“Teach Me Your Ways, O Lord” (Psalm 25:1-10) Lent 1 Series B, Feb. ‘12

1.             Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen. The message from God’s Word this morning is taken from Psalm 25:1-10 and is entitled, “Teach Me Your Ways, O Lord,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.             I still remember when I got into trouble during recess in 8^th Grade at Our Savior Lutheran School in Excelsior, MN.  I remember it well, especially because of the consequences of my actions on that day.  I had gotten into a fight with another classmate of mine and the consequences of my actions led to several things.  First, the Lutheran school teachers at my school along with my parents had me memorize Bible verses on how to handle my anger in a godly way.  I still remember the memory verse they taught me from Ephesians 4:26-27   ²⁶ "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,  ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold.”    I also remember how I had to spend the whole school day in Pastor Zahrte’s office as a consequence for the fight that I was in at recess. 
3.             The words of Psalm 25:4-10 remind me of what I did so many years ago calling on the Lord for mercy, but also thanking him for the instruction and correction He gave to me from my pastor, my Lutheran School teachers, and my parents so that I could continue to grow up in the ways of the Lord.  Psalm 25:4-10 says, “4Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. 5Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. 6Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.  7Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD! 8Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. 10All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.” 
4.             I thank the Lord for my parents, my pastor, and the teachers at my Lutheran School who were teaching me the ways of the Lord, especially not to sin in my anger.  This is why I thank God for our Lutheran institutions of learning like COSLHS, Trinity and Red Bud Lutheran that are teaching our children the ways of the Lord.  Romans 10:14-15, “¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  ¹⁵ And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"  Our Lutheran schools are places where our children hear the good news preached and taught to them.  It’s where they are being brought up in the knowledge and admonition of the Lord to learn the ways of God in a dark and sinful world.  Maybe you can remember a pastor, a Sunday School teacher, or a Lutheran Grade School teacher, who taught you the ways of the Lord and how to live a good and godly life.
5.             Sometimes the simplest questions can often be the most profound, like this one.  Why do we teach our children?  Nowadays it seems that the purpose of school is to teach our children so that they might be successful and get a good paying job.  But, someone once quipped that education isn’t worth much if it teaches our young people only how to make a living but doesn’t teach them how to make a life.  From its very beginning our Lutheran church has been making educating our young people for life in this world and the next a top priority.  Our Lutheran Schools are teaching our young people not just facts about the world, but how to think as Christians within the world in which they live.  We teach our children about science, reading, writing, mathematics, the arts, but most importantly about Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
6.             In this Psalm King David relies on the Lord’s gracious disposition toward him, not on his own faithfulness to the Lord. He reminds the Lord of the great mercy and love he has demonstrated throughout his life.  We remember how David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and in order to cover up his sin he sought to kill Bathsheba’s husband by putting him on the front lines of war.  David thought he had covered up his sin, but he didn’t.  God saw what he had done.  So he sent the Prophet Nathan to hold him to account and to point out his sins and call him to repentance.  It’s here in this Psalm that David relies on God’s mercy and forgiveness and trusts that He will instruct him on how to lead a good and godly life.  God used the Prophet Nathan to call him to repentance, but also to instruct him in the ways of the Lord.  David is also relying on the fact that God will base this appeal for mercy on His goodness. Notice how King David isn’t excusing his past sins on the grounds of youthful ignorance or suggest that what is in the distant past can be forgotten. His appeal is to the nature of God, who is good.
7.             Now some people may say that they don’t remember any sins that they have committed.  But, we must remember that a believer’s acts of rashness, rebellion, and ignorance are certainly not exclusively things of the past. Martin Luther once said, “Even if we do not recognize any sin in ourselves, it is still necessary to believe that we are sinners” (LW 25:215).  Forgiven sinners, confident of the Lord’s mercy and love, are also confident that the Lord will instruct them in the way they should live. The God who is good and upright desires to instill “his ways” in those whom he has forgiven. The law as a mirror that shows us our sins, as a curb, which keeps us in check and keeps us from sin, and as a guide, which shows us how to live a godly life, is his instructional tool.
8.             The psalmist speaks not only of the kindness of God but also of His loving kindnesses. It’s difficult for me to distinguish between the two, but I think what a little girl once said in Sunday school is a good definition. She said, “When you ask your Mother for a piece of bread with butter on it, and she gives it to you, that is kindness. But when she puts jam on it without you asking her, that is loving kindness.” I don’t know of a better way to describe the difference. King David could say this during a time of trouble, as will the godly remnant of Israel in their time of trouble. And this speaks to our hearts today. What was good for the saints of the past and will be good for the saints of the future is also good for us.
9.             This Psalm reminds us that God does know the sins that we have committed in the past.  The more we learn about God’s Word the more we realize the sins we have committed in thought, word, and deed against God and our neighbor.  So where do we turn to when our old sinful flesh, the world, and the devil’s temptation overwhelm us?  We turn to Christ.  The same Jesus Christ that my pastor, my Lutheran School teachers, my parents to me, as I’m sure they taught you growing up.  In our Gospel text from Mark 1 we see our Lord Jesus being tempted by Satan in the wilderness.  The main goal of Satan’s temptations of Jesus is to persuade him to take shortcuts in His saving mission.  Satan wanted Jesus to wow people with miracles such as turning stones into bread and surviving a leap from the top of the temple unharmed, rather than traveling the painful and disgraceful way of the cross.
10.             Here in Mark 1 we see that our Lord Jesus, even being tempted by the devil, kept the Law of God perfectly on our behalf so that we may receive His righteousness through His death on the cross for us.  Through our Lord Jesus our salvation has come.  As the substitute for all humanity, Jesus is driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, in order to endure and defeat all temptation. Each day we’re tempted by our own sinful desires, which conceive and give birth to sin (James 1:14–15). But this blessed Man, our Lord Jesus, remained steadfast under trial and He has received the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him (James 1:12). Christ’s faithfulness, His victory, and His life are now given to us by His grace in the Gospel.  Today when we feel tempted into sin we can turn to Him for help praying for His strength to overcome temptation.  Repentance of our own sins trusting in our sinless Savior make us to know that God’s Kingdom is for us as well.  Amen.