Facing Failures with Confidence

Psalm 25

Jim Davis

All have wrestled with problems of our own making. The problems may be due to deliberate choices or they may due to immaturity or stupid decisions. Maybe you prayed for guidance and wisdom, yet the decisions resulted in a heap of trouble. Even though we pray, we often put our faith in the decision we think is best thinking God is the one directing us.

Gaining a perspective on bringing our problems to God can be had by studying the lives of those who have wrestled with their problems. No better place to study man’s interaction with God than the salvation stories from the Old Testament. 

Some of the most wailing cries for help are found in the Psalms. You meet real people struggling with the realities of their worst nightmares amid their worst failures. In Psalm 25 we find the psalmists seeking God’s help as he struggles with his internal conflicts and his enemies. He implores God to teach him his ways. 

A Cry for Help

The psalmist is not hesitant to pursue God in the midst of his failures.

Psalm 25:1-7 
In you, Lord my God,
    I put my trust. 
I trust in you;
    do not let me be put to shame,
    nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one who hopes in you
    will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
    who are treacherous without cause.
Show me your ways, Lord,
    teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are God my Savior,
    and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
    for they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
    and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
    for you, Lord, are good.

This psalm is a perfect one to read and reread as one contemplates approaching God while going through personal battles. Here we catch a glimpse of a person wrestling with his failures fully confident of God’s protection.

The psalmist confesses his sin in his conflicts. Confession and forgiveness won’t make his problems disappear. However, it does align him with God’s ongoing love and help as he travels the treacherous road ahead. 

Psalm 25:7 
Do not remember the sins of my youth
    and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
    for you, Lord, are good.

Psalm 25:11-15
For the sake of your name, Lord,
    forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
They will spend their days in prosperity,
    and their descendants will inherit the land.
The Lord confides in those who fear him;
    he makes his covenant known to them. 
My eyes are ever on the Lord,
    for only he will release my feet from the snare.

The psalmist ask God to forgive his sins for the sake of God’s name. His failure and possibly public humiliation may be interpreted by his enemies that God had forsaken him. It is as if he is asking God to prove himself to his enemies by rescuing him.

It is reminiscent of Moses in the wilderness as God was contemplating destroying the Hebrews for their rebellion.

Exodus 32:9-14
“I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.”

It is all but breathtaking to see a human approach God with such boldness. To often, it is hard to get a grasp of salvation from this perspective as we approach God. God will save us for his sake, for the sake of his good name. He has made a promise to us and he is bound to it.

Daniel prayed to God when in Babylonian captivity. (Daniel 9) I think it exemplifies how the psalmist felt. I can only wonder if Daniel had this psalm committed to his memory. Daniel was brought into captivity at a very young age, now he is an old man looking back at the terrible things that brought the Israelites into Babylonian captivity.

Daniel 9:5-8
“Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.
“Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you. 
Daniel 9:17-19
“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”
God foretold that the Hebrews would be taken into Babylonian captivity long before it happened. He promised them he would deliver them after seventy years. The time is close at hand and Daniel is relying on God’s promise.
The book of Daniel is the story of God’s deliverance as it relates to Daniel’s life. During all those years God stood by Daniel. Daniel became the wise counselor of three of the most wicked kings in Babylon’s history. It is amazing that he outlived all of them. They treated Daniel with respect because God was with him every step of the way. What God was doing through Daniel revealed the God Daniel worshipped to those kings. They revered the God he worshipped although they never embraced him. They did however respect Daniel because of Daniel’s favor with God. 
In difficult times our burden seems to get heavier. We become convinced that we deserve every bad thing that happens to us. We may well deserve it, we may have brought troubles on ourselves, but God encourages us to put our confidence in his promise of deliverance. 

The psalmist cries out:

Psalm 25:16-18
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted. 
Relieve the troubles of my heart
    and free me from my anguish.
Look on my affliction and my distress
    and take away all my sins.

