◄ What Does Psalm 25:12 Mean? ►

Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.

Psalm 25:12(NASB)

Verse of the Day

When the psalmist asks the rhetorical question in Psalm 25, "Who is the man who fears the LORD?" he immediately supplies the response: "The Lord will instruct the God-fearing man in the way he should choose." The man who shows reverence and respect to the Lord, is someone whom God, Himself, will lead, guide, direct, and enlighten. He is the person the Lord will teach and train. He is the person God will direct in the ways he should go and the choices he should make.

The man who fears the Lord is the one who will receive wisdom from on high... and this Psalm was written by David, the shepherd boy from Bethlehem whom God anointed to be Israel's great king... for David was a man who reverenced the Lord. David was a man after God's own heart because he honoured the Lord and trusted His Word, despite the numerous challenges and conflicts he had to face and the many offenses he was called to endure, for righteousness' sake.

In Psalm 25, David asks a question that every one of us should be asking: "Who is the man who fears the LORD?" David is giving a wake-up call for spiritual self-examination. He knows that fear of the Lord is an issue of faith that should pull on the heart-strings of all God's people, for only those whose hearts are right with the Lord will walk along the path of God's leading.

It is only as we trust in the Lord with all our heart and refuse to lean on our own understanding, that we truly benefit from God's leading and guidance. It is only as we glorify the Lord in the beauty of holiness that we will not wander from the way we should go. The man that fears the Lord is one that has come to some understanding of the immensity of God’s grace.

The man who fears the Lord and shows reverence for His name has come to an understanding of what God's holiness, justice, peace, love, goodness, and grace really means in relation to sinful humanity and this fallen creation. Such a man is given a glimpse into the character of God as, one by one, His beautiful attributes come into clearer focus.

The man that fears the Lord is one that has come to some understanding of the immensity of God’s goodness and grace. The man who reverences the Lord is the one who esteems His holiness, regards His justice, experiences His peace, and rests in His love.

The man that truly reverences God is the one who has come to a deeper understanding of God's grace and a growing realisation of the high cost of salvation. He begins to explore the depths of God's grace and the profound love to which He stooped, when He set aside His glory and came to earth as man's Kinsman-Redeemer in order to bring fallen humanity back into a right relationship with Himself.

The man that fears the Lord trusts Him as a Father, worships Him as Saviour, submits to the leading of His Holy Spirit, and serves Him in reverential praise and godly fear. He is the one who rejoices to keep His commands, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

The man who fears the Lord and trusts in His love is blessed indeed, for he is a sinner saved by grace. He will never be disappointed for God will guide him in the way he should take and teach him the path that he should choose and set His feet on the highway to holiness. He will lead him in the path of life, instruct him on the pathway of justice, restore to him a knowledge of the holy, and show him the way of wisdom, for all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth and all His ways are righteous and true.

The man that humbles himself before the Lord in godly fear need not worry about the arrow that flies in the daytime nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness... for He is our refuge, our fortress, and the God in Whom we trust. His promise to ALL His people is: "I will be with you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand – and I will teach you the path that you should choose."

My Prayer

Loving Father, You are my God and Saviour and I love and trust You with all my heart. Help me to make the right choices in my life so that in all I say and do Your name may be glorified. Teach me the way that I should go, knowing that all Your ways are good and all Your paths are peace. Protect me from those things that would harm me and uphold me with Your gracious hand today. And in the days that lie ahead, I pray that may I never stray from the path of righteousness. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.