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Episode #17 - The Power of The Pure Word of God
All throughout the Bible God teaches us how to live for Him. This is why each and every episode of this podcast will never deviate from focusing entirely upon Scripture. It is God’s Word that is perfect, it is God’s Word that revives the soul and makes us wise. It’s God’s Word that is right, rejoicing the heart ... and it’s pure, enlightening the eyes. It is not only when you read God’s Word but actually do God’s Word that there is great reward.
In this episode, we are going to look at Psalm 25:8-11 and discover how God’s Word equips you with everything you need to be pure!
Transcript
(Opening Soundtrack)
Welcome to today’s episode of the Point of Purity Podcast. A weekly study filled to the brim with the all the tools from Scripture you will ever need to build a lasting life of Biblical purity.
All throughout the Bible God teaches us how to live for Him. This is why each and every episode of this podcast will never deviate from focusing entirely upon Scripture. It is God’s Word that is perfect, it is God’s Word that revives the soul and makes us wise. It’s God’s Word that is right, rejoicing the heart ... and it’s pure, enlightening the eyes. It is not only when you read God’s Word but actually do God’s Word that there is great reward.
I’m your host Steve Etner, and in this episode, we are going to look at Psalm 25:8-11 and discover how God’s Word equips you with everything you need to be pure!
2 Peter 1:3 tells us that “by his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.” Now I know we’ve already discussed this verse in previous episodes – and I can guarantee you that it will come up again and again in future episodes. Why? Because it’s a powerful verse. In this verse God is assuring us that He has already equipped us with everything we need to be godly, to be pure, to be free from the grip of the 3-headed dragon.
2 Peter 1:3 goes on to tell us that “we have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence!” In other words, as you get to know God ... as you grow in your relationship with your Heavenly Father, you will discover that He has graciously and gloriously provided you with everything you need to fight the beast of sexual impurity - and win!
In Psalm 25:8-10 we read, “The LORD is good and upright; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, and he teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the LORD are faithfulness and truth to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”
Wow! There is so much to learn from these verses. More than what we can cover in one episode for sure! God is good. God is upright. In that goodness and uprightness, He instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right. He teaches the humble how to walk in His way. Oh, and by the way – all of His ways are loving and faithful!
Is this text powerful or what!!!
(03:10) A Classroom Full of Criminals
I love the fact that David says here - God “instructs sinners in the way.” It doesn’t say He instructs just the righteous, nor does it say He instructs only those who do good all the time. No, He instructs sinners in the way. That would be me ... and let’s be honest - that would be you too. In fact, that would be every one of us – because we are all guilty of crimes committed against a Holy God. We are all sinners. But hey - don’t take my word for it. Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Did you catch that? ALL of us have sinned – ALL of us have already fallen short of meeting God’s perfectly pure standard of holiness. ALL of us! Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 7:20 “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”
Aren’t you thankful that God has chosen to show you how to live for Him in spite of the way you have treated Him? Remember, you sin daily. There isn’t a day that goes by where you didn’t worship King Me at some point during the day. Isn’t it great that the Almighty, Sovereign, All-Powerful, Creator of the Universe has chosen to teach you and direct you – a sinner, one who has repeatedly wronged Him – in the way of His purity and truth? C’mon now ... doesn’t that blow your mind – even a little bit? It should!
God is our teacher. Life is our classroom. The Bible is our textbook.
In Psalm 119:105 we read that “(God’s) word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Every time you open your Bible, every time you read God’s Word, you are being instructed in the way God wants you to live. He is shining a light on your path if you will. He is saying to you “this is the way to purity, this is the way to joy – peace – happiness – fulfillment – satisfaction; this is the way so walk in it!” And every time you choose to not just listen to what God says, but walk in worshipful, humble obedience to your Heavenly Father you are walking in His perfect light. You will not lust, you will not look at pornography, you will not masturbate, you will not worship King Me, you will not sin!
In Proverbs 6:23 we read, “For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life.” (Proverbs 6:23)
Oh my friend, never lose sight of the fact that “it is (God) who light(s) my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.” (Psalm 18:28) God will instruct you on how to live, how to make the right choices, how to be a person of integrity, purity, and godliness. He instructs sinners in His way.
However, you must daily ... moment-by-moment choose to keep your way pure by guarding it according to God’s Word. In Psalm 119:9 David asks the all-important question, “How does a person keep their way pure?” How do I keep from giving in to the lure of lust, the pull of porn, and the magnet of masturbation? How to I keep from living every moment of my life all for King Me? David goes on to answer his own question in Psalm 119:9 by saying, “By guarding it according to (God’s) Word.”
