Follow the Footsteps | Psalm 25

This message explores Psalm 25 and challenges us with a foundational question: Do we truly believe that God’s way is better than our own? Through David’s prayer, the message emphasizes that following God begins with humility and trust, choosing to profess God’s faithfulness before presenting our own requests. David asks God to teach him His ways, reveal His character, and lead him down the right path, reminding us that spiritual growth begins by aligning our hearts with what matters most to God rather than pursuing our own understanding.

This message also teaches that trusting God is demonstrated through action, not just belief. As we seek God through prayer, His Word, worship, and Christian community, we learn to follow His footsteps in every area of life—from our families and workplaces to our friendships and private character. Ultimately, this message reminds us that genuine transformation happens when we not only learn God’s ways but faithfully apply them, allowing our daily lives to become visible evidence that we trust His way above our own.

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right, so several years back, I had a friend of mine, we were in a deep conversation, and it was the type of conversation where you might have with a trusted friend that you're laying out some concerns with maybe next steps in your life, and you're very vulnerable with them. And I was sitting down, I remember I was in his office, and he leans forward after I had just kind of given him the, you know, here's my life these days in a country song, and I had given it to him, and he just kind of leans forward and looks at me and he goes, Scott, do you really trust that God's way is better than yours? Years ago he asked me that, and I was almost offended that he would ask me. I'm a pastor, and you just asked me this question. And he said, Scott, do you really trust that God's way is better than yours? And when you really think about that, you gotta wrestle with that one because it doesn't just mean, oh, well, sure, yeah, of course, God knows more than me. That's not the question. Do you believe that God's way is better than yours? Dot, dot, dot, in every way. And it causes you to pause for a moment and you grapple with that question because you start to ask yourself, does every area of my life look like I trust that God's way is better than mine? And this conversation is going to be an invasive one and prayerfully a helpful one because in Psalm 25 we read of King David. You've heard of him, David and Goliath, even if you're not terribly familiar with church or Bible stories, you at least know the reference. King David, as he pens the words to Psalm 25, we're not necessarily sure of the occasion, but we do know the man. And the man had everything you could want from an earthly perspective. His life was full of highs and lows, the highest highs and the lowest lows. And he also understood despair, depression, destruction, damage of sin more than most people, because he had experienced success in levels that most people never will, and failures at levels that most people hope they never do. And so David in Psalm 25, I believe in this moment, as he pens these words, and we're just gonna look at the first 10 verses, I think he's wrestling with that question. Do I really trust that God's way is better than mine? Read this with me in Psalm 25, verse 1. We're gonna go through these 10 verses together. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust. Let me not be put to shame, let not my enemies exult over me, meaning to cheer and Lord victory over me. Verse three, indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame. They shall be ashamed, who are wantonly treacherous. Make me to know your ways, O Lord. Teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation, for you I wait all the day long. Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions according to your steadfast love. Remember me for the sake of your goodness, O Lord. Pause for a moment. This is for someone. Aren't you glad that God does not define us by the sins of our youth? Yeah. I don't know if maybe this is your story. I'm not saying it's mine, but I'm not saying it's not. There are people that I interacted with in the 1900s. You got it. That I have not seen since, and I do not know what they think of me. Praise God for his redemption. Praise God for his redeeming work. Aren't you glad that when God looks at you, he doesn't see the sins of your youth? He sees what he's done in your life. That's it's not a part of the message, but uh I figured that might bless somebody today. Verse 8 Good and upright is the Lord. Therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and he teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. Here's what David does at the very onset of Psalm 25. He makes what's called this profession. And when I say profession, I don't mean a job. That's often what we think. No, profession meaning like a stated declaration, a declarative statement. He says it right here. He says, In you I lift up my soul. Oh God, in you I trust. You know what he's doing there? He's setting the tone for this conversation, for this prayer, for this song. He's putting his posture on display by making a profession before he gets to the petition. Look at what he's doing here. He does this often too. You'll, if you've read the Psalms, or if you are in the process of reading the Psalms, you're gonna see that David often makes these professions not to move God's heart, but to