Deeper Commentary
Psa 25:1 By David- This Psalm is based around the alphabet. But the letters beth and vav are omitted, instead of koph there is resh; and the he section is doubled at the end. This isn't careless construction or corruption, but rather does Hebrew poetry function through such intentional omissions or departures from an expected pattern.
To You, Yahweh, do I lift up my soul- There is a repeated Biblical theme that the believer's relationship
with the Father too is essentially mutual. David lifts himself up
to God (Ps. 25:1; 28:2; 86:4), and asks God to lift up Himself in response
(Ps. 7:6; 10:12; 94:2).
Psa 25:2 My God, I have trusted in You; don’t let me be shamed-
Typical of men of his time, David seems to fear shame more than death
itself. Defeat meant shame, and he desperately begged not to be shamed.
Perhaps it was the function of his failure with Bathsheba to help him
redefine the motives for his trust in God.
Don’t let my enemies triumph over me- These are the words of Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1). David had the humility to be influenced by a woman's words, something unusual for males of his time.
Psa 25:3 Truly, no one who waits for You shall be shamed. They shall be
shamed who deal treacherously without cause- As noted on :2, David
had to be taught that those who wait upon / serve God can be shamed, by
their sins. And it was David who dealt with Uriah treacherously without
cause.
Psa 25:4 Show me Your ways, Yahweh, teach me Your paths- Seeing David
had access to the existing scriptures, as Ps. 119 shows, this indicates
that David believed that God could show him His ways in a way other than
simply reading the text of the Bible. Just as is true today, and as is
often mentioned in Ps. 119, God is willing to operate directly on the
hearts of men in a way over and above His written word. David realized
this, and asked to be taught and shown God's ways (Ps. 25:4; 143:8).
"Show" is the usual word for 'to know'. Knowledge in its ultimate,
spiritual sense is not attained simply by reading or hearing the text of
the Bible; not that I am at all decrying that. But there is a higher,
Divine hand at work in making us know Divine knowledge. Moses had prayed
the same words in Ex. 33:13: "Show me [make me to know] Your way, that I
may know [s.w. "show"] You [and] find grace in Your sight". The gift of
knowledge, in the Hebraic sense of relationship, is related to God's
grace. That knowledge which is in view is not the same as technical,
theological knowledge. Moses' prayer was answered; the same words are used
in saying that God "made known His ways to Moses" (Ps. 103:7).
Psa 25:5 Guide me in Your truth, and teach me- As noted on :4, the
desire for guidance or being led suggests that there is a higher power
available, beyond a man engaging alone with God's word and seeking to obey
it in his own strength. The idea is beyond that of guidance; the same word
is translated "make me to go in the path of Your commandments" (Ps.
119:35). It is the word used for a bow being bent; the idea is of God's
hand directly and forcefully acting upon a willing human mind. The idea of
the gift of the Holy Spirit is the New Testament equivalent of this.
For You are the God of my salvation; I wait for You all day long- David wanted to be guided because he knew that the end point of the path was "my salvation". His 'waiting' can be understood as an idiom for 'serving', or a waiting for salvation to be revealed in his lifetime.
Psa 25:6 Yahweh, remember Your tender mercies and Your grace, for they are
from old times- Mercy and grace often refer to the Abrahamic
covenant, made in "old times". David perceived God's entire path with His
people as being of "tender mercies", whereas the skeptic will not see His
path in history that way.
Psa 25:7 Don’t remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions- It
should be noted that the sin of adultery is not highlighted in Nathan's
rebuke of David, but rather that David had "killed Uriah the Hittite with
the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife". This is twice
emphasized in 2 Sam. 12:9,10. This is not to say that the sin of weakness, of the
moment, was irrelevant in God's sight. But the emphasis on how he had
taken Bathsheba as his wife hints that this had been his long term
intention, further suggesting that his sin with her was the end result of
much prior meditation. This further illuminates the way in which David
speaks of his sin with Bathsheba as if it comprised a whole multitude of
other sins: "I acknowledged my sin (singular) unto thee... I said, I will
confess my transgressions (plural)" (Ps. 32:5 cp. 38:3,4,18). Ps. 25:7
also occurs in a Bathsheba context: "Remember not the sins of my
youth..."; as if facing up to his sin with Bathsheba made David face up
to sins of years ago, possibly also in a sexual context.