God uses Scripture to teach you. This is why each and every episode of The Point of Purity Podcast is loaded to the brim with Bible verses. This is why I will never deviate from urging you to DAILY read and memorize Scripture. Psalm 19:7-11 makes it abundantly clear that it is only God’s Word that is perfect. God’s Word revives the soul and makes the simple wise. It’s God’s Word that is right. It is God’s Word that brings the heart true joy. It is God’s Word that is pure. God’s Word enlightens the eyes. It is when you not only read God’s Word but do God’s Word that there is great reward!
In Mark 12:24 Jesus says, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?”
(08:19) Bumbling in the Humbling
Psalm 25:9 says that “(God) guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”
Have you ever felt like you bumble being humble? I’ve had the privilege so far of authoring 5 books on how to grow in your walk with Christ. I even toyed around once about writing a
book on humility. The problem is - I couldn’t settle on a title. I struggled between “Humility and How I Achieved It,” or “The 5 Most Humble Men in the World and How I Met the Other 4!” Although I’m making a very poor attempt right now at telling a Dad Joke, truth is - I keep bumbling in the humbling department. It’s not about me. It’s not about you. (By the way, let me be clear ... I didn’t actually think about writing that book on humility – I was just trying to make a point.)
In previous episodes we’ve already talked a fair amount about humility. We’ve seen how (as James 4:6 puts it) “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” We’ve discovered in Micah 6:8 “what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to ... walk humbly with your God?” Together we are learning that when you “humble yourselves before the Lord ... he will exalt you.” (James 4:10). Yet we still bumble when it comes to being humble. Am I right?
We struggle with humility in large part simply because King Me refuses to give up the throne. If real change is going to happen in your life ... if you are going to defeat the 3-headed dragon of lust – pornography – and masturbation ... if you are going to live in freedom from sexual impurity, the first thing you need to do is stage what I’m going to call “a military-type spiritual coup.”
In other words, you need to change governments — you need a different spiritual leader sitting behind the big desk in the oval office of your heart. You must daily choose to remove the “I” from life. (If you would like to learn more on how to remove the I from LIFE / how to dethrone King Me, I strongly encourage you to read book entitle “Removing the ‘I’ from LIFE: The Dethroning of King Me” available on Amazon.com – the link is available in the show notes for this episode, as well as the transcript and you can also find it on my website thepuritycoach.com in the resources section of the site)
Let me remind you of a recurring theme in this podcast. This life isn’t about you. It never was. It never will be. You need to dethrone the reigning King and allow God to sit in your place—His rightful place.
You see, whomever is reigning in your heart will be calling the shots in your life. Paul asks a powerful question in Romans 6:16. “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.” (Romans 6:16) When King Me is on the throne, you will live for King Me. On the flip side - when God is reigning in your heart, He will rule in your life.
Praise God that as we learn humility and as we grow in humility ... Psalm 25:9 tells us that “(God) leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.” David was learning the hard way that as he continued to lift up his soul to God, as he continued to deny and die to himself daily, as he continued to trust completely in God (in other words, as he humbled himself, understanding that it’s not about him) God was leading him in what was right and God was also teaching him how to consistently live that way.
(12:59) The Way Maker
There’s a popular song sung on Christian radio and in many churches today simply called “Way Maker.” What a perfect description of God! In our text for this episode – Psalm 25:8-10 – David declares, “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 for those who keep the demands of his covenant.” (Psalm 25:8-10) Truly God IS the way maker.
Three times, in three verses, David talks about God’s way. David was familiar with the command of Deuteronomy 28:9 to “keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.” David understood that he was to (as Joshua 22:5 says) “be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded ..., to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
I’m sure David had read the command in Genesis 18:19 to “keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice.” This is why he prays in Psalm 25:4, “Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.”
David was familiar with the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 10:12-13 which say, “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good?”
This is why David cried out in Psalm 86:11, “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” He declared to God “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
My friend, I urge you to listen to me closely. It is vital to your purity; it is essential to your spiritual growth that you “walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 John 2:6) The problem is that God’s “thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways (God’s) ways ... For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are (God’s) ways higher than your ways and (God’s) thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
If you are going to obey the command of Proverbs 8:20 and choose daily to “walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice” you must also choose to cry out to the Lord “please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight.” (Exodus 33:13) “Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.” (Psalm 27:11)
Before we wrap up this episode, I want us to consider what David writes in Psalm 25:11. “For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.”