move his own heart. And I will offer this challenge to you as someone who has to be reminded of this regularly when he prays. Most of the time, when we go to God, we go to God to make our petition well before we offer our profession. We go to God because we want God to move in our direction before we start to consider going in God's direction. But notice the playbook, so to speak. Notice the example David gives us in Psalm 25. He doesn't go to the petition first. He starts with a profession. He starts with the acknowledgement that God is trustworthy. So I would encourage you with this challenge in your prayers. Start with profession first before you get to petition. Because the profession of who God is is acknowledging that he is trustworthy, is going to posture your heart so that when you do petition God, you are petitioning God not to get God to move in your direction, but that so you can move in God's direction. He says, upright is God's way, and he leads the humble. That must be our posture in order for us to understand who God is and what he wants for us. Because the idea of following Jesus is to move in his direction. And that's what we're gonna look at. That's what we're gonna look at this morning is do we really trust that God's way is better than ours? Because if we do, it's gonna change the way we approach God. It's gonna change the way we respond to God's leading in our lives. 73 years ago, in 1953, these two men, I'll show you on screen, climbed Mount Everest. Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. And at this point, thousands of people have climbed it. But in 1953, no one had climbed to the top. This is on our right, this is Sir Edmund Hillary, and to his right, our left, is a man named Tenzing Norgay. These were the first two individuals to climb Mount Everest. They take this photo here together on the lonely mountain as it would have been known, because no one had climbed the tallest mountain in the world. And when asked why you would risk your life, Mount Everest is so tall, there's a portion of it called the death zone. Meaning that once you get up to a certain elevation, your body literally starts to shut down. And you can only spend X amount of time up there before you will actually die. And in 1953, before the technology advancements that we experience today, these two men climbed to the top of the mountain. And when they asked Sir Edmund Hillary, why would you risk your life to climb this mountain? His response was, Because it's there. That's not a good reason. That was 1953. Let me show you this next photo. This is what Mount Everest looks like now when you climb it. You notice there is a whole lot of people in line going up this mountain. How do these people here in today's day and age know how to climb Mount Everest? You know why? They've been shown the way. If you noticed in that photo, you can see it right here. There are what are called fixed ropes that other people have come up the mountain and applied to the mountain so that when you climb it, there is a path. You will notice there are footsteps under them. In fact, let's take the people out of this and put the next photo up. This is what it would look like if you climbed by yourself and we kind of generated this picture. What are those behind this person? What are those? Footsteps. Now here's what's interesting. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay are from very different parts of the world. Tenzing Norgay is a part of what is known as the Sherpa people. In Nepal, these people, this group of people known as the Sherpa people, live at a higher elevation. There is sea level, which we are basically at here. And then as you get higher, the air gets thinner, your body has to what's called acclimatize and get used to it, and it is more difficult to survive at higher elevations. The Sherpa people live at higher elevations. For context, base camp of Mount Everest is 15,000 plus feet above sea level. It is difficult to survive on its own at base camp. And the Sherpa people live there, and they are more familiar with the Himalayan mountain range than any other group of people on Earth. So when Sir Edmund Hillary decided he wanted to climb Mount Everest, he recruited a man, Tenzing Norgay, who was of the Sherpa people. So now, fast forward in 2026, and the hundreds of people who climbed Mount Everest just a few months ago in May knew how to do so because they had been shown the way. They had been shown how to climb the mountain as lessons were learned over decades, and they were given the actual path. Because as they walked, they will see the footprints of those, because there are still these Sherpas who will go on these guided adventures to lead people up Mount Everest to this day, decades later, showing them how to climb and the way to climb. In verse 4 of Psalm 25, David writes this Make me to know your ways. Teach me your paths. Now we're going to have some fun here because we're going to look at what these words really mean. And I am going to invite you to get your Bible study ice cream scooper and dig down in here with me and nerd out for a moment because this is going to help a lot of us. Because oftentimes we approach the question do you really trust that God's way is better than your way? Of course we do. But how do you really see God's ways? Do you even understand the question? We read this and say, yes, God, show me your ways. I want to know, should I take this job or that job? God, should I go to Del Taco or Taco Bell? Neither. Although both might help you cry out to