It is thought by some that this prayer belongs to the Exile period; but by whomsoever it may have been penned, or at whatsoever age, matters little. There is nothing in it which
depends on known historic incident for its elucidation. And whoever desires to dive into the depths of its meaning will find the habit of waiting on God the best key to its words and phrases. No merely natural man can possibly unravel spiritual things, and he who is a stranger to prayer will get no help whatever in the understanding of this psalm from all the scholastic critics in the world. There are a few doubtful phrases, on which Perowne's notes will throw some light; but, speaking generally, this is one of the psalms on which Calvin and Matthew Henry will furnish adequately suggestive remarks. Reserving all dealing with specific texts in it for other writers in this Commentary, we propose to survey the psalm as a whole, though it may be that each heading thereon might furnish a theme for separate discourse. This prayer of an Old Testament saint suggests -
I. THAT WE KNOW ENOUGH OF GOD TO FURNISH US WITH A SOUND BASIS FOR PRAYER. Interspersed among the several petitions there are here several statements of exquisite beauty (cf. vers. 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 3, 13). These may be thus set forth:
1. God is good and upright; therefore will he teach and guide those who seek him. Good, so that he delights to do it; upright, so that he will be true to his promise.
2. This guidance he vouchsafes to the meek (ver. 9). Taken in a physical sense, the word translated "meek" is equivalent to "afflicted;" in a moral sense its meaning is as given here (cf. James 1:21; James 4:6; Matthew 11:25).
3. To loyal souls all his ways are mercy and truth (ver. 10); hence he cannot shut his ear to their prayer (see also ver. 12). "Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose;" Luther, "Er wird ihn unterweiseuden besten Weg."
4. He will give such souls a rest and refuge in himself (ver. 13)."His soul shall lodge in goodness" (Hebrew cf. Psalm 91:1 Hebrew).
5. To such God will open up the heavenly secrets of his covenant love. A glorious anticipation, By spiritual intuition, in Old Testament times, of John 15:15.
6. He will never put to shame those that wait on him (ver. 3, Revised Version; see Perowne's note thereon). As followers of our Lord Jesus, we may add to all this the amazing statement, "The Father seeketh such to worship him." God is not only willing to receive their worship, but he eagerly desires it (John 4:23).
II. THAT PRAYER IS THE HIGHEST EFFORT OF MAll. It is described in the first verse as "lifting up the soul to God" (cf. Psalm 121:1; Psalm 143:8). This the psalmist did
(1) in the morning (Psalm 5:3);
(2) at noon and at evening (Psalm 55:17);
(3) seven times a day (Psalm 119:164);
(4) all the day (Psalm 25:5);
(5) Perpetually (Psalm 25:15).
The psalmist prayed not only when trouble came, but always. His heart spontaneously went up ever to God, as to the Friend without whose smile he could not live, and without whose protection he dared not move. Note: For elevation of life our spirits must be ever looking above and beyond themselves. An upward look will uplift character; the downward look will degrade.
III. THAT INWARD CONFLICTS AND OUTWARD CIRCUMSTANCES OFTEN GIVE SPECIAL INTENSITY TO PRAYER. Glancing over the varied forms of expression which indicate the psalmist's mental state and his surroundings, we shall see this:
1. The remembrance of past sins troubles him. Oh that the young would beware of sin! Long, long after it is forgiven by God, it will poison and worry the memory (ver. 7). So much so, that only as the sinning one flings himself on mercy, can he have any rest at all.
2. The psalmist is desolate, afflicted (ver. 16), troubled in heart (ver. 17), in a net (ver. 15), surrounded with bitter enemies (ver. 19). What a burden of care and grief he has to roll over upon God] Note: It is an infinite mercy to be Permitted to tell God exactly what we feel, and all that we feel, knowing that we shall never be misunderstood, but that we shall be laying open all our griefs only before infinite goodness and mercy.
