Psalms 25:11-15 (ESV)
11 For your name's sake, O LORD,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the LORD?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
In Psalm 25 we read a prayer about the man who pursues God and want s to walk in integrity with God. The writer, David, states right from the beginning that he wants to lift his soul toward God, seek protection from his enemies and pursue God’s paths. In the above passage we read him write about what it is like in this life if we turn from sin and turn toward God to fear the Lord. By doing so, note the benefits God gives us:
1. (vs. 12b) - The man that fears the Lord will be instructed by the Lord in the way he should choose to walk. This is such a refreshing truth for those who are trying to navigate life and seek God’s will. When we truly turn from sin (vs 11) and turn to God to fear Him (vs 12a), God gives him instruction on choices. This is a OT version of the truth in Romans 12:1-2.
2. (vs. 13a) - The man that fears the Lord will abide in well being. The Hebrew word for “well-being” is “tob.” It is used over 500 times in the Old Testament. The first time it was used was in Genesis 1 when God say the light and said it was “good.” So, the word has a wide meaning but in our language today it would mean prosperous (which is how the NIV translates the word). Those that fear the Lord have some type of “tob” life and that is always characterized as a good thing.
3. (vs. 13b) - The man that fears the Lord will be assured that his offspring will also have some time of “tob.” David writes they will “inherit the land.” This probably has some restrictions on obedience. David’s son Solomon certainly is an example of “tob” after David’s death. However, David’s son Absalom did not.
4. (vs. 14) - The man that fears the Lord will have an intimacy with the Lord, to the extent that God will give him divine revelation and make Himself known to him. Note the same promise from the book of Hebrews:
Hebrews 8:10-12 (ESV)
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds,
and write them on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor
and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.”
5. (vs. 15) - The man that fears the Lord will be kept from harm because His eyes on the Lord. That enables God to pluck him from the traps and nets of the world. When we are looking in the wrong place our feet will end up in the wrong steps. When we are looking straight at the Lord we can be assured our steps are on a safe path.
Fear the Lord - God benefits us when we do.
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