This Psalm basically opens each line with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, moving consecutively through the Hebrew alphabet. It does not, however, do this totally consistently for W and Q are omitted and R is repeated where Q would have been. This latter may simply have been because what the writer... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PSALMIST'S INITIAL PLEA AND EXPRESSION OF CONFIDENCE THAT YHWH WILL HEAR HIM (PSALMS 25:1). Psalms 25:1 A ‘To you, O YHWH, Do I lift up my soul, O my God.' (The movement of ‘O my God' to this first stanza is required by the alphabetical arrangement in the Hebrew text. Its use in the opening s... [ Continue Reading ]
A PRAYER FOR PROTECTION AND GUIDANCE FROM YHWH (PSALMS 25:1). In Psalms 25:1 the Psalmist lifts up His soul to God, and prays that his cause might be upheld, and then in Psalms 25:3 he asserts his confidence that God will indeed hear his prayer. This is followed in Psalms 25:4 by a request to be tau... [ Continue Reading ]
A PLEA FOR GUIDANCE FOR HIMSELF, AND THAT YHWH WILL REMEMBER HIS COVENANT PROMISES AND COVENANT LOVE, AND THAT HE WILL NOT REMEMBER HIS SINS (4-7). This is the first section in a three stage pattern, the first two stages of which can be illustrated as follows: Show me Your ways, O YHWH.----------... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD IN HIS GOODNESS GUIDES ALL WHO ARE RESPONSIVE TO HIM, AND REVEALS TO THEM HIS GOODNESS IN MERCY AND COVENANT LOVE, INCLUDING PARDONING THEIR INIQUITY (PSALMS 25:8). Having called on God to guide him and show His covenant mercy towards him, the Psalmist now points out that this is in fact what Y... [ Continue Reading ]
THE ONE WHO FEARS YHWH WILL RECEIVE HIS INSTRUCTION, WILL ENJOY SECURITY AND PROSPERITY, WILL BE AWARE THAT HE IS ONE OF HIS COVENANT PEOPLE, AND WILL BE KEPT FROM FALLING (PSALMS 25:12). We now come to the second and third stage in the parallels. In the case of the second stage the emphasis has be... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PSALMIST NOW PRAYS FOR DELIVERANCE FROM HIS AFFLICTIONS AND AGAIN FOR FORGIVENESS FOR HIS SINS (PSALMS 25:16). Following the confidence expressed in the previous verses the Psalmist's situation now again comes strongly home to him, and he sends up a heartfelt plea for deliverance. Three problem... [ Continue Reading ]
R ‘Consider my enemies, for they are many, And they hate me with cruel hatred.' His thoughts now turn back to his enemies whom he has disregarded for most of the Psalm, for what has mattered first of all has been establishing his confidence in God and in His covenant, walking in God's ways and enj... [ Continue Reading ]
SH ‘Oh keep my soul, and deliver me. Do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you (put my trust in you).' So he asks that his inner heart might be kept true, and that he might experience deliverance. For to be put to shame would reflect on the One in Whom he takes refuge, the One in Who... [ Continue Reading ]
T ‘Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for you.' His final concern is for the triumph of integrity and uprightness (in contrast with his enemies' treachery - Psalms 25:3). He does not just want to be preserved, but preserved in integrity and uprightness. He wants them to act as h... [ Continue Reading ]
P ‘Redeem, O God, Israel, out all of his troubles.' The Psalmists final plea is that God will redeem (deliver at a cost) Israel from all its troubles. He does not want to be thought of as just concerned about himself. Many consider that this was added on when the Psalm was introduced into public w... [ Continue Reading ]