God, so maybe it does help you in your journey with Jesus. Those words in Psalm 25, make me to know your ways. Do you know what the word ways actually means in Hebrew when David penned this? Ways means the manner in which to do things, the statutes in some translations, or what you could sum up, the lifestyle. When David says, make me to know your ways, he is asking God, show me how to live. And it's something really neat here because then he says, Teach me to know your paths. That actually would mean a roadway. So what David writes when he writes Psalm 25 is he's saying, God, show me how to live and show me what steps to take. And notice that he does that in that order because David's gonna highlight something, and I'm gonna use a very big seminary word and invite you to dork out with me. David is going to highlight this belief about God that in order for us to know what steps to take to live a godly life, we need to understand God's character first. We need to know God's priorities, God's statutes, his teachings. We need to understand who God is before we will ever be able to understand how to move in God's direction. Because God's priorities and his character should be what guides us. And he does something here that is really neat. David's gonna highlight this belief that God's written law, contextually, when he pens these words, that God's instructions for righteous living was, here's the big word, an inscripturation of his character. And here's why David writes this, because that big word just simply means this inscripturation just means to put one's character into print for the purpose of instruction and understanding. You know what David's doing here? He's saying, God, God, show me what matters to you. Show me your character, show me your priorities, make me to know your statutes, the manner in which I should live, and then teach me the steps to take according to what matters to you. Do you really trust that God's way is better than your way? The other way of asking that is this does what matters to God matter more to you than what matters to you? Because David highlights that. He doubles up on it in verse 5. He says, lead me in your truth. Lead me means, as we just saw in that photo, of footsteps, of footprints, shoe prints in the snow. Do you know what lead me means in its original language? It actually means to set foot upon or to tread. Do you know what he's doing here? He's saying, Okay, God, show me your character, show me the steps to take and literally guide me. You would use this phrase, lead me, to basically say, follow my footsteps. Walk where I walk, go where I lead, come this way. David is saying, look, look, show me what matters to you, God. Show me who you are, show me the steps to take, and then lead the way. I will follow. I'll follow the footsteps. You show me. And he does this. He postures his heart because he believes that God's way is better than his way, and he's gone every which way, high and low, King David. He understands. You can read it in verses 6 through 10. Upright is God's way. His way is full of steadfast love and faithfulness. Do you know why? We pose the question do you really trust that God's way is better than your way? Because God's way is better than our way. We will trip over our own feet if we try to veer off course. We've all experienced it. And he highlights it. Why? Why is God's path better than our path? Because it's wiser. It's safer. It's how we grow. It's where we experience more of him, more of his grace and his mercy, his goodness, his truth, his peace, his purpose, his understanding. Why? Because it is a better way. It's safer for us. It's better for us. God does not need us to acknowledge that his way is better than our way. He already knows that. God wants us to acknowledge that his way is better than our way. Because he knows that if we go our own way, it does not work out the way we want. God wants us to know that his way is better than our way because he loves us and wants to guide us. I've done this. As a dad, I've done this. I'll show you this last photo. This is me and uh this is our daughter Hope. And uh this is um up in North County. This is, you can see the ocean behind us. This is what's called the uh in the Torrey Pines State Park, there is a Torrey Pines beach trail hike. And uh we've done it a few times. Uh, it's one of the things that we like to do together uh every year, typically around Christmas time at the end of Christmas break. Uh Hope and I will take this journey. And depending on how long you do it, it can be a few miles, and you can hike up to this kind of overlook, and then you can hike down all the way to the other side of that cliff, which takes you down to the beach and you can come back. And it's a little treacherous in some places, and I mean they've got all the signs, you know, watch for snakes, watch for rocks, and and stuff like this. It's a bit of an adventure that we get to take, just uh dad and the goose, and uh we enjoy we enjoy this time together as we've done it over the years. And obviously we take a photo because if you don't take a photo, it never happened, and so uh we do that. It's also my way of saying, uh sending it to Robin to show her we're alive, you know, we made it. Uh, because you know, they they like it when you do that. And hope when we've done this trail before, there are moments of it where it gets a little sketchy, and if you were to, you know, take one step in the wrong direction, it could be bad news bears for you. And so uh there are moments on this hike where