IV. THE SPECIFIC PETITIONS IN PRAYER MAY BE VARIED AS OUR NEED. The petitions specified in this psalm are mainly for himself, but not exclusively. Those for himself are such as any child of God may present at any time. The special colouring given to each must need be the reflection of hues of his own, "fresh borrowed from the heart." The psalmist's petitions for himself may be grouped under eight heads.
1. That God would not put him to shame before his enemies (ver. 2).
2. He prays for light (ver. 4).
3. For teaching in the way in which he should go (vers. 4, 5).
4. That he may have experience in God's faithfulness (ver. 5; see notes, 'Variorum Bible').
5. For loving-kindness and mercy (ver. 6).
6. For forgiveness (ver. 11).
7. For Divine guardianship (ver. 20).
8. For a gracious, compassionate look (ver. 18).
9. That amidst all temptations to wander from the way, he may be kept in integrity and uprightness (vers. 21, 22).
But the pleading one cannot close without one prayer for the Church of God (ver. 22; cf. Psalm 51:18, 19). A noble, pious, public spirit existed in the Old Testament saints. Such a one as the writer of this psalm cannot forget his people at a throne of grace. Well would it be if such earnest public spirit were possessed by Christian people everywhere, so that, as priests unto God, they would never enter the holy of holies save with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel graven on their breast.
V. THE PRAYING ONE MAY USE MANIFOLD ARGUMENTS IN PLEADING WITH HIS GOD. There is a blending of simplicity, boldness, and grandeur in the pleas of this prayer.
1. "I trust in thee" (ver. 2). When there is trust on one side, we may be sure it is reciprocated by love and pity on God's side.
2. "Thou art the God of my salvation" (ver. 5). Thou hast undertaken to deliver me, and thou wilt be true to thine own promises. God loves to be reminded of his promises. He has never said in vain to the seed of Jacob, "Seek ye me."
3. "Remember thy tender mercies," etc. (ver. 6). David's past experience of God's mercy was a pledge that God would not forget him.
4. "For thy Name's sake" (ver. 11). Gracious answers to his people's prayer magnify God's Name; they reveal his grace and love. And the psalmist, in holy daring, pleads with God to magnify his own Name in hearing him. Yea, more; a more startling argument still is used.
5. "For it [mine iniquity] is great" (ver. 11)! Who but those who know bow God delights to forgive, and even to multiply pardons, could ever venture to plead for forgiveness because their sin was so great? Yet surely the meaning is, "Lord, though my sin is great, the greater will thy mercy be, and the more lustrously thy pardoning love will shine forth on the background of my guilt!" Such prayers and such pleadings as these are not learnt in a day nor in a year. They can come only from one whose eyes are ever towards the Lord.
VI. SUCH TRUSTING AND PRAYING ONES WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME. (Ver. 3, Revised Version.) They never have been. They never will be. They cannot be. The revealed character and attributes of God assure us of this. The opening up of the new and living way to God, which our great High Priest has consecrated for ever for our use, ensures it. The blood of Christ seals the same; it is the "blood of the everlasting covenant." The love of God shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost is another pledge of the efficacy of prayer. Yea, the immutability of God himself confirms this; not only that prayer will avail, but also that without prayer we have no right to expect the blessings we need. Our Lord has said, "Ask, and ye shall receive." Thus he teaches the Divine rule for us. If, then, it is God's will to give us blessing when we ask, it is useless for us to think to change the mind of God, and to expect the blessing without asking for it. - C.
Let me not be put to shame.
