Psalm 25:4-18; Proverbs 1:8-9, 2:1-6
July 15, 2018
preached by Doug Cooper
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Time of Reflection Quotations

“A deep sense of sin, a humble willingness to be saved in God’s way, a teachable readiness to give up our own prejudices when a more excellent way is shown, these are the principal things.”

~ J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), writer, pastor and first Anglican bishop of Liverpool

“A lowly person is a teachable person, easily entreated and open to explanation. Many of our spirits are too arrogant: they can teach others but can never themselves be taught. Many possess a stubborn spirit: they stick to their opinions even if they realize they are wrong.”

~ Watchman Nee (1903-1972), Writer and native leader in the development of the Church in China

“Expertise implies a kind of rigidity. If your cup is full, it cannot accept more water.”

~ Faisal Hoque, contemporary author and leader in technological innovation

“To even get near humility, even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in a desert. Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him.”

~ C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), prolific writer and Christian apologist from Britain

“To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, welcome, to accept.”

~ Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian

“It is always the secure who are humble.”

~ G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936), English Christian thinker, writer and orator

“Guidance, like all God’s acts of blessing under the covenant of grace, is a sovereign act. Not merely does God will to guide us in the sense of showing us his way, that we may tread it; he wills also to guide us in the more fundamental sense of ensuring that, whatever happens, whatever mistakes we may make, we shall come safely home. Slippings and strayings there will be, no doubt, but the everlasting arms are beneath us; we shall be caught, rescued, restored. This is God’s promise; this is how good he is.”

~ J.I. Packer (1926-present), British-born Canadian writer and professor of theology

Sermon Passage

Psalm 25:4-18; Proverbs 1:8-9, 2:1-6 (NIV)

Psalm 25

⁴  Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
⁵  Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
⁶  Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
⁷  Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you, Lord, are good.
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
toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
¹¹ For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
¹² Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?
He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
¹³ They will spend their days in prosperity,
and their descendants will inherit the land.
¹⁴ The Lord confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
¹⁵ My eyes are ever on the Lord,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.
¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
¹⁷ Relieve the troubles of my heart
and free me from my anguish.
¹⁸ Look on my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.

Proverbs 1

⁸  Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
⁹  They are a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck. 

Proverbs 2

¹ My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
²  turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding—
³  indeed, if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
⁴  and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
⁵  then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
⁶  For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.