Day 25: The Summer of His Face Shining Upon Us- Psalm 25

Day 25 – Join Johnny Enlow for a 67-day walk through Psalms.

Posted on

CIRCLE OF CLOSE FRIENDS

Key Verse: “ All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.” (v.10)

Key Theme: A God who can be trusted.

Key Descriptive of God: GOOD (v.7,8)

On today’s journey into “His face shining upon us” we find a very rich Psalm with many delicacies to feast on. In the 22 verses, we find several recurring themes and in fact, there are 7 keywords that we will look at and they are the pillars for the chapter. The first word is GOOD. “Good and upright is the Lord.” (v.7) This word alone would be worth it all as in Hebrew words are so much richer and more encompassing in its multiple descriptives. David knows to appeal to God’s essence of GOODNESS, over and over, from forgiving his sins (that he brings up often in this chapter) to protecting him from trouble to securing his destiny. Listen to the definitions for this word GOOD in the Hebrew. 

#1. GOOD (TOWB)= “Good, Better, Best, Merry, Fair, Precious, Fine, Prosperity, Beautiful, Wealth, Agreeable, Bountiful, Cheerful, At Ease, Ready and Sweet”. 

To really absorb His GOOD-ness you must go down this definition one by one and take it in. God is Good, God is Better, God is Best…When you get to God is Prosperity, note that He is not listed just as He who gives prosperity but He who IS prosperity. Take the time to go down the line here and say each one out loud if possible. He is ALL of these at the same time. Isn’t that just mind-blowing? 

Another keyword and theme for David is ASHAMED, and he uses it several times in this Psalm. We will look at its first mentions. “Let me not be ASHAMED.” (v.2) and, “Indeed, let no one who WAITS on you be ASHAMED.” (v. 3) He will then ask that his and God’s enemies be the ASHAMED ones. So here is that word in the Hebrew.

#2. ASHAMED (BUWSH)= “To be ashamed; to be disappointed or delayed; to become dry”. 

David repeatedly throughout all of the Psalms will tell of his trust being in God and his waiting being on God. His request to God is our request. As we WAIT on you, don’t let us be ashamed, disappointed, delayed, or dried up. Let’s slow down just a minute and capture the revelation from this verse 3. God as I WAIT for you. Seems like DELAY right? How often do we hear or say, “I am WAITING on God?” But David finishes it off essentially saying, “No one who WAITS on You, will be disappointedly, delayed.” Said another way. “God accelerates those who wait— on Him.”  Acceleration by waiting. Seems like an oxymoron doesn’t it? It’s the upside-down kingdom.

Now the word TRUST. “O my God, I TRUST in You.” (v.2)

#3. TRUST (BATACH)= “trust; confidence; secure; bold; careless (think CARE less); make to hope; to fear nothing for oneself.”

What a small word, so hard to do, but with huge implications. Don’t say, “I just can’t trust God”. Saying the opposite of what you feel in this area is often THE KEY to getting there. David did it over and over. At times you could tell he was trying to get there and not actually sure he did. You get there by PUTTING your trust in Him. You put your trust in Him first by SAYING you TRUST Him. Where you will arrive to is all the definitions I listed, but I love the last one, “To fear nothing for oneself.” If you could bottle that and sell it, you’d be an instant billionaire.

Now the words WAYS and PATHS. “Show me Your WAYS. Teach me Your PATHS.” (v.4)

#4. WAYS (DEREK)= “ways; roads; journey; manners; habits;” also a “well-traveled path”. This is pretty self-explanatory, but how interesting to ask God to show you His manners and His habits? 

#5. PATHS (ORACH)= also “well-traveled path” but includes “caravan; race; rank; troop.”  In essence, David is also asking for who his “tribe” is (caravan, troop); what is the “race” he is running (Paul talked about running “his race”), and what is his “rank”. Meditate on these. The higher the “rank”, the lower, more circumspect life you are to lead. (I know you thought it was “the more people you get to boss around” 

Next, my Key Verse, “ ALL the PATHS (that word again) of the Lord are mercy and truth, To such as keep His COVENANT.” (v.10)

#6. COVENANT (BERIYTH)= Yes, this word is about “cutting covenant” and refers to a very bloody ordeal where a pact or binding agreement is made, but as I looked down the list of definitions it was about “an alliance of friendship or marriage” and then had a strong “eating together as friends” component. The Old Testament covenants always included something done with blood but also then eating the animal that had been killed. That is way beyond just “cutting” and “blood” and is the focus here. “Keeping His covenant” is not some unachievable perfectionist standard. It is entering into a next level friendship with God where you “eat together as friends”. To those who go there, God says, ALL your paths will be “mercy” and “truth”. What a promise? Yes, focus on making agreements/covenants with the Lord but the “eating together as friends” may be the bigger deal. We talk about God’s “covenant” with Abraham being still a big deal today but remember Abraham was called a “friend” of God. Covenant is much less about a legal obligation and much more about a relational privilege.

Last one. “The SECRET of the Lord is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His COVENANT (that word again)”. (v.14)

#7. SECRET (COWD)= “a session; intimacy; consultation; a circle of close friends”.

Is this not something? He grants “a session”, “intimacy”, “ a consultation” and lets you in on His “circle of close friends” if you “fear” Him. The word “fear” we could have added as well, but I think we understand it. In Hebrew, it means to revere, stand in awe, honor, respect as the “fear” you show. If you approach the Lord not overly familiar, He will bring you into His “circle of friends”. Seems like another oxymoron doesn’t it? Don’t be overly familiar so you can be close friends. Aren’t close friends marked by over-familiarity? Not when He is Creator of the Universe and Ruler of the Nations. This is something to ponder and take in. Note the rest of that verse, “He will show them His COVENANT.” See how that is beyond legalese? Covenant is about making His circle of close friends. He loves everyone, unconditionally always. But not everyone gets in on the “secret of the Lord.” It is a relational privilege based on you knowing how to make HIS heart feel safe with you. That is what this 67-day journey is about.

 

 

Written by: Johnny Enlow

Featured Image by chris ganser on Unsplash


67 DAY COUNTDOWN SERIES

You can find all of the posts in this series by clicking the button below. 

VISIT SERIES PAGE


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 67 Day Countdown Series is brought to you by Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow, founders of Restore7 ministry, as well as international speakers and best-selling authors. Among Johnny’s books are The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, Rainbow God, The Seven Mountain Renaissance, Becoming A Superhero, and RISE. Elizabeth serves as CEO and penned Rainbow God: The Seven Colors of Love and God in Every Season.

The views and opinions expressed by Kingdom Winds Collective Members, authors, and contributors are their own and do not represent the views of Kingdom Winds LLC.

About the Author

Kingdom Winds Contributors - Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow are social reformers at heart, as well as international speakers and authors of The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, and Rainbow God. As ones focused on the reformation of the 7 primary areas of culture, they are spiritual mentors to many in Media, Arts and Entertainment, Government, Family, Religion, Economy, and Education. Their passion is to awaken our generation to the reality of the God of all of life, Who not only cares for our souls but also has practical solutions to offer through His sons and daughters for every problem that exists in society.