Trust that was not vindicated by deliverance would cover the face with confusion. "Hopes that breed not shame" are the treasure of him whose hope is in Jehovah. Foes unnamed threaten; but the stress of the petitions in the first section of the Psalm is less on enemies than on sins. One cry for protection from the former is all that the Psalmist utters, and then his prayer swiftly turns to deeper needs. In the last section the petitions are more exclusively for deliverance from enemies. Needful as such escape is, it is less needful than the knowledge of God's ways, and the man in extremest peril orders his desires rightly if he asks holiness first and safety second. The cry in ver. 2 rests upon the confidence nobly expressed in ver. 3, in which the verbs are not optatives, but futures, declaring a truth certain to be realised in the Psalmist's experience, because it is true for all who, like him, wait on Jehovah. True prayer is the individual's sheltering himself under the broad folds of the mantle that covers all who pray. The double confidence as to the waiters on Jehovah and the "treacherous without cause" is the summary of human experience as read by faith. Sense has much to adduce in contradiction, but the dictum is nevertheless true; only, its truth does not always appear in the small are of the circle which lies between cradle and grave. The prayer for deliverance glides into that for guidance, since the latter is the deeper need, and the former will scarcely be answered unless the suppliant's will docilely offers the latter. The soul lifted to Jehovah will long to know His will, and submit itself to His manifold teachings. "Thy ways" and "Thy paths" necessarily here mean the ways in which Jehovah desires that the Psalmist should go. "In Thy truth" is ambiguous, both as to the preposition and as to the noun. The clause may either mean God's truth (
i.e. faithfulness) as His motive for answering the prayer, or His truth (
i.e. the objective revelation) as the path for men. Predominant usage inclines to the former signification of the noun, but the possibility still remains of regarding God's faithfulness as the path in which the Psalmist desires to be led, i.e. to experience it. The cry for forgiveness strikes a deeper note of pathos, and, as asking a more wondrous blessing, grasps still more firmly the thought of what Jehovah is and always has been. The appeal is made to "Thy compassions and loving kindnesses," as belonging to His nature, and to their past exercise as having been "from of old." Emboldened thus, the Psalmist can look back on his own past, both on his outbursts of youthful passion and levity, which he calls "failures," as missing the mark; and on the darker evils of later manhood, which he calls "rebellions," and can trust that Jehovah will think upon him "according to His mercy," and "for the sake of His goodness or love." The vivid realisation of that Eternal Mercy, as the very mainspring of God's actions, and as setting forth in many an ancient deed the eternal pattern of His dealings, enables a man to bear the thought of his own sins.
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People
David,
PsalmistPlaces
JerusalemTopics
Ashamed, Confide, Enemies, Exult, Faith, Glorying, Haters, O, Shame, Shamed, Triumph, Trust, TrustedOutline
1. David's confidence in prayer7. He prays for remission of sins16. and for help in afflictionDictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 25:1-2 5763 attitudes, positive to God
8412 decisions
Psalm 25:1-3
5290 defeat
8031 trust, importance
Psalm 25:2-3
5947 shame
Library
June 14. "The Secret of the Lord is with them that Fear Him" (Ps. xxv. 14).
"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him" (Ps. xxv. 14). There are secrets of Providence which God's dear children may learn. His dealing with them often seems, to the outward eye, dark and terrible. Faith looks deeper and says, "This is God's secret. You look only on the outside; I can look deeper and see the hidden meaning." Sometimes diamonds are done up in rough packages, so that their value cannot be seen. When the tabernacle was built in the wilderness there was nothing rich in its …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth A Prayer for Pardon and Its Plea
'For Thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.'--PSALM xxv. 11. The context shows us that this is the prayer of a man who had long loved and served God. He says that 'on God' he 'waits all the day,' that his 'eyes are ever toward the Lord,' that he has 'integrity and uprightness' which will 'preserve him, for he waits upon God,' and yet side by side with this consciousness of devotion and service there lie the profound sense of sin and of the need of pardon. The better a man …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Guidance in Judgment
'Good and upright is the Lord; therefore will He teach sinners in the way. 9. The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way.'--PSALM xxv. 8, 9. The Psalmist prays in this psalm for three things: deliverance, guidance, and forgiveness. Of these three petitions the central one is that for guidance. 'Show me Thy ways, O Lord,' he asks in a previous verse; where he means by 'Thy ways,' not God's dealings with men, but men's conduct as prescribed by God. In my text he exchanges …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture
Safe Walking.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "All the Paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies."--PSALM xxv. 10. Safe Walking. The paths of the Lord? My soul! never follow thine own paths. If thou dost so, thou wilt be in danger often of following sight rather than faith,--choosing the evil, and refusing the good. But "commit thy way unto the Lord, and He shall bring it to pass." Let this be thy prayer, "Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths." Oh! for …
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser
On the Contemplation of Human Misery
Thou art miserable wheresoever thou art, and whithersoever thou turnest, unless thou turn thee to God. Why art thou disquieted because it happeneth not to thee according to thy wishes and desires? Who is he that hath everything according to his will? Neither I, nor thou, nor any man upon the earth. There is no man in the world free from trouble or anguish, though he were King or Pope. Who is he who hath the happiest lot? Even he who is strong to suffer somewhat for God. 2. There are many foolish …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ
Both Things are Specially Worthy of Notice. ...
