C, Advent 1 - Psalm 25:1-10 "Good & Upright is the Lord"

There once was a working class man, who became king. He treated his palace staff as though they were royalty; he even refurbished the workers’ living quarters to palace standards. The new king was compassionate and kind; he wanted the best for his servants having been a labourer once too.

But in time his staff became conceited and loathed the king — even his generous rule. They got up to all sorts of revelry in their plush living quarters and after a short time it looked more like a pig sty than the property of the palace. They destroyed their regal residence and the name of the king was slandered inside its wall.

In fact, his servant subjects had completely rejected his rule and they credited themselves with the prosperity which had been bestowed upon them. The king knew about this and was grieved in his heart. But rather than rid himself of these workers, he patiently and continually encouraged them to renew their allegiance to him and his rule so that peace and harmony would return once again to the servants’ living quarters.

In time the king had a son, but the staff had become so rebellious and distracted by their own importance they didn’t even realise the king had borne an heir to the throne. This boy knew nothing of the working class life from which his father had come. All he had ever experienced inside the walls of the palace was his princely life.

So the king lovingly sent his son, to live as a working class servant boy, to experience life outside the palace walls, so he might better understand his father’s kingdom and better lead the country when he became king. The boy went to work and live with the palace staff; no doubt he very quickly got some real life experience.

Picture what this young boy walked from… cleanliness, prestige, excesses, good manners, honour, and respect. Now picture what he walked into… dirtiness, coarseness, hard work, debauchery, drunkenness, disrespect, disunity and fighting. This was hardly an inheritance for a king!

King David was an earthy working class man too. He grew up as a shepherd boy. But God saw that this lowly boy became king.

David seeks God’s mercy in Psalm 25, saying, To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; 2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. 4 Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; 5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long. 6 Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord. 8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. (Psalm 25:1-10 NIV)

King David knew where he stood with the Lord; he knew he was a sinner. In the very next verse, after what we have just heard, David pours his heart out to God, saying, For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. (Psalm 25:11) David knew the Lord’s way was loving and faithful. However, for a sinner like David to keep the demands of the covenant is impossible, and it brings this cry of contrition from his lips — for the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my sin, though it is great.

For the sake of God’s name, these inspired words from David among others, needed to be fulfilled in the advent of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. So we do well to see this Psalm, and all Psalms—in fact, the complete Old Testament—fulfilled in Christ. Jesus needed to come into the world as a servant; the creator needed to be created, it was advantageous for us that God make his advent amongst us.

We—like King David and the rebellious workers we’ve just heard about—need a Saviour. None of us can keep God’s covenant, and, therefore, receive God’s loving and faithful ways. All of us left to our own devices become treacherous without excuse; before God our best work still brings us shame. We all need Christ’s coming and his supreme sacrifice. In fact, we do receive God’s faithfulness and loving guidance, but only because of Jesus Christ.

In this Advent season as we prepare for Christmas, the coming and birth of God amongst us, let’s focus on two things. Firstly, the heights from which God the Son came to dwell among us. And secondly, the lengths and depths to which he went, so that we his sinful rebellious and treacherous servants might be saved. In clearly hearing and grasping the sanctity and privileged position of Almighty God over against the utter depths to which we and all people have slumped, only then do we even begin to truly appreciate just what the grace of God is and how privileged we are to receive it!

Look at it from the point of view of the son sent to live in the servant’s quarters. How much would the contrast have struck him between princely exuberance in which he had lived and the squalor and filth into which he was delivered? Think of the shame and despair he must have felt! Had he done something wrong, did his father, the king, still love him? Had he been sent to the palace quarters to die with the sacrilegious servants?

Now let’s use Psalm 25 to see Christ’s advent — from his point of view. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Jesus came from heaven to us, he came from timelessness to a point in time, he the creator was created as a weak baby, he came from infinite knowledge and power, to be born by a mother who was pregnant outside wedlock, and grew to be the son of a lowly Nazareth carpenter. He was handed over to treacherous men, and put to shame because of our sinful ways. It looked as though his enemies had triumphed over him. And yet, he still trusted in his Father who sent him into his fallen sinful creation to save us.

Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long. God taught him his paths and showed him the way that led straight to the cross. Jesus knew the truth, he was innocent and we are guilty. Yet Jesus’ hope remained in God all day long and now we are called to faith in him who was faithful to his Father’s will for our benefit.

Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. Put yourself in Jesus’ place. How great would God’s goodness and mercy and love “seem to be” if it was you he had sent to die. Our sin and rebellious ways have continued from of old, right back to our youth. God remembered them and placed them on his innocent Son. How good was that for Jesus, who is good? How good is this for us, who are not good? Yet we walk in freedom while the Almighty King of the universe, in all goodness and godliness, walked the way of the cross.

He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. Christ came as King and humbled himself and became obedient unto death, death on a cursed cross. This is the loving and faithful way the Lord walked even though he kept every demand of the covenant.

As we reflect on Christ’s first coming, and wait for Christ’s second coming, know that all the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for us, because Jesus Christ has kept the demands of the covenant. So be humble, repent, seek what is right, and allow him to teach you his way.

By your Holy Spirit, Lord, give us the power to trust your Word, to watch, and to pray. Amen.

Sermon Audio can be found at http://friarpuk.podbean.com/2006/12/03/“good-upright-is-the-lord”-c-advent-1/