The School of Grace Text: Psalm 25:8-15
Introduction: God's Curriculum for Sinners
We live in an age that has inverted the gospel. The modern message, whether from the secular psychologist or the smiling television preacher, is fundamentally a message of self-help. It begins with the assumption that you are basically good, that your potential is limitless, and that your great need is to discover the strength that lies within. The world tells you to look inside for answers. But the Word of God tells you that looking inside is the very definition of the problem. Your heart, apart from grace, is not a treasure chest to be unlocked, but rather a viper pit to be cleansed.
The gospel is not a self-help program for the salvageable; it is a resurrection program for the dead. And this portion of Psalm 25 is a direct assault on our native pride. It lays out the curriculum for God's school, and the first requirement for enrollment is to admit that you are a sinner who needs instruction. The world says, "I'm okay, you're okay." The psalmist says, "My iniquity is great." The world says, "Follow your heart." The psalmist says, "He instructs sinners in the way." The world offers a path to self-actualization. God offers a path of lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant.
This passage is a description of the kind of student God accepts into His tutelage. He does not look for the bright, the accomplished, or the self-sufficient. He looks for the humble. He seeks out those who fear Him. He reveals His secrets to those who know they have no secrets from Him. This is the school of grace, and the lessons taught here are the very opposite of everything our rebellious culture holds dear.
The Text
Good and upright is Yahweh;
Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.
May He lead the humble in justice,
And may He teach the humble His way.
All the paths of Yahweh are lovingkindness and truth
To those who guard His covenant and His testimonies.
For Your name’s sake, O Yahweh,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
Who is the man who fears Yahweh?
He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
His soul will abide in goodness,
And his seed will inherit the land.
The secret of Yahweh is for those who fear Him,
And He will make them know His covenant.
My eyes are continually toward Yahweh,
For He will bring my feet out of the net.
(Psalm 25:8-15 LSB)
The Character of the Teacher (v. 8)
The logic of our salvation begins not with us, but with God. Look at the foundation David lays.
"Good and upright is Yahweh; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way." (Psalm 25:8)
Notice the "therefore." God's willingness to teach sinners does not flow from some inherent worthiness He finds in us. It flows directly and inexorably from His own immutable character. He is good, which means He is gracious, benevolent, and kind. And He is upright, which means He is just, righteous, and holy. Our therapeutic age wants to pit these attributes against each other. They want a God who is "good" in a sentimental way, a God who is so "nice" that He would never be "upright" enough to condemn sin. But the Bible presents no such conflict.
Because God is good, He desires to rescue sinners. Because He is upright, He cannot simply overlook their sin. Therefore, He must instruct them in the way of righteousness. He does not lower His standard to meet them; He graciously lifts them up to meet His standard. The way He instructs is the way of the cross, where His goodness and uprightness met and kissed. At the cross, His goodness provided a substitute for sinners, and His uprightness poured out the full penalty for sin upon that substitute. God's instruction of sinners is not an elective He offers; it is a necessary consequence of who He is.
The Prerequisite for Learning (v. 9)
If God is the teacher, who are the students? Who gets to enroll in this divine school?
"May He lead the humble in justice, And may He teach the humble His way." (Psalm 25:9)
The prerequisite is humility. The proud are unteachable. The man who believes he has it all figured out, the man who is his own law, the man who thinks his sins are just minor character flaws, has a mind that is hermetically sealed against divine instruction. God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble (1 Pet. 5:5).
Biblical humility is not a groveling self-hatred. It is clear-eyed realism. It is seeing yourself as you actually are in relation to the God who made you. It is an inference you draw from the staggering reality of His holiness and your sinfulness. When you see Him as He is, you see yourself as you are, and you become teachable. And what does He teach the humble? He leads them in justice and teaches them His way. True justice is not found in the manifestos of angry men, but in the revealed law of a holy God. The humble man says, "Not my will, but Thine be done. Not my way, but Thy way be shown."
The Nature of the Path (v. 10)
What is this "way" of God like? What does the student find as he walks the path God lays out?
"All the paths of Yahweh are lovingkindness and truth To those who guard His covenant and His testimonies." (Psalm 25:10)
The path is paved with two of the most glorious words in all of Scripture: lovingkindness and truth. The Hebrew here is hesed and emet. Hesed is covenant loyalty, steadfast love, mercy that will not let go. Emet is faithfulness, reliability, truth that is rock-solid. Every step a believer takes on the path of obedience, he finds that God's covenant loyalty and His unwavering faithfulness are the very ground beneath his feet.
