God Will Instruct the Sinner’s Way (Psalm 25 Devotional)
“Good and upright is the Lord. Therefore, He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice and He teaches the humble the way.” - Psalm 25:8-10
On April 14, 1912, there set sail one of the most exquisite sailing vessels that ever graced the seas. It was over 900 feet long, 100 feet high, and carried a crew of almost 1000 people. It was the pinnacle of engineering and craftsmanship. The builder of this magnificent ship said she was unsinkable. Sadly, this hubris infected all. The captain was warned that there could be late-season icebergs, but he disregarded the warning. There were only enough lifeboats on the ship for about half of the passengers. After all, the ship was unsinkable...
That night at 11:40 the crew spotted an iceberg, but it was too late. The Titanic struck the iceberg. Less than 3 hours later, on her maiden voyage, the ship sank. She took with her 1,517 souls.
Cicero once said that thankfulness was the mother of all virtues. As important as thankfulness is though, I believe that it is actually humility that lies at the core of all virtues. If you take any virtue - patience, kindness, tenacity, hospitality, faithfulness, courage - none can exist without a dose of humility. Thinking of others first. And if you look at the vices - greed, malice, avarice, gluttony, lust - at their core is self - a type of pride that puts the individual person as the central object of his or her own life. Whether it is our pleasure, power, or prestige - pride is at the core. Pride, after all, was the great sin of the devil.
Satan wanted glory, renown, and rule. He wanted to be above God.
If humility is about putting others first, the core of that is putting God first before all others. Proverbs says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. The knowledge that there is someone infinitely greater than us, a very humbling thought, is at the core of wisdom.
A university philosophy professor once had a poignant saying on his office door in the Philosophy Department. It said, “There are 2 primary truths in this world. #1 - There is a God. #2 - You are not Him.”
Our realization that there is a God is the beginning of humility. But the second part is just as important - we are not God. We are sinful human beings. And we are not sinners because we sin, but rather, we sin because we are sinners. Just as holiness and goodness are at the core of God’s being, sin is at the core of our own being.
But thanks be to God that we have a Savior, an advocate who gives us grace and mercy. All who recognize that they are sinners - those who have a true humility in understanding our standing before a holy righteous God - He will instruct in His way.
Putting Him first, others second, and ourselves last is the true order of humility.
Questions for Thought
Who is someone you know or have seen in media who seems to only think of themselves?
When was a time that you were so self-absorbed it got you in trouble?
How would that have changed if you put God first, others second, and ourselves last?
