Day 112: Psalm 25

READING: Psalm 25

BACKGROUND

This psalm by David is an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the twenty-two successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Scholars aren’t sure why the acrostic psalms were written that way. It’s quite possible that the acrostics functioned as a mnemonic device, and made the psalm easier to memorize.

REFLECTION

Trying to word what I’ve meditated on in this psalm is like trying to pour all the water in a teapot into a thimble! Can’t be done. There’s way too much. So I’ll content myself with a few comments.

1. David needs help; he needs deliverance from his enemies and guidance, and he needs forgiveness. So he turns to God – lifts his soul to God. “To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. / O my God, in You I trust,”… “ Then he appeals to God’s character, to who God is, not why he himself deserves help. Look at the basis of his request:

v. 5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, / For You are the God of my salvation; / For You I wait all the day.

v. 6 Remember, O LORD, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses

v. 7 According to Your lovingkindness remember me,/ For Your goodness' sake, O LORD.

v. 8 Good and upright is the LORD;

v.9 He leads the humble in justice, /And He teaches the humble His way.

v. 10 All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth/ To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

v. 11 For Your name's sake, O LORD,/ Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

David doesn’t ask God to guide him because he deserves it; his appeal for God’s help is not based on his own goodness. Rather he focuses on God’s character in laying out his request and he reminds God that he belongs to Him. David’s appeal to be heard is not based on who he is, but on whose he is.

2. Twice David mentions the need to fear God, to reverence God, to give God the awe-filled trust that He deserves. Verse 12 says, “Who is the man who fears the LORD? / He will instruct him in the way he should choose.” And verse 14: "The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, / And He will make them know His covenant.” Other versions translate verse 14: “Friendship with the LORD is reserved for those who fear him” (New Living Translation).; “The LORD confides in those who fear him” (NIV). Fearing God leads to drawing close to Him, to intimacy with Him. Wow!

3. I counted three times, throughout the psalm, that David mentions his sin and/or asks God for forgiveness. “Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;/
According to Your lovingkindness remember me, / For Your goodness' sake, O LORD.” (v. 7) “For Your name's sake, O LORD, / Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.” (v.11) “Look upon my affliction and my trouble, / And forgive all my sins.” (v. 18)

Here are what others have to say about this:

Spurgeon said, in commenting on this psalm: “It is the mark of a true saint that his sorrows remind him of his sins, and his sorrow for sin drives him to his God.”

and

“ ‘Oh,’ says Pharaoh, ‘take away these filthy frogs, this dreadful thunder!’ But what says holy David? ‘Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant!’ The one would be freed from punishment, the effect of sin; the other from sin, the cause of punishment. And it is most true that a true Christian man is more troubled at sin than at frogs and thunder; he sees more filthiness in sin than in frogs and toads, more horror than in thunder and lightning.” From Jeremiah Dyke's "Worthy Communicant," 1645.

and

"Pharaoh more lamented the hard strokes that were upon him, than the hard heart which was within him. Esau mourned not because he sold the birthright, which was his sin, but because he lost the blessing, which was his punishment. This is like weeping with an onion; the eye sheds tears because it smarts.” … William Secker

4. Two times, in the beginning of the psalm in v. 5 and at the end, in v. 21, David says he will wait for God. He is assured that God will work – doesn’t know how or when – but after recounting the character of His God, his waiting appears expectant and patient rather than doubting and impatient. He is still needy and troubled, but he will continue to obey in integrity and uprightness and trust His God.

What have you reflected on in this psalm? I would like to hear. There’s so much.

APPLICATION QUESTIONS (for me and for you)

When I am troubled or in need where do I turn? If I turn to God, on what basis do I appeal to Him – on the basis of my character or His? Do I fear Him? Am I humble and teachable (meek)?

Am I more concerned about the effects of sin on me (the frogs!) than I am about having committed the sin (the hardness of heart the caused my sin)?

When I pray for guidance or for rescue from my enemy (Satan), do I wait with the trust and assurance that my God, who saved me, is working, and will do what is right with lovingkindness – according to His character?

PRAYER

LORD, help me to turn to You – to lift my soul to You – when I have a need. Help me to reverence and trust You so that I can be your friend, so that I can get to know You. Help me to continue to follow You in integrity while I wait patiently on You.