Psalm 25 – The Path to the Secret of the Lord
By Bunni Pounds
*This blog is part of our weekly, virtual Bible Study through the book of Psalms. For information on how to participate, please visit this page.
Typically, I will take each Psalm section by section – but today I want us to look at the big picture and then drill down on the specifics of this beautiful passage in the Bible.
Verse 14 caught my attention as I read and thought on this passage – “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant.” (verse 14)
We know this but I want to say it again - God does not save and redeem us - just for us to acknowledge that we “DID IT”. We prayed the prayer. Coming to faith is not a “one and done” scenario. We are born again by God’s grace and His power to KNOW Jesus and to walk with Him.
In this Psalm – David is complaining about many things in his life as he always seemed to do – his enemies, his fears, and his transgressions, but his acknowledgement of these things only leads him to one place – “I trust in You.” (verse 2a)
When we trust God – He will never let us down!
David comes to the place where He speaks on three things that he knows will lead him down the path to the “secret of the Lord”. Another way for us to understand that phrase – secret of the Lord – is to understand that we are speaking about the KNOWLEDGE of GOD, who God is. I am like David in that many of my momentary lapses of judgment or lack of trust come from me forgetting who God is – how powerful and true His character is.
David came back to three postures of His heart that he knew would lead Him to the Lord - Trust, a Teachable heart, and Waiting on God.
TRUST
“To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
O my God, I trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed;
Let not my enemies triumph over me.” (verses 1-2)
“Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.” (verse 20)
Trust from the outside looks hard, but when we know someone well – we can trust them.
I love to drive, so my husband allows me to drive quite a bit when we are together. I am not good about changing lanes quickly though. I get a little timid and overthink it.
When we are in heavy traffic – he will be watching the next lane knowing we have to get over to exit and tell me when to go. He will say – “Just trust me.” It was scary the first time that I didn’t look back but after years of trusting him, it got easier. I can trust him that he will not allow us to wreck.
In the same way – the more we know the nature of God and how trustworthy He is, the more we can trust Him completely. It takes faith to say to God - “I trust in You.”
I am not going to downplay it and say it does not take a lot of faith. If you have ever had a loved one or friend who is sick, it is hard to say – God, I trust You. Or if you are in transition with your work or home and you feel like your life should have already changed, it is hard to say – God, I trust You.
Trust is the first step, though, to really knowing Him. We take that first step toward Him to the altar or in prayer and He shows up and touches our heart and brings us peace and life. It truly is a miracle how God moves when we TRUST.
A TEACHABLE HEART
“Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation” (verse 5a)
“The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.” (verse 9)
“Who is the man that fears the Lord?
Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.” (verse 12)
Understanding that God’s truth is higher than our “truth” and being teachable is a key to life; specially to walking in the knowledge of God. When we come to the place where we realize that we do not know God and we need to know Him – then we are teachable. It takes being led to a place of humility and the fear of the Lord. In this posture of the heart is where the path to the SECRETS of God is found.
I am just a piece of dust and so are you, so why do we think we are all knowledgeable concerning God? How do we think we are anywhere equal to who He is?
We say we do not believe that – yet we do not consult Him when we need an answer to a problem, or we need to make a decision quickly. Many times – we just move forward in our own wisdom.
I love how Paul just gave up everything to teach the Word of God in the book of Acts. He understood that there was nothing else more important.
Acts 28:30-31 - “Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.”
Coming to a place of knowing that we need God creates a teachable heart in us and allows God to teach us about who He is, what He is like, and how He moves. We then can teach others. The more we understand His ways and secrets – the more we will be effective in impacting the world around us.
WAITING ON GOD
“Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed.” (verse 3a)
“For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all day.” (Verse 5b)
“Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.” (verse 21)
The art of waiting on God is one of the hardest things we will ever do. We are so impatient. We want to take things in our own hands many times. We want to do anything but WAIT……. Ugh!
What we forget is that God is never late, and He is so worthy of our waiting. We can accomplish 100 times more WITH Him then without Him – yet we have this idea that waiting on Him is a waste of time.
There is no one that has struggled with self-sufficiency more than me - which is probably why I am always talking about humility, being “poor in spirit”, waiting on God, prayer, and dependence. I must remind my soul all the time that I NEED Him. I cannot live without Jesus every moment of every day, but it is so easy to rush ahead without Him.
The Secret of the Lord is “with those who fear Him.” The people who realize their utter need for Him and want to love what He loves and hate what He hates are the people who will truly have access to the knowledge of God.
I don’t know about you, but I am not content just having head knowledge about God – I want to really know Him where I walk and talk with Him every day and let His character change my character.
This is the promise that I want us to cling to from Psalm 25 –
”Who is the man that fears the Lord?
Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.
He himself shall dwell in prosperity,
And his descendants shall inherit the earth.” (verses 12-13)
True prosperity is the knowledge of God lived out in our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren. In the end – that is all that matters!
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