OF DAVID.
1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
2in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse.
4Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;
5guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
6Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
7Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O LORD.
8Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
10All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
11For the sake of your name, O LORD,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
12Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD?
He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
13He will spend his days in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
14The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
15My eyes are ever on the LORD,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.
16Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17The troubles of my heart have multiplied;
free me from my anguish.
18Look upon my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
19See how my enemies have increased
and how fiercely they hate me!
20Guard my life and rescue me;
let me not be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
21May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope is in you.
22Redeem Israel, O God,
from all their troubles!
Original Meaning
THE TWENTY-TWO VERSES of this psalm form an alphabetic acrostic poem (one that begins each verse with successive letters in the Hebrew alphabet1). The final verse (25:22) stands outside the acrostic pattern since it follows the taw line (25:21). This verse also introduces the communal concerns of Israel into an otherwise individual composition, which is probably a way of adapting an earlier psalm to the needs of the postexilic Diaspora community.2 Kraus takes the verse as a later addition, while Craigie connects it with a postexilic acrostic tradition in which the waw line is “suppressed” and a final line added (cf. Ps. 34).3
Beyond the obvious shaping of the acrostic method, the structure of the psalm is more difficult to determine. There is a clear alternation between second-person direct address of Yahweh and third-person narrative about him, with verses 1–7, 11, 16–22 falling into the former category and verses 8–10, 12–15 representing the latter. Taking into consideration these changing indications of second- and third-person reference to Yahweh along with thematic shifts, the structure of the psalm can be described as follows: statement of trust (25:1–3), plea for deliverance (25:4–7), praise for Yahweh’s faithfulness (25:8–10), pivotal prayer for forgiveness (25:11), confidence of those who fear Yahweh (25:12–15), individual plea for deliverance (25:16–21), and communal plea for redemption (25:22).
The Heading (25:0)
NO NEW TERMS appear in the heading of Psalm 25. The psalm is the first in a grouping of four consecutive psalms (Pss. 25–28) that are identically and simply attributed to David.4
Statement of Trust (25:1–3)
THE PSALM BEGINS with a confident declaration of trust in Yahweh (25:1), followed immediately by a plea that the speaker not be “put to shame” or defeated by the enemy (25:2). This plea does not undermine the statement of trust because it is grounded in the theological observation that follows in verse 3; because Yahweh will never allow those who trust in him to be put to shame, the psalmist is free to claim personal application of that truth. Unlike the treacherous idol worshiper of 24:4, he declares, “I lift up my nepeš”5 to Yahweh, who alone is trustworthy (25:1).
Do not let me be put to shame. Shame here is not just an inward feeling but an outward experience of public embarrassment. The enemies of the psalmist seek a public condemnation that is undeserved. I am reminded of the public humiliation demanded of the adulteress Hester Prynne by the Puritan community in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Having borne a child out of wedlock while her husband was away, Hester was required to wear visible on her bodice a scarlet A, signifying her sinful state, and was to be followed about through the streets by a drummer boy constantly announcing her presence to the disapproving public. Similarly, in our psalm the enemies are not satisfied with a private put-down but desire the whole community to join in their ridicule and stigmatizing of the psalmist.
Although the same verb (bwš) is employed three times in verses 2–3, the difference in the forms employed is significant. In verse 2 the psalmist uses a negative jussive form (ʾal ʾebošah) to express the desire that Yahweh will not allow the psalmist to be shamed. In verse 3, however, the forms are both imperfects (loʾ yebošu; yebošu), indicating the psalmist’s certainty that Yahweh does not allow those who trust in him to be shamed.
Plea for Deliverance (25:4–7)
SHOW ME YOUR WAYS, O LORD. The second-person address of Yahweh continues, but a series of imperative forms signals the shift from declaration of confidence to plea for deliverance. The section is subdivided into two parts: verses 4–5, focusing on divine instruction in the “ways” of Yahweh; and verses 6–7, stressing the theme of divine remembrance. Together the two pieces describe the psalmist’s humble teachability (25:4–5), acknowledgment of sin (25:7), and complete reliance on the undeserved mercy of God (25:6–7).
The “ways” (derakeyka) and “paths” (ʾoreḥoteyka) of Yahweh are here viewed as many and not one. This acknowledges that the one “way” of righteousness before Yahweh envisioned in Psalm 1:6 is actually composed of many moments of decision and faithfulness. The psalmist is not left alone on this journey but can trust Yahweh to guide and instruct along the way. Like the shepherd of Psalm 23, Yahweh leads the one who trusts in him along the correct paths (from drk, “cause me to walk”). Craigie understands this latter verb to imply that God supplies the strength to follow the path made known by God—something like “enable me to walk.”6
Guide me in your truth. Rather than the NIV’s “truth,” the underlying Hebrew word (ʾemet) is better translated “faithfulness,” the same basic meaning associated with the word in 25:10. The primary idea is of enduring reliability that can be trusted—not just rightness. The psalmist wishes to be guided faithfully through the myriad circumstances of life, able to rely at every turn on the consistent presence of Yahweh.
