Psalm 25 A Psalm of David

¹To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

²O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

³Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

⁴Show me Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

⁵Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

For You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day.

⁶Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,

For they are from of old.

⁷Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;

According to Your mercy remember me,

For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

⁸Good and upright is the Lord;

Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.

⁹The humble He guides in justice,

And the humble He teaches His way.

¹⁰All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,

To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

¹¹For Your name’s sake, O Lord,

Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

¹²Who is the man that fears the Lord?

Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.

¹³He himself shall dwell in prosperity,

And his descendants shall inherit the earth.

¹⁴The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,

And He will show them His covenant.

¹⁵My eyes are ever toward the Lord,

For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.

¹⁶Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,

For I am desolate and afflicted.

¹⁷The troubles of my heart have enlarged;

Bring me out of my distresses!

¹⁸Look on my affliction and my pain,

And forgive all my sins.

¹⁹Consider my enemies, for they are many;

And they hate me with cruel hatred.

²⁰Keep my soul, and deliver me;

Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.

²¹Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,

For I wait for You.

²²Redeem Israel, O God,

Out of all their troubles!

Commentary

Vs. 1 “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.”

This psalm begins in prayer, declaring to the Lord that He alone is the One whom we lift our souls up too; for He is the One, the Only One who knows all of our cares, troubles, and burdens.

Vs. 2 “O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.”

In seeking God, David now asks that He not let his enemies put him to shame, nor let them triumph over him (consider Joel 2:26-27). Now in doing so David is not only requesting God's intercession and help, but he is acknowledging God's Sovereignty over every aspect of his own and his enemies lives. Hear my plea then, O my God for I trust in You. Do not let me be ashamed, nor let my enemies’ triumph over me, for my confidence is in You, and they all wait and watch and want to see me fail and fall in their sight and presence.

Vs. 3 “Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.”

 In seeing a bigger picture (or need) greater than himself. David now moves his prayer into the realm of all of God’s people, asking that no one who waits on God be ashamed, rather let those who deal treacherously without cause be put to shame! Thus, in seeking for protection and justice for himself, David soon discovered in prayer that there are many of Gods people who also need relief from oppression, opposition and persecution. 

 Vs. 4-5 ⁴Show me Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

⁵Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

For You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day.

In seeking God, David's heart was fixed on wanting to know His ways better, so that he could walk more uprightly in them, in His paths which is the heart of a disciple of Christ, of never being content with where we are now, but always wanting to grow in Christlikeness. Therefore, David asks (just as we all should ask) that the Lord would lead him in His truth, that He through it would teach him His ways and paths.

“For You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day.”

Trusting God, and waiting on Him, are then two of the principal things that every disciple of Christ must learn to do in this life.

Vs. 6 “Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,

For they are from of old.

In appealing to the Lord, David now asks to Lord to extend His tender mercies and His lovingkindness to him, recalling to Him that this is His way from of old. To show His lovingkindnesses and mercies to all who seek Him in truth.

Vs. 7 ⁷Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;

According to Your mercy remember me,

For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

And in seeking the Lord’s help and justice, David as every humble person soon does, now realizes his own iniquities and sins. This then is what kept Job initially back from God’s intercession and restoration of him, until he came to his own repentance (consider Job 40:1-42:17; Hosea 6:1-3). Therefore, David now asks that the Lord not remember the sins of his youth, nor his transgressions, as a man, for no one is sinless in the sight of God. Therefore, according to His mercies and not David’s own goodness or righteousness does David ask that the Lord remember him, that He remember him for His goodness’ sake. For it is only because of God’s Goodness that He can look favorable upon any of us to show His mercy to us.

Vs. 8-9 ⁸Good and upright is the Lord;

Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.

⁹The humble He guides in justice,

And the humble He teaches His way.

David now deepens his reflection upon the Lord’s Goodness, recalling that it is because of the Lords own Goodness and uprightness, that the Lord teaches sinners in the way, that He shows us His grace and truth (John 1:16). For it is always the humble whom He will guide in justice, and bring to believe in His truth, but the proud He knows from a far (Psalm 138:6).

Vs. 10 “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,

To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.”

Those then who keep the Lords Covenant, now the New Covenant, and keep His testimonies, that is keep His Gospel and testimony in their hearts, minds, and lives, will always find Him showing them His mercy and truth.

Vs. 11 “For Your name’s sake, O Lord,

Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.”

David in appealing for the Lord’s mercies, now confesses to Him that his own iniquity is great, acknowledging that there is no one who can pardon it but Him. For only God can forgive our sins. Therefore, David appeals to the Lord for His Names sake, because His Name (i.e., His Person) means not only tis He Holy and Righteous and Just, but He is also Merciful and Forgiving. For only the Lord can uphold truth and justice, and still pardon our iniquities, whether small or great (1 John 1:9).