(17:30) The Best Reason of All
How great is your guilt before a Holy God? In our last episode I asked you to consider how many times today alone you have sinned against God. How many times, just today, have you been guilty of idolatry – guilty of worshiping yourself instead of God? How many times this week? How many times last week? What about this month, last month? This year, last year, or over your entire lifespan? How great is your guilt before a holy God?
Considering your answer, I now ask you this - why should God pardon your guilt? Why should He forgive you? You have repeatedly turned your back on Him. You are guilty of idolatry. You have been worshiping a false God. Time and time again you have chosen the temporary pleasure the flesh gives vs. the eternal pleasures God gives. You’ve put your trust in your own ability, or that of the worlds’ to fulfill and satisfy you instead of the perfect power of God to meet all your needs. So, why shouldn’t He turn His back on you?
The answer is clear. 1 Samuel 12:22 says, “For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself.” And in Psalm 106:8 we read, “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.”
This is why David prays in Psalm 25:11. “For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.”
(19:25) Is It for Me?
Someone may try to insert the argument here that these passages I just quoted from were all written to the Children of Israel, God’s chosen people, not to us today. Therefore – so the argument goes, the text that I just quoted is actually saying that God will not forsake Israel, for his great name’s sake.
While it is true that those verses speak directly to the Jewish nation, it is also equally as true that it is speaking just as plainly, just as clearly to us as 21st Century Christians as well.
Romans 15:4 says, “whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Did you catch that? Yes, those passages were written to the Old Testament Jews – but they were recorded in Scripture for our instruction, for our encouragement, to give us hope as well.
1 Corinthians 10:11 says, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”
The fact is, if you are a born-again believer - having placed your faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary, you have been (as 1 Peter 1:3-5 says) “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
As a Christian, you “are (God’s) workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that (you) should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9).
Revelation 1:5-6 declares “All glory (belongs) to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father.”
And Titus 2:14 tells us that Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”
God’s Word is telling us that “the Son of God has come and has given us (you and me) understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20) This is why you can rejoice that although “at one time you were darkness, ... now you are light in the Lord. (So) Walk as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8) Never forget that Jesus “has delivered (you) from the domain of darkness and transferred (you) to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” (Colossians 1:13)
So, when we read verses in the Bible like Ezekiel 20:44 we can rejoice that the truth God is speaking to the nation of Israel is the same truth He is speaking into our hearts as well. Here’s what that verse says: “You shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds.” (Ezekiel 20:44)
This is why David prays in Psalm 25:11. “For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.”
We read in Ezekiel 36:22 “Thus says the LORD God: It is not for your sake ... that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.”
(24:31) Forgiven!
I want you to listen to these next thirteen words closely, focus on them - letting them sink deep into your heart. “For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.” (Psalm 25:11) Pause for a moment here and contemplate them. Let me repeat them and as I do, say them out loud. “For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.” Consider the importance and the impact of those words. 1 John 2:12 says, “Your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”
I know we’ve already talked about this – but it bears repeating, yet again. Consider carefully all of the selfish, self-centered, egotistical King Me choices you have made over your lifetime. Contemplate how many times over the years you have been guilty of worshiping a false God. Ponder the punishment that each and every one of those individual sins deserve.
Do you have that solidly fixed in your mind? Now listen to the words of Jeremiah 14:7 “Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name’s sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you.”
Jeremiah is telling us that though our sins against God are many, and though they testify against us – they blatantly stand out in stark contrast against a Holy God – God will still act, God will still forgive, God will still restore you “for His name’s sake!”
- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and (He is) just (and He will) forgive us our sins and (He will) cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
- In Psalm 32:5 David says, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Think about that).”
In Psalm 25:11 David is crying out, “For your name’s sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.” Can you relate? “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.” (Psalm 51:2-3). Praise God for His promise in Jeremiah 33:8 that “I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.”
Do you remember the episode where we discussed Psalm 25:1 where David cries, “To you O LORD, I lift up my soul”? Do you remember the challenge I gave you to choose daily to lift up your soul to God? You see my friend, when you do that, “he restores (your) soul. He leads (you) in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3) God is, and always will be, your “rock and (your) fortress; and for (His) name’s sake (He will lead you) and (He will guide you).” (Psalm 31:3)
There is so much that I want to share with you from this rich text of Scripture, but time doesn’t permit us to finish this particular thought in this episode. So please be sure to join us next week for Episode #18 as we continue to talk about Psalm 25:11 and discover how to live free of lust, free of porn, free of masturbation, totally and utterly free to worship, serve, glorify and honor God in every aspect of your life.
Until then, may God continue to bless you, as you continue to serve Him!