I literally will look at her and say, Listen, kiddo, walk where I walk. And I will I will literally walk like this, and I'll look back, and she's you know, she's like, okay, she's a lot more graceful than me, so it looks better when she does it. But it's hey, walk where I walk. That's what David says in Psalms 25. He says, God, make me to know your ways for righteous living. Show me what matters to you. Show me what your priorities are, and show me the path to take, and then guide me because God, I want to follow the footsteps. That's what he writes, and that's why he writes it because he knows God's way is better, it's safer. We say this oftentimes that that our way, our way is rooted in self. And selfishness is sinful. And God doesn't hate sin because he hates us, he hates sin because he loves us. And so when he says, Look, walk where I have tread upon, follow my ways, it's because he loves us, it's because He loves us. And David knew that. He knew that. So let's get practical. How do we know God's ways? It's going to sound real churchy and real simple and real basic, but basic is brilliant. You do the basics well and it works out. We call it in sports the fundamentals. Do the basics well, the best teams, the pros. What do they do? They do the basics, the best. And so I'm going to say some of these things, and it's going to be a temptation for some of us to just say, I got it, I know, but I want you to really understand. Because it's life-changing. How do we know God's ways? Prayer. Prayer. You know why? Prayer is a way we acknowledge we need God. You know what I have found? It is hard to find something if you're not looking for it. Do you look for God's way? Do you go to God and actually trust that He does have a better way? Prayer. The second is God's word. It's God's word. It's a value here. We learn God's way to know God's word because it is the source of truth. You can write this down if you're a note taker. God's way is found in God's word. The amount of times that I have had conversations with people that they have said, Pastor Scott, I'm just not sure what to do. And my first question is, have you prayed about it and have you got in the word? And they're like, I mean, what? Hear this, hear this, because most of us enter a situation, a problem, and we want to solve it on our own before ever bringing it to God. God's way is found in God's word. Prayer, God's word, godly others, Christian community. Why? Because you're not meant to do life alone. We learn God's word and God's ways every time we gather here at church. Another way we learn God's ways is to worship. It's this profession in verse 1 of Psalm 25. Why do we learn God's ways when we do that? Because we're acknowledging that He is worthy of our trust. Everything we're talking about, prayer, getting into God's Word, Christian community, worship, it's all action-oriented because you cannot grow in your faith without feet. And faith follows the footsteps of God's leading. That's what it does. So we put that faith into action through service, through generosity, through compassion. And we learn to trust that God's way is better because we're following the path that He is leading us on. And that's how we become fully devoted followers of Jesus. You've heard us define this: a fully devoted follower of Jesus is someone who learns God's word, to know God's way, someone who lives like Jesus teaches, loves like Jesus teaches, gives like Jesus teaches, and helps others do the same. Because when you follow the footsteps, it changes you. It's noticeable. It will show up. If you trust that God's way is better in all areas of your life, your footsteps will prove it. There will be tangible pieces of evidence in your life that prove you trust God. Look at a few of the areas, and let's get invasive for just a moment. In your marriage, do you love your spouse the way Jesus teaches? Are you selfless? Or do you want your way all the time? Do you meet them where they are, or do you expect them to come to you every time? Are you generous? Or do you withhold because you haven't gotten what you wanted? Are you kind? Are you thoughtful? Do you serve them? Are you forgiving because you remember that you're a mess too? Does your marriage look like you trust God's way is better? And your family, do you love your family the way Jesus teaches? Are you patient when you don't want to be? Are you honest with your family? Here's one for some of us who talk for a living. Are you quick to listen? I'm preaching to myself here. Do you go the extra mile? No, I'd rather just veg out. I'd rather just veg out. But your kid is asking to spend some time with you. Yeah, I get it, but my kid doesn't understand. I've had a long day, and I'd really like to catch up on this TV show and eat these chips and salsa. But your kid would like to spend time with you. Yeah, I get it, but I really like to just not do anything because I've talked to people all day and I'm tired and my kid doesn't understand. Great. But your child would like to spend time with you. Do you see where I'm going here? Oftentimes our families don't spell love L-O-V-E. They spell it T-I-M-E. Do you love the way Jesus teaches? At work, do people see Jesus in you? Do you gossip? Do you get involved in the water cooler conversations? Do you show integrity in your work? When people look at you, do they think something's different about them? They seem to always want to do things the right way. Do you treat your coworkers well even when others don't behind their backs? Do you treat your coworkers well