Remember me according to Your grace, for Your goodness’ sake, Yahweh- "Remember me" carries the connotation of 'remember me for good and therefore forgive me at the judgment' in Jud. 16:28; Lk. 23:46.
Psa 25:8 Good and upright is Yahweh, therefore He will instruct sinners in
the way- David felt that his sin and its forgiveness was a time of
instruction for him, and he vows to in turn teach sinners God's way (Ps.
32:1 etc.). God wishes to manifest Himself through our witness; He wants
to use each one of us as a witness to Himself. Rev.
12:11 may imply that our testimony to others is proportionate to our victory
against the devil. Preaching is therefore an expression of basic
righteousness. God teaches sinners His ways because He is essentially good
(Ps. 25:8); and if we are righteous, we will manifest Him in this.
Psa 25:9 He will guide the humble in justice; He will teach the humble His
way- To receive the guidance and teaching discussed on :4,5, we must
be humble, as the clay must be soft to be worked by the Divine hand.
Comparing with the context of :8, David parallels “the meek” and the
repentant sinner (:8,9).
Psa 25:10 All the ways of Yahweh are grace and truth to such as keep His
covenant and His testimonies- "Grace and truth" is a term associated
with the promises to Abraham, which formed the new covenant. If that
covenant was kept, then God would lead those within it- in grace and
truth. See on :13.
Psa 25:11 For Your name’s sake, Yahweh, pardon my iniquity, for it is
great-
See on Ex. 32:32.
David, realizing he was seen by God as a representative of his people,
prayed for forgiveness in that he realized that he was thereby a pattern
for all the wayward people of God. “For Your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon
my iniquity; for it is great” is an undoubted reference to
Moses praying for Israel’s forgiveness relating to the golden calf (Ex.
32:30,31). He saw himself as both Moses in prayer and also guilty Israel.
He saw Bathsheba had been his golden calf idol, mixing as it had done
sexual abandon with an appearance of Yahweh worship. There was nobody to
pray for him apart from himself. He saw himself as all Israel, savable
only by pure grace and the sincere prayer of a mediator- even if the
mediator himself was guilty. God's Name is His character and personality
(Ex. 34:5-7), and integral to that is His desire to forgive.
Psa 25:12 What man is he who fears Yahweh? He shall instruct him in the
way that he shall choose- The man who fears Yahweh is the repentant,
humbled sinner who is open to instruction (:8,9). This is the man who
fears Yahweh and His judgments in a way they should be feared.
The Father opens up new ways of understanding for us
each, of His choosing and according to our individual needs, in response
to our living a God-fearing life. If our hearts are knit together in
brotherly love, the more we will understand- for true understanding is, in
the end, to fathom the depths of God’s love (Col. 2:2).
Psa 25:13 His soul shall dwell at ease, His descendants shall inherit the
land- David here appropriates the promises to Abraham to himself (see
on :10). He saw the outcome of the promised blessing as peace with God,
knowing that we have been forgiven (:8,10). And this is how the New
Testament interprets the Abrahamic blessing (Acts 3:25,26).
Psa 25:14 The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear Him; He will
show them His covenant- "Friendship" is better "secret" or "council". What is so awesome is that the Hebrew word sod, 'council' or 'court', is something open to us as mortals. In Biblical times, Kings had their sod, their gathering of intimate advisors and ministers. But we, mere mortals on earth, are invited to be part of the sod of God Almighty, having His purpose and plans revealed to us (Ps. 25:14; Job 29:4). But sod members weren't passive listeners; they gave their advice and requests, and the King factored that into His decision making. This is a picture of the power of prayer from those who have understood the way and essence of the King of Heaven.
God’s doctrines are described as a secret, a mystery; the Hebrew word
used in this connection means ‘A confidential plan revealed to intimate
friends’; and yet they are revealed to the true believers (Am. 3:7-8; Jer.
23: 18,22 AV mg.; Ps. 25:14; Eph. 3:3-6). Therefore the congregation of
true believers is called “the secret assembly of the saints”(Ps. 89:7
Heb.). There are many Bibles around, but God’s doctrines are to some
extent a secret, and not understood by many of those who possess and read
the Bible. It therefore follows that the Bible must be written in such a
way as to conceal Truth from the majority of readers.
