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Simplify Decision Making (Psalm 25)
55 Plays3 years ago
Simplify Decision Making (Psalm 25)
Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
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Transcript
Introduction and Welcome
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, FBCColumbusTX.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome back to Growing in Grace.
Stress and Simplifying Decisions
00:00:45
Speaker
Do you like decision-making? That's what we're gonna talk today about is making decisions. I wanna actually talk about simplifying decision-making. Do you ever get sort of stressed, have trouble, you get stuck whenever you're gonna have to decide something? I know it can be overwhelming. As a matter of fact, a business professor at Columbia University wrote a book called The Art of Choosing.
00:01:12
Speaker
And she certainly had to make a lot of choices in her life. I think early in her life, she became blind. And so can you imagine the number of decisions that she had to make? But now she's a very accomplished writer.
00:01:30
Speaker
researcher and Sheena Iyengar says that out of her research and all the people she's talked to and so forth, she estimates that everybody makes on average about 70 decisions every day. Can you imagine? Did you know you were going to make that many decisions today?
00:01:51
Speaker
If that's true, 70 decisions a day, then that's 25,500 decisions a year. And let's say that someone's listening, maybe you're 70 or over 70 years of age. Well,
00:02:05
Speaker
already you've made 1,788,500 decisions. That's incredible. How can anybody make it through that many different decisions?
Choices, Consequences, and Faith
00:02:17
Speaker
Sometimes I feel like we just need to simplify things. I read where one time Abraham Lincoln said, I have often been driven to God by the overwhelming sense that I had nowhere else to go. You ever feel that way? Wow.
00:02:34
Speaker
You know, Joshua said in Joshua 24.15 in his farewell address, choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord is where he came down on it. You know, philosopher Albert Camus said that life is a sum of all our choices.
00:02:56
Speaker
I don't know if I agree with that completely, but I definitely know choices and their consequences can definitely catch up with us. That's why it's very important what we decide. But I do believe there is someone in this universe, our Creator, who says to us, come to me.
00:03:15
Speaker
and I will give you rest. I think he can help us with our decisions.
Psalm 25 and Seeking Guidance
00:03:19
Speaker
I believe that David charts a wonderful course for us on simplifying decision making. You know, there are nine acrostic Psalms in the Psalter.
00:03:31
Speaker
You know, the Psalm is like the hymn book of the nation of Israel. It's the hymn book in many ways because, you know, there's lots of poems and songs in there, but it's also the hymn book because it's all about Him. It's about our Creator, about our Savior, our Redeemer, our Lord.
00:03:51
Speaker
David was inspired by God's Holy Spirit, not only to write this psalm, but some people believe David wrote 75 of the 150 psalms. So roughly, I mean, that's a half.
00:04:06
Speaker
But I'm not sure the setting of David's life, but some people believe that Psalm 25 could have been written during the time when his own son Absalom rebelled against him and was threatening to totally take over the kingdom. As a matter of fact, at one point, David had to get out of there. He had to leave Jerusalem and go into the wilderness and try to survive the threat.
00:04:36
Speaker
So I don't know if that's where you are. Perhaps making decisions with your family is a very difficult thing right now.
00:04:44
Speaker
But one thing I know is that based on what I see of David's footprints in Psalm 25, he goes to the Lord with it all. I mean, right in the middle of all that was happening on his life, he says to God, I need you and I need you in four different areas. I need you to help me with my future. He was asking God, I want you to guide me to the right decisions. I believe another thing, since he was on the run,
00:05:14
Speaker
Well, I think we're on the run a lot. And so maybe we can connect with David in this next thing. He was on a fast track. You know, sometimes I get concerned that society these days, we're running awfully fast. Do we really know where we're going? Are we really thinking through things or are we making decisions? And then later we have to make up for a bad decision that we made in haste.
