Ps 25:4,5,9 
4, Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;
5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long.
9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. (NIV)

Guidance - favourite topic for youth groups and others too.

How does God guide us?
After 16 years in Malawi Africa, I returned to Britain. 
After a year or so in a Scottish Parish I had a phone call from the African Church asking me to return.
What should I do?

For many it is what career to choose. 
Butcher, Baker, Candlestick maker.
House wife, missionary, doctor, pilot.

What place should I work in?
Glasgow, Edin. London, New York, Timbuktu.

Should we just open the Bible and expect an answer?

One man was trying to decide whether to study at the Glasgow Bible College or the Lebanon Bible College.
He opened up his Bible and found a reference to Lebanon and so chose the latter.
But Glasgow was at a distinct disadvantage - it isn't mentioned in the Bible.

God may work that way.

Do we have a deterministic view of God?

We are often told:
`God has His place for you'.
Yes He might for `such a time as this'. (Remember Esther.)
Some people- have a settled and lasting conviction which is independent of moods and feelings.

But for much of our time, we really do have a choice between one good and another good

Image of God - real freedom. 
Many good trees in the Garden of Eden.

Some moves would be wrong. How do you know which?
Even those that don't clearly involve sin (like deciding to be a burglar) may be wrong for you.
Pray that God would close doors.
• He may leave more than one door open.
• Far more important than being in Glasgow or Edin. is being near to God
• 10 Commandments and S. on M. give us the main guidance as to what we should be.
• What is the use of being in the right place if your life is not near to God?
• Being near to Him enables us to better discern His particular will for us.
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So the Psalm begins:
Ps 25:1
1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; (NIV)

Soul:
Whole Being:
Body, Mind, Will, hopes, fears, Possessions.
Offer yourself to God!

Ps 25:2
2 in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. (NIV)

There are things that work against us. (Enemies)
Therefore near to God is essential.
Seeking and doing the Lord's will is not an easy ride.
However:
Shame and everlasting contempt is not for those who are near to God.
Jesus transformed the treachery of His enemies - the shame of the cross - to glory and honour and love.
Ps 25:3
3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. (NIV)

Note the word `hope' - so essential to our lives.

I read something recently of an animal experiment that I did not like. (Cruelty to animals). 
Nevertheless it does make a point:
A few years ago the psychology department of Duke University wanted to see how long rats could swim.  In one container they placed a rat for whom there was no possibility of escape.  He swam a few moments and then ducked his head to drown.  In the other container they made the hope of escape possible for the rat.  The rat swam for several hours before finally getting free.  The conclusion of the experiment was just the opposite of our common conclusion.  We usually say, "As long as there is life, there is hope."  The Duke experiment proved, "As long as there is hope, there is life." 
Now comes his prayer for guidance:
`Show me', `Teach me'. `Guide me'.
Heb 5:14: `Training our mind to distinguish between good and evil'.
Rom 12 `renewal of our minds.'

• Not long prayers.
But always keeping in touch with the Lord in every aspect of life.
Speak often.
• Waking, travelling, resting, working, relaxing.
• Be alert.

2. Acknowledgement of sin.
Ps 25:7
7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD. (NIV)
Ps 25:11
11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. (NIV)
Ps 25:18
18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. (NIV)

Sins of my youth:
The young can be lonely even if they have everything going for them 

(Note supposedly scribbled by Elvis in Las Vagas)
 I feel so alone sometimes.  The night is quiet for me.  I'd love to be able to sleep.  I am glad that everyone is gone now.  I'll  probably not rest.  I have no need for all this. Help me, Lord. 

Ps 25:16
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. (NIV)

Frankly acknowledge that you have made wrong choices.
"Remember not"
.Don't hold it against me and abandon me.

These wrong choices may have been dictated  by my pride.
Ps 25:9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. (NIV)

May be I was simply not humble enough and I rushed the wrong way and I am suffering now.

Or I rejected a good way out of sheer pride.
Treat me as if I had never made these mistakes and give me a new beginning.

John Mark: In Acts 13 he gives up.
Acts 15 he is therefore rejected by Paul for the next enterprise.
Later in Paul's life (2 Tim) we learn that he is commended for all the help he has been.

Perhaps we feel that our sins were so long ago, that time will heal?
But not time that forgives but the grace of God.
Ps 25:7
7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD. (NIV)

We are not merely asking the Lord to forgive and forget  but also to Instruct us.
Ps 25:8
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. (NIV)

3. Reverence and fear of the Lord.
Ps 25:12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. (NIV)
The Bible tells us that we should fear the Lord.
Modern people might not like that.
Prefer a warm and friendly image.
In fact there is no contradiction.
Ps 25:14
14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. (NIV)
• Confides - therefore friend.
• Abraham - friend of God.
`Shall I hide from Ab all that I am about to do?' No.
Yet this same Ab. commends fear of God

Out of fear and friendship Ab prays.
In fact God waits for Abraham to pray.

Different kinds of fear.
• Tiger coming (We know what tigers do).
But if we are told:
• Great Spirit is coming - Dread.(We don't know what a great spirit will do) 
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No short cuts to seek the guidance of God.
Pagans use tea leaves, omens, horoscopes.
But we seek to be near to God.
So:
We must be 
• alert and patient in prayer, 
• humble as we confess past mistakes.
• Disciplined as we are taught, and 
• reverent as we draw near to God in Christ.

Even this is not a quick formula.
The word `wait' occurs throughout the Psalm.

Hope and Wait is what we often have to do.
(qavar): wait or hope. better: wait expectantly.
Ps 25:3
3 No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. (NIV)
Ps 25:5
5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long. (NIV)
Ps 25:21
21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you. (NIV)

`May integrity defend me'.
The story goes that in ancient China, the people desired security from the barbaric hordes to the north; so they built the great Chinese wall.  It was so high they knew no one could climb over it and so thick that nothing could break it down.  They settled back to enjoy their security. During the first hundred years of the wall's existence, China was invaded three times.  Not once did the hordes break down the wall or climb over the top. Each time they bribed a gatekeeper and then marched right through the gates.  Could it be that the people were so busy relying upon the walls of stone that they forgot to teach integrity to their children. 

True story? - I don't know.   
But it is true that without integrity we will all perish.
Human society cannot survive without trust.

Hope and Patience keeps us right.
Patience to accept His time and His wisdom.

Summed up in:
Isa 30:18
18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! (NIV)