But notice the qualifier. These paths are this way "to those who guard His covenant and His testimonies." This is not a description of how to earn God's favor. It is a description of those who have already received it. To guard the covenant is the mark of a true believer. It is to live a life that takes God's promises and commands seriously. You cannot claim the benefits of the covenant while you are trampling its terms underfoot. The man who walks in disobedience will not find the path to be lovingkindness and truth; he will find it to be discipline and judgment. But for the one who, by grace, clings to the covenant, every providence, whether it feels sweet or sour, is an expression of God's faithful love.
The Greatness of Sin, The Glory of Pardon (v. 11)
Here we come to the heart of the sinner's plea, and it is a glorious paradox that turns all human reasoning on its head.
"For Your name’s sake, O Yahweh, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great." (Psalm 25:11)
A man comes into a human court and says, "Let me off, judge, because my crime was truly heinous." He would be laughed out of the room. But this is precisely the argument David makes before the throne of grace. He does not minimize his sin. He does not excuse it. He puts it on full display: "it is great." And he makes the greatness of his sin the very reason he should be pardoned.
How can this be? Because the basis of his appeal is not his own merit, but God's reputation. "For Your name's sake." A small pardon for a small sin brings small glory to the one who pardons. But a staggering pardon for a great and mountainous sin puts the magnificent grace of the pardoner on display for all the world to see. David is essentially praying, "Lord, my sin is so massive that it provides a perfect opportunity for You to show the universe how incredibly gracious and merciful You are. Forgive me, and get great glory for Your name in doing so." This is the logic of the gospel. God saves wretched sinners for the praise of His glorious grace (Eph. 1:6).
The Fear of the Lord and Its Fruit (v. 12-14)
"Who is the man who fears Yahweh? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. His soul will abide in goodness, And his seed will inherit the land. The secret of Yahweh is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant." (Psalm 25:12-14)
The humble man from verse 9 is here described as the man who fears Yahweh. This is not the cowering fear of a slave before a tyrant, but the reverential awe of a son before a holy and loving Father. It is the beginning of all wisdom. And to this man, God makes a series of astounding promises.
First, God promises personal guidance. "He will instruct him in the way he should choose." The God-fearing man is not left to stumble in the dark. God Himself becomes his guide. Second, God promises personal blessing. "His soul will abide in goodness." This is a deep and settled prosperity of the soul, a true well-being that is independent of outward circumstance. Third, God promises generational influence. "And his seed will inherit the land." This is not just a promise about real estate in ancient Canaan. It is a promise of long-term, fruitful dominion in the earth. The meek, those who fear God, are the ones who will inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). The future belongs to the faithful, not the faithless.
And the capstone promise is one of profound intimacy. "The secret of Yahweh is for those who fear Him." The word for secret means "counsel" or "intimate friendship." God does not just give commands to those who fear him; He brings them into His inner circle. He shares His heart with them. He pulls back the curtain and shows them the inner workings of His redemptive plan. And what is the content of this secret? "He will make them know His covenant." The deepest secret of God is the glory of His covenant relationship with His people, secured in the blood of His Son.
The Posture of Faith (v. 15)
The psalm concludes this section with a summary statement of the believer's life. It is a life of dependent trust.
"My eyes are continually toward Yahweh, For He will bring my feet out of the net." (Psalm 25:15)
This is the posture of the humble, God-fearing man. His gaze is fixed. It is not on his circumstances, not on his own abilities, and not on his enemies. His eyes are continually, steadfastly, on the Lord. Why? Because he knows two things. He knows that he is surrounded by nets. The world, the flesh, and the devil have laid snares for his feet at every turn. And he knows that he is utterly incapable of untangling himself.
His only hope is to look to the one who is able to deliver. This is not a passive resignation. It is an active, dependent trust. It is the cry of a heart that says, "I cannot, but He can. I am trapped, but He is my deliverer." And the promise is sure: "He will bring my feet out of the net."
This entire school of grace finds its headmaster in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the truly humble one, who learned obedience. He is the one who perfectly guarded the covenant. He is the one who became our great iniquity so that we might receive the great pardon for God's name's sake. He is the Son who fears the Father, and to whom all the secrets of the Father are given. He is the seed who has inherited the land, the nations, for His possession. And if you would be a student in this school, you must do one thing. You must turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face, and He will bring your feet out of the net.