00:05:42
Speaker
But he was asking for guidance for his future. He was asking the Lord to help him to go at God's pace to slow down. I believe he was also asking for God to be a fortress. He needed protection. And so he's just flat out asking that. Do you ever feel like that you need protection?
00:06:01
Speaker
Well, he did. There's one last thing. David realized, perhaps if Absalom was rebelling, he realized, you know what, in my life, I've really made some mistakes. And he needed forgiveness.
00:06:15
Speaker
If you could go to God and say, God, could you help me in these four areas? I really wonder if it would simplify so many decisions for us because then it's not like we're in the decision making ourselves. We're actually inviting God to be a part of our decision making. That's what I want you to do. As I read through Psalm 25, I want you to listen closely to some of the things that David says to God.
00:06:45
Speaker
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust. Let me not be put to shame. Let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame. They shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
00:07:09
Speaker
Make me to know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation. For you, I wait all the day long. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not
00:07:35
Speaker
the sins of my youth or my transgressions. According to your steadfast love, remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
00:07:45
Speaker
Good and upright is the Lord, therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. For your namesake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
00:08:11
Speaker
Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in wellbeing and his offspring shall inherit the land. The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him and he makes known to them his covenant. My eyes are ever toward the Lord for he will plug my feet out of the net.
00:08:40
Speaker
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble and forgive all my sins. Consider how many are my foes, and with what violent hatred they hate me,
00:09:05
Speaker
Oh, guard my soul and deliver me. Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
Summarizing David's Prayers
00:09:25
Speaker
Isn't that really sweet? Man, I read that and it was so rich. It blessed me. I wanted to pass it along to all of you who are my friends. I want to just quickly
00:09:38
Speaker
Sort of summarize this whole psalm with these four words, four different prayers, inviting God to do four things in our lives. The first one of which is to simply say, God, would you pilot me? Would you be my pilot?
00:09:55
Speaker
You know, I heard David saying he needed God to guide him. He needed God to sort of reveal to him the path that he should take to the future. I noticed David had a way of saying things, and it's like, I wish I'd have thought of that. Well, that's why the Bible's written, so that we don't have to think of everything to say to God. I think this Psalm would be wonderful just to make it personal. Put the personal pronouns in there and make it yours. Ask God.
00:10:26
Speaker
to be your pilot. You know, the first thing I noticed about David asking God to guide him was he was willing to be led by the Lord.
00:10:37
Speaker
He actually says in verse 1 something very significant, To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. Do you see surrender in that? I love that. I think that's very important. He's expressing to God a willingness for God to help him. He also says, Oh my God, in you I trust. I think that's significant.
00:10:57
Speaker
But the main idea is he's actually wanting to be led by the Lord. No wonder he says, make me. Some translations say, show me.
00:11:08
Speaker
Show me your ways, O Lord. Make me to know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. I see someone in this passage who genuinely wants to know, do you genuinely want God to help you with your decision making? I believe he will if we'll just simply go to him with this kind of attitude.
Humility and God's Guidance
00:11:29
Speaker
You know, speaking of attitudes, I noticed that David also sort of charts the course on the way to be led by the Lord. Are there certain kind of attitudes that will definitely put us in a great position to be led by the Lord? I think so. Listen to this one, for example, in verse nine. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches the humble his way.
00:11:56
Speaker
Hmm, you know, if I humble myself and I say, God, I honestly, I don't know what to do in this particular decision. I don't know which way to choose. If you'll humble yourself, I really believe God will say, okay, I've got you. Then I noticed something else in verse 12. David wrote, who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way he should choose. That's pretty significant.
00:12:26
Speaker
I think that if we have a genuine respect, if we really sense that within our hearts we want to honor God in our decision, I think that's half the battle. Verse 8 says, Good and upright is the Lord, therefore He instructs
Importance of God's Timing
00:12:42
Speaker
sinners in the way.
00:12:44
Speaker
If you ever made some mistakes, David did. We'll talk about that last. But what he's saying here is, even someone who has taken the broken road so many times, perhaps you've gone the wrong way at a fork in the road. That's okay.
