1 > To you, Yahweh, do I lift up my soul.
2 My God, I have trusted in you, Don't let me be shamed. Don't let my enemies triumph over me.
3 Yes, no one who waits for you shall be shamed. They shall be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.
4 Show me your ways, Yahweh. Teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth, and teach me, For you are the God of my salvation, I wait for you all day long.
6 Yahweh, remember your tender mercies and your loving kindness, For they are from old times.
7 Don't remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. Remember me according to your loving kindness, For your goodness' sake, Yahweh.
8 Good and upright is Yahweh, Therefore he will instruct sinners in the way.
9 He will guide the humble in justice. He will teach the humble his way.
10 All the paths of Yahweh are loving kindness and truth To such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For your name's sake, Yahweh, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12 What man is he who fears Yahweh? He shall instruct him in the way that he shall choose.
13 His soul shall dwell at ease. His seed shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever on Yahweh, For he will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me, For I am desolate and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my travail. Forgive all my sins.
19 Consider my enemies, for they are many. They hate me with cruel hatred.
20 Oh keep my soul, and deliver me. Let me not be disappointed, for I take refuge in you.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, God, Out all of his troubles.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 25
Commentary on Psalms 25 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 25
Ps 25:1-22. The general tone of this Psalm is that of prayer for help from enemies. Distress, however, exciting a sense of sin, humble confession, supplication for pardon, preservation from sin, and divine guidance, are prominent topics.
1. lift up my soul—(Ps 24:4; 86:4), set my affections (compare Col 3:2).
2. not be ashamed—by disappointment of hopes of relief.
3. The prayer generalized as to all who wait on God—that is, who expect His favor. On the other hand, the disappointment of the perfidious, who, unprovoked, have done evil, is invoked (compare 2Sa 22:9).
4, 5. On the ground of former favor, he invokes divine guidance, according to God's gracious ways of dealing and faithfulness.
6, 7. Confessing past and present sins, he pleads for mercy, not on palliations of sin, but on God's well-known benevolence.
8, 9. upright—acting according to His promise.
sinners—the general term, limited by the
meek—who are penitent.
the way—and his way—God's way of providence.
9. in judgment—rightly.
10. paths—similar sense—His modes of dealing (compare Ps 25:4).
mercy and truth—(Job 14:1-22), God's grace in promising and faithfulness in performing.
11. God's perfections of love, mercy, goodness, and truth are manifested (his name, compare Ps 9:10) in pardoning sin, and the greatness of sin renders pardon more needed.
12, 13. What he asks for himself is the common lot of all the pious.
13. inherit the earth—(compare Mt 5:5). The phrase, alluding to the promise of Canaan, expresses all the blessings included in that promise, temporal as well as spiritual.
14. The reason of the blessing explained—the pious enjoy communion with God (compare Pr 3:21, 12), and, of course, learn His gracious terms of pardon.
15. His trust in God is fixed.
net—is frequently used as a figure for dangers by enemies (Ps 9:15; 10:9).
16-19. A series of earnest appeals for aid because God had seemed to desert him (compare Ps 13:1; 17:13, &c.), his sins oppressed him, his enemies had enlarged his troubles and were multiplied, increasing in hate and violence (Ps 9:8; 18:48).
20. keep my soul—(Ps 16:1).
put my trust—flee for refuge (Ps 2:12).
21. In conscious innocence of the faults charged by his enemies, he confidently commits his cause to God. Some refer—
integrity, &c.—to God, meaning His covenant faithfulness. This sense, though good, is an unusual application of the terms.
22. Extend these blessings to all Thy people in all their distresses.