Both things are specially worthy of notice. First, let every one in professing to pray turn thither all his thoughts and feelings, and be not (as is usual) distracted by wandering thoughts; because nothing is more contrary to the reverence due to God than that levity which bespeaks a mind too much given to license and devoid of fear. In this matter we ought to labour the more earnestly the more difficult we experience it to be; for no man is so intent on prayer as not to feel many thoughts creeping …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith
In Fine, Supplication for Pardon, with Humble and Ingenuous Confession of Guilt...
In fine, supplication for pardon, with humble and ingenuous confession of guilt, forms both the preparation and commencement of right prayer. For the holiest of men cannot hope to obtain anything from God until he has been freely reconciled to him. God cannot be propitious to any but those whom he pardons. Hence it is not strange that this is the key by which believers open the door of prayer, as we learn from several passages in The Psalms. David, when presenting a request on a different subject, …
John Calvin—Of Prayer--A Perpetual Exercise of Faith
Christ Teaching by Parables
We have spoken of our Saviour as "The Great Teacher," and tried to point out some of the things in his teaching which helped to make him great. And now, it may be well to speak a little of the illustrations which he made use of as a Teacher. These are called--parables. Our Saviour's parables were illustrations. This is what is meant by the Greek word from which we get the word parable. It means something set down by the side of another. When we teach a lesson we are setting something before the …
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young
The General Resurrection
Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. A n object, great in itself, and which we know to be so, will appear small to us, if we view it from a distance. The stars, for example, in our view, are but as little specks …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2
How to Make Use of Christ as the Life, when the Believer is So Sitten-Up in the Ways of God, that He Can do Nothing.
Sometimes the believer is under such a distemper of weakness and deadness, that there is almost no commanded duty that he can go about; his heart and all is so dead, that he cannot so much as groan under that deadness. Yea, he may be under such a decay, that little or no difference will be observed betwixt him and others that are yet in nature; and be not only unable to go actively and lively about commanded duties, yea, or to wrestle from under that deadness; but also be so dead, that he shall scarce …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life
Of the Fewness of those who Love the Cross of Jesus
Jesus hath many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His Cross. He hath many seekers of comfort, but few of tribulation. He findeth many companions of His table, but few of His fasting. All desire to rejoice with Him, few are willing to undergo anything for His sake. Many follow Jesus that they may eat of His loaves, but few that they may drink of the cup of His passion. Many are astonished at His Miracles, few follow after the shame of His Cross. Many love Jesus so long as no …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ
May one Lose the Blessing?
The question trembles from many a lip--If I get the blessing, may I lose it? Most certainly. But, glory be to God! He has made ample provision for failure. There is no reason why we should fail; God has made ample provision against failure; we must not expect to fail; but in case we do fail, provision has been made. The most prolific cause of loss is disobedience--disobedience either to one of God's written commands, or to the inward promptings of His Holy Spirit. "The Holy Ghost whom God hath …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life
Lastly; they who Will Not, by the Arguments and Proofs Before Mentioned,
be convinced of the truth and certainty of the Christian religion, and be persuaded to make it the rule and guide of all their actions, would not be convinced, (so far as to influence their practice and reform their lives,) by any other evidence whatsoever; no, not though one should rise on purpose from the dead to endeavour to convince them. That the evidence which God has afforded us of the truth of our religion is abundantly sufficient. From what has been said, upon the foregoing heads, it is …
Samuel Clarke—A Discourse Concerning the Being and Attributes of God
Of Prayer --A Perpetual Exercise of Faith. The Daily Benefits Derived from It.
