8 reasons we fail to follow God's way:Intro

August 14, 2016

Worship: By Thy Mercy (O deliver us, Good Lord) By Indelible Grace [With Lyrics] ft Matthew Smith

1. Jesus, Lord of life and glory,
Bend from heaven thy gracious ear;
While our waiting souls adore thee,
Friend of helpless sinners, hear:

2. From the depth of nature's blindness,
From the hardening power of sin,
From all malice and unkindness,
From the pride that lurks within,

Refrain: By thy mercy, O deliver us, good Lord
By thy mercy, O deliver us, good Lord, good Lord.

3. When temptation sorely presses, 

In the day of Satan's power,
In our times of deep distresses,
In each dark and trying hour.

4. When the world around is smiling,
In the time of wealth and ease,
Earthly joys our hearts beguiling,
In the day of health and peace. Refrain

5. In the weary hours of sickness,
In the times of grief and pain,
When we feel our mortal weakness,
When all human help is vain.

6. In the solemn hour of dying,
In the awful judgment day,
May our souls, on thee relying,
Find thee still our Rock and Stay. Refrain

© 2004 Greg Thompson Music. Used by permission. All rights reserved

Video: https://youtu.be/mj5GXSJ6ktw?list=RDGMEMMib4QpREwENw3_jAc0YgNwVMydqgl7EYaLc

Witness:

In the midst of my turmoil and mess,

When my soul cries for peace and rest,

The Lord comes walking towards me

And bids me come walk on the stormy sea.

“But Lord the waves are high and I will drown.

And how in them will my peace be found?

Can I find rest amidst storm and gale?

Surely in all this, I will flounder and fail.”

Nevertheless, I stepped out in the tempest,

Out into the fury and never felt so reckless.

As I walked trembling toward my waiting Savior

The enemy cried out, “What foolish behavior!”

As he spoke, I turned towards him and began to sink.

He smirked and said, “Fool! Now, what do you think?”

I turned away and looked back to my beckoning Lord.

“I will seek the peace and rest only He can afford!”

In a rage, he screamed, “In the storm, you’ll never have peace!”

With malice and spite, he made the storm increase

With a hellish grin, he said: “God is strong but you are weak!”

I replied, “Amen, then it’s His strength I will seek!”

A huge wave then did arise and hid the Lord from my eyes.

All seemed lost as I looked up toward the darkening skies

Then I heard the voice of my Savior say, “It’s alright!

Remember, you must walk by faith and not by sight.”

So, amidst the churning wave and wind, I ventured on

Seeking for the time when this storm would be gone.

At last my Savior I did see and I picked up my pace

Until I arrived and looked into His wonderful face.

I fell into His arms and felt the peace and rest I sought.

A stillness settled and the storm ceased or so I thought.

I opened my eyes in my Lords embrace, it still was there,

The same waves and wind and mocking filled the air.

“Lord, why have You not calmed the storm in my life?”

He replied, “And yet you feel My peace amidst the strife.

Sometimes I cause the storm to cease to bring you rest.

At times, I just hold you tight child, ‘cause that’s what’s best!”

WORD:

Ps 25:8-10  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.

Ps 25:8-10 8 The LORD is good and does what is right; he shows the proper path to those who go astray. 9 He leads the humble in doing right, teaching them his way. 10 The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands. Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

Ps 25:8-10 8 Good and upright is the LORD therefore will he teach sinners in the way. 9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. 10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. KJV

Ps 25:8-10 8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. 10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. ESV

In verse 8 and 9, the KJV speaks of God teaching. However, when consulting an O.T. interlinear I see that there are two different words used. In verse 8 the word used is yarah and in verse 9 the word used is lamad. The word lamad does refer to teaching.

Vines says the word means:

            "to teach, learn, cause to learn”

And points out that:

           

            The later Jewish term talmud, "instruction," is derived from this verb.

                (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

The word yarah, however, has a wider meaning and when translating this word, the context and form of the verb determine its meaning. It is also clear that the meaning developed over time.

To illustrate this let me quote two sources:

The BDB Lexicon (Abridged) says the word means:

yarah

to throw, to shoot, to cast, to pour

a)        (Qal)

1)        to throw, to cast

2)        to cast, to lay, to set

3)        to shoot arrows

4)        to throw water, to rain

b)        (Niphal) to be shot

c)         (Hiphil)

1)        to throw, to cast

2)        to shoot

3)        to point out, to show

4)        to direct, to teach, to instruct

5)        to throw water, to rain

(from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright © 1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada. Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.)

Vines has this to say:

yarah OT:3384, throw, teach, shoot, point out." Found in all periods of the Hebrew language, this root is also found in ancient Ugaritic with the sense of "to shoot"; modern Hebrew uses the word to express the firing of a gun. Yarah occurs approximately 80 times in the Hebrew Old Testament.

The first use of this verb in the Old Testament is in Gen 31:51: "...behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee." This basic meaning, "to throw or cast," is expressed in "casting" lots Josh 18:6 and by Pharaoh's army "being cast" into the sea Ex 15:4.

The idea of "to throw" is easily extended to mean the shooting of arrows 1 Sam 20:36-37. "To throw" seems to be further extended to mean "to point," by which fingers are thrown in a certain direction Gen 46:28; Prov 6:13.

From this meaning, it is only a short step to the concept of teaching as the "pointing out" of fact and truth.

(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)

I think the word yarah found in verse 8 encompasses both the word darak (guide) and lamad (teach). Does not a guide point the way and a teacher instruct?

I find it fascinating that one of the meanings for yarah refers to the “shooting of arrows” and one of the meanings of darak is:

            archer, bow-benders

                (from The Online Bible Thayer's Greek Lexicon and Brown Driver & Briggs Hebrew Lexicon, Copyright © 1993, Woodside Bible Fellowship, Ontario, Canada.    Licensed from the Institute for Creation Research.)

However, I am probably seeing too much here. The important thing to consider now, as a believer, is this question:

Why would we fail to follow the way that God points out to us?

I have listed eight reasons I could think of:

1. fear

2. Pride

3. doubt (towards God)

4. ignoring

5. rebellion

6. distractions

7. presumption (of His forgiveness)

8. doubtfulness (in yourself)

I will follow up and expand on each of these in my next journal entry.