Psalm 25:5

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(5) Lead me in thy truth.—Better, make me walk in—i.e., make me to have an actual experience of the Divine faithfulness in my passage through life.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 25:5. Lead me in thy truth — In the true and right way prescribed in thy word, which is often called truth; or, through, or, because of, thy truth; because thou art faithful, lead and guide me as thou hast promised to do. For thou art the God of my salvation — Who hast saved me formerly, and hast engaged to save me, and from whom alone I expect salvation. On thee do I wait all the day — In the midst of all my concerns, however important, I am always desiring and expecting thy teaching and direction, being continually disposed and determined to comply with thy will, as far as it is made known.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

25:1-7 In worshipping God, we must lift up our souls to him. It is certain that none who, by a believing attendance, wait on God, and, by a believing hope, wait for him, shall be ashamed of it. The most advanced believer both needs and desires to be taught of God. If we sincerely desire to know our duty, with resolution to do it, we may be sure that God will direct us in it. The psalmist is earnest for the pardon of his sins. When God pardons sin, he is said to remember it no more, which denotes full remission. It is God's goodness, and not ours, his mercy, and not our merit, that must be our plea for the pardon of sin, and all the good we need. This plea we must rely upon, feeling our own unworthiness, and satisfied of the riches of God's mercy and grace. How boundless is that mercy which covers for ever the sins and follies of a youth spent without God and without hope! Blessed be the Lord, the blood of the great Sacrifice can wash away every stain.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Lead me in thy truth - In the way which thou regardest as truth, or which thou seest to be true. Truth is eternal and unchanging. What God sees and regards as truth is true, because he sees things as they are; and when we have the divine estimate of anything, we understand what the thing is. It is not that he makes it to be true, but that he sees it to be true. Such is the perfection of His nature that we have the utmost assurance that what God regards as truth is truth; what He proclaims to be right is right. It is then His truth, as He adopts it for the rule of His own conduct, and makes it known to His creatures to guide them.

And teach me - Since this would be understood by the psalmist, it would be a prayer that God would teach him by His law as then made known; by His Spirit in the heart; by the dispensations of His providence. As applicable to us, it is a prayer that He would instruct us by all the truths then made known, and all that have since been revealed; by His Spirit in its influences on our hearts; by the events which are occurring around us; by the "accumulated" truth of ages; the knowledge which by all the methods He employs He has imparted to people for their guidance and direction.

For thou art the God of my salvation - The word "salvation" is not to be understood here in the sense in which it is now commonly used, as denoting deliverance from sin and future ruin, but in the more general sense of "deliverance" - deliverance from danger and death. The phrase is synonymous with "preservation," and the idea is that the psalmist regarded God as his preserver; or that he owed his protection and safety in the time of danger to Him alone.

On thee do I wait - That is, I rely on Thee; or, I am dependent on Thee. He had no other source of reliance or dependence.

All the day - Continually, always. He was really dependent upon Him at all times, and he felt that dependence. It is always true that we are dependent upon God for everything; it is not true that we always feel this. It was a characteristic of the piety of the psalmist that he did feel this.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4, 5. On the ground of former favor, he invokes divine guidance, according to God's gracious ways of dealing and faithfulness.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

In thy truth, i.e. in the true and right way prescribed in thy word, which is oft called truth, as Psalm 119:30 John 8:45,46 16:13, &c. Or, by or because of thy truth, i.e. because thou art faithful, do thou lead or guide me as thou hast promised to do.

The God of my salvation, i.e. who hast saved me formerly, and hast engaged to save me, and from whom alone I expect salvation.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me,.... Meaning the word of God, the Scriptures of truth; and the Gospel, which is the word of truth, and truth itself, John 17:17; and the sense is, either that God would lead him by his Spirit more and more into all truth, as contained in his word; or that he would lead him by it and according to it, that he might form his principles and his conduct more agreeably to it, which is the standard and rule of faith and practice: which leading is by teaching; and reasons urged for granting all the above petitions follow,

for thou art the God of my salvation; who, in infinite wisdom, contrived scheme and method of it in his Son, and by him effected it, and by his Spirit had made application of it to him: and since the Lord had done such great things for him, he hoped the requests he had made would be granted: he adds,

on thee do I wait all the day; or continually, in public and in private, attending to all the duties of religion, yet not trusting in them, but in the Lord; and therefore he entreated he might not be ashamed of his hope and expectation for deliverance and salvation.

Geneva Study Bible

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait {d} all the day.

(d) Constantly and against all temptations.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

5. Lead me &c.] R.V., Guide me in thy truth: not, as at first sight would seem to be the meaning, into a fuller knowledge of revealed truth. Jehovah’s truth, so often coupled with His lovingkindness, means His faithfulness; and the sense is either ‘guide me in virtue of thy faithfulness’; or ‘let me live in the experience of thy faithfulness’ (Psalm 26:3).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 5. - Lead me in thy truth, and teach me. "Thy truth" would seem to mean here "the true, right path" - the "way of godliness." The prayer is that God will both teach this to the psalmist and "lead him in it" - cause him, i.e., to walk in it, and never stray from it, so long as he lives. For thou art the God of my salvation. Thou art the God from whom alone I obtain salvation, and to whom alone, therefore, I am bound to pray for everything on which salvation depends - as, for instance, light and guidance. On thee do I wait all the day. In prayer for these blessings, I wait on thee all the day long. Psalm 25:5

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

His truth is the lasting and self-verifying fact of His revelation of grace. To penetrate into this truth and to walk in it (Psalm 26:3; Psalm 86:11) without God, is a contradiction in its very self. Therefore the psalmist prays, as in Psalm 119:35, οδήγησόν με ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου (lxx Cod. Alex.; whereas Cod. Vat. ἐπὶ τὴν..., cf. John 16:13). He prays thus, for his salvation comes from Jahve, yea Jahve is his salvation. He does not hope for this or that, but for Him, all the day, i.e., unceasingly,

(Note: Hupfeld thinks the accentuation inappropriate; the first half of the verse, however, really extends to ישׁעי, and consists of two parts, of which the second is the confirmation of the first: the second half contains a relatively new thought. The sequence of the accents: Rebia magnum, Athnach, therefore fully accords with the matter.)

for everything worth hoping for, everything that can satisfy the longing of the soul, is shut up in Him. All mercy or grace, however, which proceeds from Him, has its foundation in His compassion and condescension.