Vs. 12-14 ¹²Who is the man that fears the Lord?

Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.

¹³He himself shall dwell in prosperity,

And his descendants shall inherit the earth.

¹⁴The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,

And He will show them His covenant.

In his brokenness and appeal, David once again begins to contemplate the ways of God. Seeing that those who fear the Lord will be the ones whom He shall teach in the way He chooses; thus not the way they choose, or the world would choose, but everyone who fears the Lord will be enlightened and taught by Him in His just and right ways. Therefore the beginning of being taught by the Lord is to fear the Lord. To fear His Person and keep His commandments in ones heart. Now in being taught by the Lord there is no greater riches, blessings, honor, or security then to have a good understanding of the ways of the Lord, for only His Word and His Way lasts forever, everything else is temporary and misleading. Therefore when one has a healthy fear of the Lord one will dwell in prosperity, and just material prosperity; as that should never be the driver of ones reverence and faith; but far more significant and far more important is our souls’ prosperity (3 John 2), for this will remain forever with us (Dan. 12:3). Now as to such a persons descendants inheriting the earth, you only need to think of Abraham and what God swore to him, because he believed Him. Thus, all who likewise believe God, and seek to obey Him, assure themselves and those who follow after them in the same footsteps of faith of awakening to a mighty inheritance in the end (again Daniel 12:3). For just as God’s curse goes out to those who hate him, repaying them to their third and forth generation, even so His blessing goes out to thousands who love Him and keep His commandments (Ex. 20:4-5; Num. 14:18; Deut. 5:9). Truly then the secret of the Lord (all the hidden secrets of wisdom and knowledge) are found by those who fear Him, who believe His Word and put their faith in His Son (Col, 2:2-3), to these then He will show us His Covenant, which is a |Covenant that will not alter and does not change.

Vs. 15 “My eyes are ever toward the Lord,

For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.”

Having declared the benefits that every God-fearing man and woman of faith will reap, David himself now says his own eyes are ever toward the Lord, and not towards man, of trying to find deliverance through them. For people always seek to save themselves, however the Lord is the only One who first thinks to save us who fear Him. Therefore, our eyes our fixed on Him, for it is He who shall pluck my feet (your feet) out of the net, out of all of our troubles that evil men and women would be so delighted to see us trapped in.

Vs. 16-18¹⁶Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,

For I am desolate and afflicted.

¹⁷The troubles of my heart have enlarged;

Bring me out of my distresses!

¹⁸Look on my affliction and my pain,

And forgive all my sins.

In crying out to God our Father, our Lord and Savior, we often only do this most deeply during our own desolation and affliction, for only when the troubles of our own hearts have enlarged, and we are completely overwhelmed by our pain and distress and affliction, when there is nothing left, and no one to turn too, that we seek the Lord and ask His forgiveness and seek His mercies (consider the Prodigal Son). And so as David was here, so this will be all of Israel turning to the Lord Jesus Christ when God allows all of their power to be completely shattered and broken (Daniel 12:7, also consider Ecc. 12:6-7)

Vs. 19 “Consider my enemies, for they are many;

And they hate me with cruel hatred.”

Even in his pain David’s enemies were unrelenting and multiplying, and so seeing and feeling ones enemies hatred when one is afflicted is one of the hardest blows to take. And yet there is hope, because when they do, they will inevitably draw God closer to us.

Vs. 20 “Keep my soul, and deliver me;

Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.”

In David's cry here, there is the cry of every Christian believer, of everyone, whether Jew or Gentile who puts their trust in the Lord, of wanting their souls preserved for His heavenly Kingdom above all else, of wanting God's deliverance from this evil world. And so once again David asks that the Lord not allow him to be ashamed of this, because his trust is in the Lord to save and preserve him (consider Rom. 9:33; 10:11; 1 Peter 2:6), also consider Isaiah 54:4-8; Joel 2:26-27, Zephaniah 3:19.  

Vs. 21 “Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,

For I wait for You.”

In asking then that God preserve him, David is not asking this based on his own integrity and uprightness, (though he always sought to live such a life), but rather on the Lord’s, for he again says that he is waiting for Him to act on his behalf. For the Lord will not look on the unjust and cruel affliction of his people and not respond.

Vs. 22 “Redeem Israel, O God,

Out of all their troubles!”

In closing David sees his own troubles of that of Israel’s, and so in asking for God’s redemption for himself, he sees this (and asks this) for Israel as well.  

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.