Resending last Sunday’s service as there were audio synchronization issues which have now been fixed. The sermon text has also been posted below.

“Learning to Trust the God Who Leads”

Led by: Rev. Magdalena Marais

Scripture: Psalm 27, Psalm 25 and Hebrews 12: 1-3 

As my family and I prepared to come to Canada, people often asked us, “Are you excited?” The obvious answer was yes, somewhere squeezed in between all the other emotions—but it was much more than that. It was also a journey of waiting, praying, and learning to trust God’s timing.

As I prayed about my first few messages with you, I realised that before we speak about plans for the future, perhaps we should begin where David begins: “Show me Your ways, Lord. Teach me Your paths.” I believe that’s the prayer we all need to pray as we begin this new chapter together.

So, over the next three Sundays, we will reflect on our own journey of faith through the past two years.

One of the things I have discovered is that most of us would love God to give us a map. We want to know where the road is going. We want to know what lies around the next corner. We want to know that our plans will work out exactly as we hope. More than once, I wished for a map during our two-year journey to Canada.

But God often gives us something different.

Instead of a map, He gives us Himself.

That is what Psalm 25 is about. David is facing uncertainty. He is under pressure. He is surrounded by enemies. He does not know exactly how things are going to unfold. Yet he prays:

“Show me Your ways, Lord; teach me Your paths.”

Notice what he does not ask for.

He does not ask for a detailed plan—I did that plenty of times.

He does not ask for a timeline—that would have been pretty handy for me.

He does not ask for all the answers—guilty again.

He asks for God.

And perhaps that is one of the most important lessons in life: learning to trust the God who leads.

And that’s something we learn day by day. To say we trust God is one thing, but to follow His path without knowing the whole plan is much more difficult.

Let’s take a look at David’s secret.

1. Trust begins before we understand

(vv. 1–5)

Listen to David’s words:

“To You, O Lord, I offer my prayer; in You I trust.”

Trust comes before understanding.

Most of us would prefer the opposite.

We would like God to explain everything first, and then we will trust Him.

But that is not usually how faith works.

Faith means taking the next step even when we cannot see the entire road.

It’s a bit like using Google Maps. The voice tells us, “In 200 metres, turn left,” and most of the time we simply do. We don’t know every road ahead, but that next instruction is enough to get us to our destination.

Often God’s guidance works in the same way.

He gives us enough for the next turn.

Enough grace for today.

Enough strength for today.

Not because He is hiding the future from us, but because He is teaching us to depend on Him.

David explains that we do not need to know where God is leading. It is about knowing the One who is leading.

That is why David begins with trust.

Before he asks for guidance, he places himself in God’s hands.

What a beautiful picture of prayer in these opening verses.

Prayer is not simply speaking words.

Prayer is lifting our hearts to God.

It is saying:

“Lord, I do not know the way, but I know You.”

2. God leads ordinary, imperfect people

(vv. 8–11)

One of the most surprising verses in this Psalm is verse 8:

“He instructs sinners in His ways.”

That is not what we would expect.

We might expect David to say:

“He instructs the wise.”

“The strong.”

“Those who already trust.”

Instead, he says:

“Sinners.”

That is good news for people like us.

It was certainly good news for me during our two-year journey.

There were many times when my trust in God’s leading faltered.

Because none of us gets everything right.

All of us have moments we would like to undo.

All of us have taken wrong turns.

All of us have made decisions we regret.

David certainly had.

Yet David’s confidence is not in his own wisdom.

His confidence is in God’s grace.

The question is not whether we are perfect enough to be guided.

The question is whether we are humble enough to be guided.

Verse 9 says:

“He leads the humble in what is right.”

God leads people who know they need Him.

People who are willing to listen.

People who are willing to admit that they do not have all the answers.

And even people like me, who sometimes become impatient.

The wonderful truth of the Gospel is that our failures do not place us beyond God’s reach.

David’s hope is not in himself.

His hope is in the character of God.

God always keeps His promises.

And that is where our hope is found as well.

3. God often teaches trust through waiting

(vv. 12–15)

In our fast-paced world, David teaches us to wait.

My ability to wait is probably even worse than my sense of direction.

David knows that trusting God often involves waiting for God.

And if we are honest, most of us do not enjoy waiting.

We want answers.

We want clarity.

We want certainty.

Now.

But God’s timing is often different from ours.

One of the lessons God repeatedly teaches His people is that waiting is never wasted.

Sometimes God does His deepest work in us while we are waiting for Him.

He teaches us patience.

He reminds us who we depend on.

He teaches us that our security rests not in our plans but in His faithfulness.

Looking back over your own journey of faith, you may discover that the seasons you would never have chosen were often the seasons in which you learned the most about God.

The waiting was difficult.

The uncertainty was uncomfortable.

Yet God was present throughout it all.

David says in verse 15:

“I look to the Lord for help at all times.”

That is trust.

Through all the emotions we experience, we continue to keep our eyes on the One who is leading us.

Psalm 25 reminds us that God’s guidance is not ultimately about receiving a map.

It is about walking with God.

David does not ask for a detailed blueprint of the future.

He asks God to teach him, lead him, and walk with him.

That remains our prayer today.

When the future feels uncertain…

when the road ahead is unclear…

when we are waiting longer than we expected…

we can trust the God who leads.

Because the God who led David is the same God who leads us.

So may our prayer be David’s prayer:

“Show me Your ways, Lord. Teach me Your paths.”

And may God give us the grace not only to seek His guidance, but also to trust Him enough to follow wherever He leads.

Amen.