00:13:00
Speaker
God wants to start where you are right now and to guide you, but you first have to say, God, would you be my pilot? I think there's a second thing that we see also in this passage. I think David is also saying, Lord, would you pace me? Would you help me to move at your pace? You know, verse three, he says, indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame. None who wait for you.
00:13:29
Speaker
Do you like waiting? I don't like waiting. I'd rather have a fast pass like you can get at Disney World. That's my preference. But God knows sometimes things are not exactly set up yet for me to move forward. You know, he also says in verse five, for you, I wait all the day long. I believe God's worth waiting on.
00:13:51
Speaker
Man, you know, if we only knew the wonderful things that God has planned for us, we would say something similar. Lord, I may not enjoy waiting in a lot of lines, but I will wait all day long if I know I'm waiting for you because you always have the best plans.
00:14:11
Speaker
I thought it was also interesting how David, toward the end of the Psalm, he says how we should wait. Is there anything written in the Bible about how you wait upon the Lord? Well, David said this, may integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
00:14:33
Speaker
That's interesting. What if we said, okay, Lord, until I know which way I should go, I'm just gonna do everything I know to do. I'm gonna try to obey you. I'm gonna try to be a man or woman of integrity. And I'm gonna try to walk in uprightness in all my business dealings, in all my relationships. I'm gonna really try to be faithful while I'm waiting.
00:14:57
Speaker
I think that's an awesome way to wait. It gives waiting so much more purpose. Besides, while we're waiting, God may be working and preparing something else. I'll never forget when I was in Japan as a missionary. One time I passed by a junior high school and they had just let out for the day. I was coming home from language school and I'd only been studying the Japanese language for maybe three weeks.
00:15:24
Speaker
And I thought, man, this would be a great opportunity to talk to some of the kids. But you know what happened? When I heard them talking to one another, I couldn't understand a thing they were saying. And then I began to think, what am I going to tell them? Street, tree, shoulder, head, you know? Crazy. I thought, I can't have a conversation yet. So I felt so discouraged. But you won't believe what the Holy Spirit said to me after I walked past the school.
00:15:53
Speaker
The Holy Spirit said to me, while I'm getting you ready to talk, I'm getting them ready to listen.
00:16:02
Speaker
It wasn't too many more years later that we saw about 50 people in Japan trust Jesus Christ. God did get me ready, but at that moment, I just had to wait. Sometimes that's what it's like, but we don't like that, do we? There was a famous preacher from the past named Philip Brooks, and Dr. Brooks had a good friend who went over to visit him one day, and when he walked in, he couldn't believe it.
00:16:29
Speaker
Dr. Brooks was pacing back and forth in his living room like a caged tiger. And so he was trying to carry on a conversation with, you know, Philip Brooks, but finally the friend just broke down and said, Dr. Brooks, what's the trouble? What's the problem? And you know what he said? He said, the trouble is that I'm in a hurry, but God isn't.
00:16:55
Speaker
That's how it is sometimes, isn't it? Well, we're ready to rush on through. And yet God's saying, trust me, now is also important. Now is meaningful, but you just can't see it. So I think a legitimate prayer would be to say to God, Lord, I want to be on your timetable. I want to walk with you, even if it means I have to wait.
00:17:19
Speaker
I always thought it was fascinating how in Acts 16, there was a time when the apostle Paul wanted to go into Asia Minor, and it says the Holy Spirit would not permit him. And he was thinking, everybody needs to hear the word of God, right? Everybody needs to hear about Jesus, right? But the Holy Spirit would not permit him. That's in Acts 16. You ought to read on over into Acts 18. Guess what happens over there? It says,
00:17:48
Speaker
that Paul makes a statement that all who are in Asia have heard the word of God. Isn't that amazing? At one point in his life, the Holy Spirit is saying, I don't want you to say anything in Asia Minor, not now. But just two chapters later, he's saying, wow, now everybody in Asia has heard the word. That's phenomenal, what a statement.