My hope is in you. The psalmist again claims the foundational truth of verse 3 by identifying fully with those who “trust” in Yahweh and consequently need not fear being put to shame. The completeness of his trust is confirmed by its continuous nature: “all day long.”
Remember . . . your great mercy and love. The psalmist does not trust in personal integrity and sinless righteousness but grounds all hope in the “great mercy and love” of God. “Great mercy” (raḥameyka) is related to the noun reḥem (“womb, uterus”) and is taken to mean “the feelings of a mother to the child in her womb,” hence, “compassion, mercy.” Elsewhere Yahweh is spoken of as having given birth to Israel/Ephraim and having such motherly feelings that he is unable to give the child up (Jer. 31:20; Hos. 11:1–8). It is to this bond of “motherly love” that the psalmist appeals rather than to any generalized idea of compassion.7
In addition to Yahweh’s tender compassion, the psalmist also relies on his “love” (ḥesed).8 More accurate than the NIV’s translation “love” (for which ʾahabah is a more common Hebrew alternative) is the rendering “enduring (covenant) loyalty.” This is the kind of loyalty that grows out of a bond of commitment. God’s covenant with Israel demonstrated his willingness and purpose to bind himself to her in an unbreakable (on his part) relationship of committed loyalty. This is love, not of an emotional sort but of a settled and accepted decision. Such commitment endures—“for they are from of old” (25:6b)—and can serve as the foundation for the hope for deliverance that the psalmist expresses.
Remember not.9 In verse 6 the psalmist calls Yahweh to “remember” his compassion and enduring covenant loyalty, on which he grounds all hope of deliverance. In verse 7, however, the psalmist entreats Yahweh not to remember his youthful indiscretions and rebellious ways. Whether this refers to the sins of immaturity that the psalmist has outgrown or is a reminder of sins of “long-standing” (as the NIV study notes suggest, as a parallel to Yahweh’s enduring compassion) is not immediately clear. In any case, the psalmist does not dismiss such sin as inconsequential. At the central point of the psalm (25:11), he confesses “great” iniquity and seeks forgiveness from God. Rather than simple “forgetfulness,” he is asking God not to allow these confessed sins to stand in the way of divine deliverance. When set opposite one another in the balance, he is confident that Yahweh’s enduring loyalty and compassion will outweigh his long-standing sin.
In Praise of God’s Faithfulness (25:8–10)
A SHIFT TO third-person reference about God signals the beginning of a new section. The content shifts as well from plea to descriptive praise of Yahweh for his enduring love and faithfulness (25:10a). This section responds point for point to the pleas in verses 4–7 (instructive guidance, enduring mercy, and love), grounding confidence in the characteristic nature of God.
Good and upright is the LORD. The preceding section concluded with the plea for Yahweh to respond to the psalmist’s request “for the sake of your goodness” (25:7).10 The essential character of God governs his willingness to instruct and guide his people (25:8–9), and to do so with enduring loyalty and faithfulness (25:10). To be “upright” (yašar) is to be “straight, level; undeviating.” Like the shepherd of Psalm 23, Yahweh is the trustworthy guide who knows the terrain and provides the guidance the psalmist seeks in 25:4–5. Yahweh instructs11 sinners in “his ways” (cf. 25:4), guides (drk, cf. 25:5a), and teaches the “humble.”12 The “ways” (ʾorḥot, cf. 25:4b) of Yahweh are governed by his “loving” compassion (ḥesed, cf. 25:6b) and “faithfulness” (ʾemet, cf. 25:5a) directed toward those who “keep” his covenant and testimonies.
The Pivotal Prayer (25:11)
THIS CENTRAL THEMATIC verse is marked out by another shift in person—in this case, to second-person direct address of Yahweh. “For the sake of your name,13 O LORD,” the psalmist cries, using a form of phrase that recalls both the similar conclusion of verses 4–7 (the only previous second-person section) and 23:3 (“He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake”). What the psalmist seeks here, however, is less guidance than forgiveness of “iniquity” (ʿawon [“intentional sin; action that is crooked or wrong”]).14
Those Who Fear Yahweh (25:12–15)
FOLLOWING THE PIVOTAL confession of sin, the psalm shifts once again to the third person, indicating a new section. These verses describe the blessings that accrue to those who “fear the LORD” (25:12a, 14). Moving from the singular reference in 25:12 (“he who fears the LORD”) to the plural reference in 25:14 (“those who fear him”) has the effect of linking the experience of the psalmist to the more general experience of the community to which he speaks. The section moves in two directions: It admonishes the larger community to adopt the stance of fearing Yahweh, and it provides a foundation for the psalmist’s confidence of deliverance, since he claims the kind of total reliance on Yahweh that fearing him entails (cf. 25:15a).
