesus was speaking there of the time that is all but upon us at this very hour, and there is no time for foolishness from this point forward. If we're going to make the grade that Jesus spoke of here, and we're going to be betrayed even by close family members in some cases, like he said in Luke 21 [which was the same sermon]; then we are going to need plenty of comfort to be able to "endure unto the end" (Lk. 21:16). There is a lot of pain in being betrayed, and everyone who has walked closely with God has known that pain, end time or no end time. We all know that the only cure for inner pain is comfort, and that means the comfort of the holy Ghost, which IS 'The Comforter,' that comes from heaven (Jn. 14:16-18). And sometimes the way that the Spirit of God will comfort us is by our identifying with the people of faith that we read about in the Bible. If we're real with God, and we're led continually by his Spirit, then they are our close relatives who have paved the way of faith before us. With plenty of comfort for our distresses, we are able to have hope, as the scripture says; and as long as our hope is intact we will be able to continue. That's what it amounts to. Amen.