00:18:13
Speaker
God's timetable may not be the same as ours, but it's always best. So just trust him.
David's Reliance on God
00:18:20
Speaker
Say, God, I want to walk at your pace. Another thing is to say, God, I want you to pilot me. I want you to direct me and show me the way in which I should go. Sometimes even obeying God, like David,
00:18:35
Speaker
It brings us into an area where there are dangers, where there's stress, where there's problems. Sometimes we actually have to say to God, Lord, would you protect me? That's the third thing to pray. I think verses two and three, verse 15 and 17, 19 and 20 and 22, all through here, David is saying things like this. Listen to what he says.
00:19:00
Speaker
Let me not be put to shame. Let not my enemies exult over me." Verse 2. Nobody likes to lose a battle. Nobody wants to see an enemy all happy as you're laying on the ground. They shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. You know, I wish I could promise you
00:19:21
Speaker
that if you're just growing grace, then out there in this world, everybody's gonna give you a high five. Everybody is gonna be nice to you, and everybody's gonna do great things for you. But you know what? That wouldn't be realistic. That wouldn't even be true. David says, you know, I know that the real shame is not gonna be with me if I'm trying to do what God is telling me to do. It's gonna be with those who are wantonly treacherous.
00:19:51
Speaker
No wonder in verse 15, David was able to say with confidence, my eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Hmm. Sounds like somebody was setting a trap for him, doesn't it?
00:20:07
Speaker
Verse 17, David talks about the stress level. Is your stress level really getting to you these days? Well, David's was in verse 17. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out of my distresses.
00:20:24
Speaker
Sometimes maybe we do have someone that's putting pressure on us that's undue, undeserved, whatever, but you know the Lord can actually free us from that and he can downsize that stress that's kind of exaggerating everything in our lives.
00:20:42
Speaker
I like what he says in verse 22, redeem Israel out of all his troubles. Yeah, that's the Lord. We need God to simply protect us. You know, as a savior, I think he's really good at that. So why don't we pray, Lord, protect me.
00:20:59
Speaker
Lord, would you pace me? Would you run beside me and help me to walk if you're walking, to stand if you're standing, to run if you're running? But then also, Lord, I want to go in the same direction that you're going. So would you also pilot me? Pilot me, pace me, protect me. One more. Pardon me. Pardon me.
00:21:21
Speaker
You know, he also asked for God to cleanse him. Do you know that 12 years before this, that's when David got into trouble. He committed adultery and he had to go to the Lord and ask God to please forgive him. Sometime you could read Psalm 32, Psalm 51, those are really good about cleansing.
00:21:45
Speaker
But by this point, Absalom is the problem, if I understand this correctly. But notice what David is saying he wants God to remember.
00:21:55
Speaker
and what he doesn't want God to remember. He says, remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. That's what he wants God to remember. God, don't forget that you are so merciful. You're so gracious. Your love is steadfast. It doesn't change. But then there was something he did not want God to remember. Remember not,
00:22:24
Speaker
the sins of my youth or my transgressions. According to your steadfast love, remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord." I love that one. Have you ever heard of a baseball player, a major leaguer now named Fred Snogress? Probably not, right? This guy was in the 1912 World Series. Goes back before my time. Anyway, what happens is he's playing for the Giants.
00:22:54
Speaker
And at that time, they hit a Pop Fly ball, and they're in the last game. He could have stopped this from happening, but he dropped the Pop Fly. And so as a result, they lost not only the game, his one era caused them to lose the whole series. Can you imagine how he felt?
00:23:16
Speaker
Well, get this, 62 years later, Fred Snodgrass passes away. By this time, he's already retired from being a major league baseball player, but he's been a successful banker, he's been a successful rancher, and a very good mayor. He's also raised a fine family.