Who . . . is the man that fears the LORD? Those who fear Yahweh experience the kind of instructive guidance the psalmist seeks (25:4–7) and confidently anticipates (25:8–10). Yahweh is an intimate confidant and reveals (cf. the request in 25:4a) his covenant (25:14b; cf. 25:10) to those who fear him (25:14). They need not struggle to understand how to fulfill his expectations but are directly and clearly instructed in the appropriate way.
Fear of Yahweh is an attitude that acknowledges one’s absolute dependence on Yahweh for mercy, forgiveness, and continued existence. The psalmist stakes out a claim for such dependence with his statement in 25:15: “My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”
The Final Plea (25:16–21)
THE FINAL SECTION of the psalm is marked out by another shift to second-person direct address of Yahweh, accompanied by a new string of seven imperative verb forms that signal the psalmist’s final plea for deliverance.
Turn . . . and be gracious. The initial phrase seeks to redirect Yahweh’s attention to the psalmist’s plight. The psalmist is “lonely”15 and “afflicted,”16 feels beset by multiplying “troubles”17 and “anguish,” and wants to experience God’s gracious deliverance.
The root cause of this distress becomes clear in 25:18, where it is traced to the psalmist’s sin. This understanding illumines his description of “troubles of [the] heart” (25:17a), which are seen more as a result of the inner turmoil (cf. ʿamali, 25:18a) of guilt and shame than the fear of attack by enemies. The admission of “sin” links back to the psalmist’s plea (25:7) that Yahweh not remember long-standing sin and to the pivotal confession and plea for forgiveness in 25:11.
See . . . my enemies. While the preponderance of the psalm is concerned with the painful consequences of the psalmist’s own sin, the enemies briefly mentioned in 25:2 now reappear greatly increased, both in number and in intensity. They hate the psalmist with a “fierce” hatred. The Hebrew ḥamas (“violent”) normally refers to bloodletting of a particularly offensive kind. It was this kind of violence that so corrupted the earth in Genesis 6:11–13 that Yahweh decided to cleanse the earth through the Flood. From this kind of active hatred the psalmist requires divine protection and deliverance (25:20a).
Let me not be put to shame. The psalmist returns to the theme with which the psalm began—the psalmist’s hope to escape public shame and ridicule (25:1–3). Laying claim to the promise declared in those earlier verses—“no one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame”—he reiterates absolute dependence on Yahweh: “I take refuge in you . . . my hope is in you” (25:20c, 21b).
May integrity and uprightness protect me. The question we must ask here is whose “integrity and uprightness” is at issue. If the phrase refers to Yahweh, the psalmist is trusting in the Lord’s characteristic nature to provide deliverance and safety. Already the trait of “uprightness” has been attributed to Yahweh in 25:8, where it is coupled with “goodness.” It may be that, having run to Yahweh as refuge, the psalmist is now expressing confidence that God will surely protect those who trust in him; he will live up to the promises made earlier in the psalm.
But perhaps the psalmist’s own integrity and uprightness is under consideration. If so, he is saying that hope for deliverance is dependent on his fulfillment of expectations as laid out in this psalm. Because he is humble, contrite, confessing sin, and relying completely on God’s gracious mercy, the psalmist can confidently anticipate deliverance. While it is difficult to determine which of these interpretations is to be preferred, the linkage of this reliance on integrity and uprightness with the opening line of Psalm 26—“Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have led a blameless life”—seems to confirm the latter as more likely.
Communal Plea for Redemption (25:22)
WE COME AT the end of Psalm 25 to the additional pe verse that stands outside the acrostic form (which ends in v. 21 with the taw verse). This final verse shares with the preceding section the use of second-person address of Yahweh and the use of an imperative verb form, “redeem.” The verse broadens the narrow focus of the psalm by identifying the pleas of the individual psalmist with the communal concern for the redemption of Israel “from all their troubles.”18 As Hossfeld and Zenger note, this final phrase is most likely a postexilic addition to the psalm, or even more likely, as Craigie points out, evidence of a postexilic shaping of the whole psalm that intentionally adapts the singular sentiments of the earlier psalm to serve the needs of the later worshiping community.19
Bridging Contexts
A COVENANT FOR SINNERS. The central theme of Psalm 25 is finding the “way” (or “ways”) of Yahweh. Notice how many times “way/ways” or “paths” appear in this psalm (vv. 4a, 4b, 7, 8b, 9b, 10a, 12b). Finding the way of Yahweh means experiencing deliverance, prosperity, and divine grace. Closely related to the theme of the “way” is the idea of “covenant,” by which the path and its demands are made clear (vv. 10b, 14b).
