"Remember, Lord, Your compassion and Your faithful love, for they have existed from antiquity. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my acts of rebellion; in keeping with Your faithful love, remember me because of Your goodness, Lord. The Lord is good and upright; therefore He shows sinners the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. All the Lord’s ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep His covenant and decrees. Because of Your name, Yahweh, forgive my sin, for it is great" (Psalm 25:6-11, HCSB).
The explanations the psalmist provides in Psalm 25 about how God reveals Himself and His will to us are so perceptive and penetrating that it merits another post to explain the reasons why God reveals His will.Fortunately, Psalm 25 provides explanations for both How and Why!
In Part 1 we noted that how we look for God's will is to turn to God, trust Him, and wait for Him.
And, we concluded that God reveals specific details of His character and His will to people who are desperately looking for Him. In other words, when we depend on God, then He will show us His way for us to follow.
But you might be left wondering why God would want to bother with providing a personal revelation of Himself to you and me?
Why go to all that trouble?
The psalmist provides a powerful theological explanation for God revealing Himself and His will to His people in these verses: God is good!
The psalmist contrasts the faithful love of God and His goodness with the depravity of human beings and their need for restoration.
The juxtaposition of remember/not remember/remember demonstrates that God's consciousness (remembrance) of His own everlasting love and mercy is the reason He acts beneficently toward His people.
Therefore, people's sins are forgiven (not remembered). And only then can God act on behalf of His people (remember) who have humbled themselves and depend on Him.
In fact, it is God's reputation (His name) that is at stake in the forgiveness of people's sins.
God's reputation--His essential nature or character--is closely connected with His actions toward His people.
Because people are sinful and God is good, He must impute His goodness by forgiving our sins!
It's as if God is compelled by the force of His own nature to reveal Himself and His will to His people!
"For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose" (Philippians 2:13).
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