00:23:39
Speaker
But do you know what the New York Times put the day he died? They put Fred Snogress, they gave the date of his death, and then they made this one statement about his whole life. Ballplayer muffed fly in 1912. Can you believe it? After 62 years, they still have not forgotten that he dropped the ball.
00:24:03
Speaker
Isn't that sad? Don't you just long for somebody out there not to remember your mistakes and your errors? That's God. That's why Jesus came. He came so that all of our sins could be washed away and we could be introduced to this grace, to this incredible mercy that composes the heart of our God.
00:24:32
Speaker
He says in verse 16, turn to me and be gracious to me, for I'm lonely and afflicted.
Closing Prayer and Blessing
00:24:40
Speaker
I wonder if there could be anyone out there that's listening today. And maybe you feel so lonely. You feel so cut off. And maybe it's not because of what someone else has done. If you're honest, it's because of what you've done. Somehow you burnt bridges. Your sin had great impact.
00:25:02
Speaker
Listen to what this man is saying, David. He says in verse 18, forgive all my sins. Forgive all my sins. That's an amazing grace right there that God could forgive all of our sins.
00:25:20
Speaker
Listen, I know that this seems like an oversimplification of life to say, well, if you'll just do these four things, then it'll simplify all of your decisions. I didn't mean to come across trite, but I'm just trying to tell you that there's something really cool found here in Psalm 25. I think this changed David's life. These kind of truths, and I believe these truths will change your life. I believe that if we,
00:25:50
Speaker
will begin to go to the Lord every day and say, God, would you pilot me?
00:25:56
Speaker
God, I'm in a big hurry these days. Would you also set the pace so that I don't run ahead of you, so that I walk right in step with you? I wanna be in sync with you, God. And then to say, God, I also, I do have some enemies. I have some people that are really hateful to me, that are saying critical things to me all the time, that are so hurtful. Would you say to God, would you please protect me, protect my heart? Maybe you would feel like David and say, Lord,
00:26:26
Speaker
These things within my heart, they're out of proportion. I need you to reduce this and take the stinger out of this. But then also, would you say to God, Lord, I have made mistakes. I did do this that got me here, but I wanna ask you, Lord, would you please, would you please pardon me?
00:26:46
Speaker
Just those four, those four decisions, those four prayers could make a major impact on a thousand other decisions that would be tied to those four things. So let's go to the Lord in prayer now and let me just pray these four things, not only for you, man, I still need them. Let's go to him together.
00:27:07
Speaker
Lord, I thank you so much that we're learning as we grow in grace that we can talk to you about major decisions that we have facing us. Not just the major ones, really, even the minor ones. Maybe most of us would say I'm no major leaguer.
00:27:24
Speaker
I'm in the minor leagues for sure. That's okay, because God, He even knows when a sparrow drops to the ground. He knows the number of hairs on her head. So today, Lord, even though we may not know a whole lot of people, we may not have a major influence on a lot of different movers and shakers, the one thing we're saying is, would you pilot me?
00:27:47
Speaker
Lord, we would like to walk also at your pace, so we're going to add a second prayer. Would you help me to walk in sync with you, to be right in step, not ahead of you, but not lagging behind, just walking in step? The other thing, Lord,
00:28:04
Speaker
We have had some hurts. There may be some that we don't have a good relationship with right now, and perhaps we're trying, but it's just still not what it should be. And so Lord, would you protect us, protect our hearts, protect our witness? Because we certainly don't want to lose our cool.
00:28:22
Speaker
And then lastly, Lord, we have lost our cool. We have been selfish. We have been prideful. We have been sinful. So Lord, we're just coming back to you again today and saying like David, hey, Lord, would you please have mercy on me? Would you forgive all my sins? Thank you so much, Lord, for making a way that we could come to your throne of grace through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. How sweet it is. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
00:28:52
Speaker
So glad you could be with us today. I pray that you will have God's wisdom as you go through life and may every day you seek Him as you're trying to make decisions. God bless. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.