It is remarkable that in Psalm 25, contrary to normal expectation, the covenant the psalmist anticipates is not a relationship predicated on absolute perfection of obedience but is from the outset a “covenant for sinners.” In 25:7, the psalmist acknowledges sinful acts of long-standing, hoping that Yahweh will no longer “remember” them. In 25:8 he goes on to declare that one indication of Yahweh’s “good and upright” character is the fact he “instructs sinners in his ways.” God’s purpose is to bring sinners into the covenant, and to this end he provides the necessary guidance and instruction to make their participation possible.
This idea of a “covenant for sinners” is borne out by the Old Testament narratives of the lives of those we might tend to consider “saints.” Abraham, Jacob, David, Gideon, and Samson were all “sinners” who nonetheless found themselves bound graciously into a covenant relationship with Yahweh. Abraham with his constant confusion of self-interest and divine promise; Jacob’s numerous attempts to manipulate and control the gift of divine blessing; David and his abuse of kingly power for personal gain and gratification; Gideon’s creation of seductive idols to lead the people astray; Samson’s self-destructive pursuit of love in the arms of the enemy—none of these “sinners” could undermine God’s purpose to establish and flesh out a relationship of salvation with his people. God relentlessly pursues these and other sinners. He instructs them in his ways (25:8b, 12:b), guides them in what is right (25:9a), teaches them his way (25:9b), confides in them (25:14a), and makes his covenant known to them (25:14b).
If we are not talking about sinless perfection, then what are the characteristics of those whom God pursues in these verses? Perhaps the overarching description is “humble” (25:9). Yahweh “guides” and “teaches” the humble—those who acknowledge their need and reliance on him. Such humble persons are also characterized by the “fear of the LORD” (25:12a, 14a), another way of describing an attitude that acknowledges one’s absolute dependence on Yahweh alone for life, salvation, and continued sustenance.
Those humble sinners who fear Yahweh also hope and trust only in him (25:2a, 3a, 5c, 15, 20c, 21b). It is important to note that it is “hope” and “trust” that link the humble sinners to the covenant with God, not sinless obedience. Here is a clear statement of the gospel of grace in the heart of the Old Testament! When the psalmist declares that “all the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant” (25:10), we immediately think of the law and the necessity of keeping its commandments. But the broader context of this psalm chips away at our traditional view of an Old Testament covenant of law and sharpens our vision of a covenant of grace offered to sinners in both Old and New Testaments. The Torah is then the guidebook by which “sinners” are led into a covenant of grace, acknowledging their sinfulness and relying wholly on the gracious mercy of God for salvation.
God responds to such humble sinners who rely wholly on him in gracious ways. He is loving and faithful to them (25:10), forgiving their iniquity (25:11) and taking away all their sins (25:18b). In addition, God frees sinners from the snares that entangle them (25:15), graciously removes the anguish they experience (25:17), and protects them from public humiliation and shame (25:2–3, 20).
Such a gracious, divine response to sinners is far from our normal understanding of the Old Testament covenant of law. But it is the usual understanding of God’s enduring faithfulness and steadfast love described in the psalms. Compare, for example, the heart of Psalm 103 with its testimony of a gracious God: “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. . . . As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him” (103:10, 12–13). God is the God of both Old and New Testaments, both of Israel and of the church. We should not be surprised if his message of grace and salvation fills the pages of the former covenant as well as the latter.
THE “COVENANT FOR SINNERS” that Psalm 25 describes is a divine gift for which I am personally grateful. I find I often identify most with those Old Testament characters who struggled honestly and faithfully with their doubts, fears, and inward demons. I am thankful that God calls sinners into relationship with himself, that he forgives our sin, and that he releases us from our anguish as well as the snares that bind and hinder us.
Jesus brings much the same message in his earthly ministry. When confronted by the Pharisees over his association with “tax collectors and ‘sinners,’ ” Jesus replied pointedly, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17; cf. Matt. 9:12–13; Luke 5:31–32). Jesus did not mean to say that the Pharisees were without sin and, therefore, without need of repentance. His point was that all were sinners and equally in need of God’s gracious salvation. The only thing that separated the Pharisees and the “sinners” with whom Jesus associated was that the latter were humble enough to admit their need and to trust wholly in God’s gracious forgiveness.
The Pharisees, by contrast, trusted in their ability to meet the demands of the law and thought, therefore, that they had no need for divine mercy and grace. The message of both Old and New Testaments is clear: Those who enter the eternal kingdom of God’s grace are those who acknowledge their sin and trust in the gracious mercy of God while surrendering self-power and pride. May our eyes ever be on Yahweh, for only he will release our feet from the snares of life (cf. 25:15).