1. A general summary of what is contained in the previous part of the work. A transition to the doctrine of prayer. Its connection with the subject of faith. 2. Prayer defined. Its necessity and use. 3. Objection, that prayer seems useless, because God already knows our wants. Answer, from the institution and end of prayer. Confirmation by example. Its necessity and propriety. Perpetually reminds us of our duty, and leads to meditation on divine providence. Conclusion. Prayer a most useful exercise. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion
The Great Teacher
Teaching was the great business of the life of Christ during the days of his public ministry. He was sent to teach and to preach. The speaker in the book of Job was thinking of this Great Teacher when he asked--"Who teacheth like him?" Job xxxvi: 22. And it was he who was in the Psalmist's mind when he spoke of the "good, and upright Lord" who would teach sinners, if they were meek, how to walk in his ways. Ps. xxv: 8-9. And he is the Redeemer, of whom the prophet Isaiah was telling when he said--He …
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young
Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow.
Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul: I am come into deep waters; so that the floods run over me.--Ps. lxix. 1, 2. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. xxxviii. 6. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: Oh! bring Thou me out of my distress.--Ps. xxv. 17. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. vi. 8. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep
"He is the Rock, his Work is Perfect. For all his Ways are Judgment. A God of Truth, and Without Iniquity, Just and Right is He.
Deut. xxxii. 4, 5.--"He is the rock, his work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment. A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children. They are a perverse and crooked generation." "All his ways are judgment," both the ways of his commandments and the ways of his providence, both his word which he hath given as a lantern to men's paths, and his works among men. And this were the blessedness of men, to be found …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning
The Worst Things Work for Good to the Godly
DO not mistake me, I do not say that of their own nature the worst things are good, for they are a fruit of the curse; but though they are naturally evil, yet the wise overruling hand of God disposing and sanctifying them, they are morally good. As the elements, though of contrary qualities, yet God has so tempered them, that they all work in a harmonious manner for the good of the universe. Or as in a watch, the wheels seem to move contrary one to another, but all carry on the motions of the watch: …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial
Or are we Indeed to Believe that it is for any Other Reason...
41. Or are we indeed to believe that it is for any other reason, that God suffers to be mixed up with the number of your profession, many, both men and women, about to fall, than that by the fall of these your fear may be increased, whereby to repress pride; which God so hates, as that against this one thing The Highest humbled Himself? Unless haply, in truth, thou shalt therefore fear less, and be more puffed up, so as to love little Him, Who hath loved thee so much, as to give up Himself for thee, …
St. Augustine—Of Holy Virginity.
First Sunday after Epiphany
Text: Romans 12, 1-6. 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II
A Divine Cordial
We know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans viii. 28. Introduction IF the whole Scripture be the feast of the soul, as Ambrose said, then Romans 8 may be a dish at that feast, and with its sweet variety may very much refresh and animate the hearts of Gods people. In the preceding verses the apostle had been wading through the great doctrines of justification and adoption, mysteries so arduous and profound, that …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial
Vanity of Human Glory.
"The world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not."--1 John iii. 1 Of St. Simon and St. Jude, the Saints whom we this day commemorate, little is known[1]. St. Jude, indeed, still lives in the Church in his Catholic epistle; but of his history we only know that he was brother to St. James the Less, and nearly related to our Lord and that, like St. Peter, he had been a married man. Besides his name of Jude or Judas, he is also called Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus in the Gospels. Of St. Simon we only …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII
The Kingdom of God Conceived as the Inheritance of the Poor.
These maxims, good for a country where life is nourished by the air and the light, and this delicate communism of a band of children of God reposing in confidence on the bosom of their Father, might suit a simple sect constantly persuaded that its Utopia was about to be realized. But it is clear that they could not satisfy the whole of society. Jesus understood very soon, in fact, that the official world of his time would by no means adopt his kingdom. He took his resolution with extreme boldness. …
Ernest Renan—The Life of Jesus
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