Respect for God and his covenant is what draws us to him. It is what draws the world to God. The fear of the Lord has to do with respect for him rather than cowering before God.

Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
They will spend their days in prosperity,
    and their descendants will inherit the land.
The Lord confides in those who fear him;
    he makes his covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever on the Lord,
    for only he will release my feet from the snare.

I can only wonder, was Daniel mindful of this very psalm as God instructed him throughout his captivity.

God’s covenant with us is not designed to condemn us. It is a means to help God salvage our lives in the present. I grew up under hell fire and brimstone preaching leaving the impression we are all sinners in the hands of an angry God. I remember one preacher teaching only a few were going to be saved. Then he reminded us how few were saved on Noah’s ark. It seemed to be his definition of few. This is not what God’s laws are about. God’s instruction is to help avoid pitfalls and to get us out of the pitfalls when we fail. The divine covenant teaches us how to come to God with our difficulties and failures.

Sinners Approaching for Instruction

In verse 21 the psalmist writes: “May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord, is in you.” We are not sure if he is speaking about God’s integrity and uprightness or his own. One thing we know, God has integrity and is upright. God’s very nature compels him to do what is right.

The psalmist writes, “Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.” The basis of his confidence is to remind God of who God is; in other words, he is saying God this is who you are. It is almost as if he is compelling God to be who he has always been—a God of great mercy and love.

Integrity is also about confessing sin and coming to God on his terms when we have failed. The psalmist is coming to God confessing his sins as he places his trust in God to instruct him down the righteous path.

The Psalmist cries out:

Show me your ways, Lord,
    teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are God my Savior,
    and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
    for they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
    and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
    for you, Lord, are good.
Good and upright is the Lord;
    therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
    and teaches them his way.

Humbly coming to God seeking his wisdom and instruction to walk in his ways is a life of integrity no matter how we fail. Righteousness is not about living a perfect life; although it is something for which we strive. Failure is as much a part of living a righteous life as is success. Failure is a real part of every life. It takes an honest person to admit failure and seek to redirect one’s life.

James 4:7-10 
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Conclusion:

There are times we must come to God reminding ourselves of the covenant or in reality the contract he has made with us. Our failure never voids the contract. We may fail but God does not void his covenant to save us in our troubles. The promises of the covenant will continue to come upon us, if it is only the discipline of God to bring us back to him.

God’s love is from everlasting to everlasting; it is immutable. God’s promises are sure, but the promises of his covenant is also binding upon us. Daniel comes to God confessing his sins. Daniel was involved in the Hebrews failure. He includes himself as part of the problem. 

Daniel 9:9-11
The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you.

Today we have even greater confidence bringing our failures to God through Jesus Christ. This psalm takes on new meaning after the death of Christ. We now have Christ and the Holy Spirit interceding for us as we struggle with life’s problems. 

When we have a hard time dealing with our failures, we might want to turn and read this psalm. It can give us a fresh perspective on our relationship with God and on how to approach God with confidence as we seek his wisdom and instruction.

Psalm 25
In you, Lord my God,
    I put my trust.
I trust in you;
    do not let me be put to shame,
    nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one who hopes in you
    will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
    who are treacherous without cause.
Show me your ways, Lord,
    teach me your paths.
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are God my Savior,
    and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
    for they are from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth
    and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
    for you, Lord, are good.
Good and upright is the Lord;
    therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
    and teaches them his way.
All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
    toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
For the sake of your name, Lord,
    forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 
Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
    He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
They will spend their days in prosperity,
    and their descendants will inherit the land.
The Lord confides in those who fear him;
    he makes his covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever on the Lord,
    for only he will release my feet from the snare.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted.
Relieve the troubles of my heart
    and free me from my anguish.
Look on my affliction and my distress
    and take away all my sins.
See how numerous are my enemies
    and how fiercely they hate me!
Guard my life and rescue me;
    do not let me be put to shame,
    for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness protect me,
    because my hope, Lord, is in you.
Deliver Israel, O God,
    from all their troubles!