regardless of their position, whether they are the boss or it is day one and they are in training? Does your trust in Jesus? Do the footsteps show up at work? Do they show up in your friends? Are you a godly friend? Do you encourage your friends? Do you ignore your friends? Do you support each other in your faith? What about on social media? Do your thumbs know that you trust God? Further, do the comments sections know that you trust God? That's a danger zone. What about your social media behavior? Do you post for attention because you think that's where you're gonna where you're gonna feel better about yourself? Do you reply to things in anger because that accomplishes, you know, a lot of good? Do you seek gratification through posts you know don't help you grow in your faith, but you think they're gonna make you feel better in the moment? Does it look like you trust God on social media? Do your behaviors look like you trust God? And this is one I need to be clear about. Like, I want to ask you this question because this one's gonna get up in your face a little bit. Are you the same person in public as you are in private? Now, I wanna I wanna, for clarity's sake, I don't mean you go home and you're around your family and you put on your favorite sweatpants that your wife has told you to throw away for six years and you haven't, and they're comfortable, and you're just goofy, and you're yourself, and you're singing show tunes in the kitchen. I may only be speaking about myself. Maybe you can relate to this. I don't know. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about this. Does the character you see when no one else can see look like the character you live when everyone can see? Does your character look the same in private as it does in public? Because you're following the footsteps. Do you trust that God's way is better than yours? Because if you do, your footsteps will prove it. It's a big church word. We call it transformation. You know what that is? It's a big word. You'll hear it used a lot. Transformation, it just means being changed. Are you being transformed? Here's a way to gauge whether or not you say, okay, I get it. Okay, I should know God's way. I want to follow God's path. You've told me how to do that, and here's some tangible, real, practical, in your face areas to apply this. Okay, then how do I know it's working? You see it. You see it. Are you being transformed? Does your life look a little different in some areas? Does your life look a little bit more obedient the more you follow Jesus? Do you respond differently? Do you make choices a little differently? We call this transformation. It's being changed. Really, transformation is what happens when instruction meets application. That's what happens. God, make me to know your ways. Show me your priorities and your character. Show me what matters to you. And then I'm going to put feet and follow your footsteps. It's instruction meets application, leads to transformation. Instruction is to learn God's way. Application is to live, love, give like Jesus teaches, and helps others do the same. Because instruction without application is activity without accomplishment. In business terms, we would say it like this: it's activity without productivity. There's nothing to show for it. Transformation is the proof that tells if application has followed instruction. Why do we take this posture that David does in Psalm 25? God, make me to know your ways. Show me how to live. Because when you know what matters most to God, you get to know his character, you understand his priorities, it's going to be a lot easier to discern the path and the steps to take. Because now your posture is, God, let me figure it out and see if you're okay with it. Or, God, you've showed me the way. I'm going to follow the footsteps. So whether or not you want to do this is up to you. This is not one of those messages that tries to convince or coerce you to move in God's direction. We have all lived enough life to understand that it is easy to trip over your own feet when you go your own way. The question for us is this will you seek God's way? Will you lead with profession before you start with petition? And will you posture yourself in such a way in your relationship with God that says, like David in Psalm 25, show me your ways, teach me your ways, show me your paths, lead me in your direction, and I will follow. Because if you really trust that God's way is better than yours, your footsteps will prove it. Let's pray before we get out of here. God, thank you again for another day and for your word. I pray that you're honored by it, and I pray that it helps us literally put feet to our faith. So, God, be praised. Be praised and lead us. So in your name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

Thank you so much for joining us today at Sunrise Church. We hope this message encouraged you and blessed you. If one of the ways that you choose to worship with us here at Sunrise is by giving online, there's a link right here that you can follow and it'll take you to that payment portal. Everything that you donate helps not only go towards reaching people in the greater San Diego area, but also all around the world through our ministry partner. If you want to get further connected, whether in person or online, you can email this email right here, and either myself or some one of our team members will be there to answer it and help you get connected in any way that you need. Thank you so much for joining us, and we'll see you next time.