Psa 25:15 My eyes are ever on Yahweh, for He will pluck my feet out of the
net- The metaphor suggests that instead of looking carefully at his
feet to ensure he didn't step into a net or trap, David's eyes instead
were looking upwards to Yahweh. See on Ps. 26:3.
Psa 25:16 Turn to me- The phrase used of God having respect to those
in covenant with Him (Lev. 26:9); the theme of covenant relationship is
clearly in David's mind (:10,13,14).
And have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted- This would be appropriate to how David felt when ill and politically isolated after his sin with Bathsheba.
Psa 25:17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh bring me out of my
distresses!- These troubles of the heart surely refer to his feelings
at the time after the sin with Bathsheba. David's mind was on how Jacob
and Joseph had been rescued from their "troubles" (s.w. Gen. 35:3; 42:21).
Such "troubles" come to those who break covenant (Dt. 31:17,21), and David
is asking for covenant relationship to be restored (:10,13,14,16).
Psa 25:18 Consider my affliction and my travail, forgive all my sins-
David perceived that his affliction was a result of his sins; yet he saw
it as "travail", pregnant with the hope of restored relationship with God
and a new birth to a new life with Him.
Psa 25:19 Consider my enemies, for they are many; they hate me with total
hatred- The sin with Bathsheba led to David having enemies, within
his own family, and also within Bathsheba's family. For Ahithophel David's
counsellor was her grandfather.
Psa 25:20 Oh keep my soul, and deliver me; let me not be disappointed, for
I take refuge in You- "Disappointed" is s.w. "ashamed" in :2. Typical
of men of his time, David seems to fear shame more than death itself.
Defeat meant shame, and he desperately begged not to be shamed. Perhaps it
was the function of his failure with Bathsheba to help him redefine the
motives for his trust in God.
Psa 25:21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You-
If David means that his own previous integrity and uprightness should
preserve him, then he was arguing for salvation by works. And if he
intended to from then on promise integrity, then he also failed in that.
He still hasn't come to a total casting of himself upon God's grace. “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul”
was surely a collapse
of faith and "uprightness" (1 Sam. 27:1). And it led to the way in which David deceived
Achish by pretending he was attacking Jewish towns, when in fact he was
going out and attacking the Amalekite settlements, killing all men, women
and children in them so that nobody was left alive to tell that it was
David who had attacked them (1 Sam. 27:8-10). Innocent people were slain
by David’s sword for the ‘political’ reason that he had to keep Achish ‘in
the dark’ about what he was really up to. And so in case a 5 year old say
something incriminating later, David simply killed the little boy. Indeed,
when Achish later says that David would be best not to go with him to
fight Saul, David hypocritically says: “But what have I done? And what
have you found in your servant so long as I have been with you unto this
day, that I may not go fight against the enemies [i.e. Saul] of my lord
the king?” (1 Sam. 29:8). This was hardly an example of the “integrity”
and “uprightness” which David glorifies in his Psalms, and which he
insisted he was full of (Ps. 25:21). Indeed he claims that his integrity
is the basis of his acceptance by God (Ps. 26:1).
Psa 25:22 Redeem Israel, God, out all of His troubles-
David parallels his own
afflictions and need for forgiveness with Israel’s need for redemption
(Ps. 25:18,22); or how the saving strength of Yahweh’s anointed (i.e.
David) was to be Israel’s saving strength likewise (Ps. 28:8,9). This is
why his Psalms were reused in later historical contexts within Israel. The
feelings and pulse of David are expressed at more length than those of any
other Bible character; and therefore in these we are to see something of
the Lord we follow. It is significant that David is seen as the
representative of Israel, just as was and is the Lord- hence, e.g., the
confusion between “the city of Judah” and “the city of David” (2 Kings
14:20 cp. 2 Chron. 25:28 AVmg.). But this is an alphabetical Psalm, the
:21 was already the last letter of the alphabet, and it is now repeated.
This could imply that this verse was added later, under inspiration,
because it was so well perceived that David was a patter for all God's
subsequent people.
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