Help Me Out of This Maze

237 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 2:22, “Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” Flee those youthful lusts! Leave them in the dust! You know what they are! You understand the rebellion of the youth! You were there once yourself. David sums them up in his prayer from Ps 25:7, as he pleads with the Lord, “Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness' sake, O LORD.” There is much lamenting in the church today about the exodus of the young people from the pews. And this Psalm of David's provides useful instruction for us all in this regard. As I was reviewing this Psalm, I have a note that subtitles this Psalm “Help Me Out Of This Maze.” The path of following youthful lusts inevitably leads to a life of distress, desolation, affliction and pain. See Ps 25:16-18! Picture this as being deep in the bowels of a maze, because the word “paths” shows up twice in this Psalm, and the word “way” shows up three times! Then we read phrases like this in this Psalm, “Show me,” “lead me,” “teach me,” “He teaches,” (twice) “teach in the way,” “He will show,” and finally, “bring me out.” This young person (David) is lost in a maze and he desires to be led out of his distress, desolation, affliction, and pain. This is where we find many of the millennials today. They want out of this self-inflicted maze, but they don't know where to turn. They try returning to church for a while, but for some reason, in many cases there remains a disconnect. There may be a lot of generalities being preached, but general instructions won't get anyone out of a maze! What millennials need, indeed, what we all need is specific instructions to find our way out of the maze. God promises that instruction to those who humbly admit they are sinners and plead for His mercy and grace which is a recurring theme of PS 25. Isa 30:19 says, “You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you. And in Isa 30:21 we read, “ 21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. This is what the church needs to be steadfastly proclaiming. “This is the way!” “Thus saith the Lord!” Specifics, not generalities! Then in a spirit of humility and repentance, we and the millennials are ready for God's A Maze Ing grace!