1 <Of David.> To you, O Lord, my soul is lifted up.
2 O my God, I have put my faith in you, let me not be shamed; let not my haters be glorying over me.
3 Let no servant of yours be put to shame; may those be shamed who are false without cause.
4 Make your steps clear to me, O Lord; give me knowledge of your ways.
5 Be my guide and teacher in the true way; for you are the God of my salvation; I am waiting for your word all the day.
6 O Lord, keep in mind your pity and your mercies; for they have been from the earliest times.
7 Do not keep in mind my sins when I was young, or my wrongdoing: let your memory of me be full of mercy, O Lord, because of your righteousness.
8 Good and upright is the Lord: so he will be the teacher of sinners in the way.
9 He will be an upright guide to the poor in spirit: he will make his way clear to them.
10 All the ways of the Lord are mercy and good faith for those who keep his agreement and his witness.
11 Because of your name, O Lord, let me have forgiveness for my sin, which is very great.
12 If a man has the fear of the Lord, the Lord will be his teacher in the way of his pleasure.
13 His soul will be full of good things, and his seed will have the earth for its heritage.
14 The secret of the Lord is with those in whose hearts is the fear of him; he will make his agreement clear to them.
15 My eyes are turned to the Lord at all times; for he will take my feet out of the net.
16 Be turned to me, and have mercy on me; for I am troubled and have no helper.
17 The troubles of my heart are increased: O take me out of my sorrows.
18 Give thought to my grief and my pain; and take away all my sins.
19 See how those who are against me are increased, for bitter is their hate of me.
20 O keep my soul, and take me out of danger: let me not be shamed, for I have put my faith in you.
21 For my clean and upright ways keep me safe, because my hope is in you.
22 Give Israel salvation, O God, out of all his troubles.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 25
Commentary on Psalms 25 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 25
This psalm is full of devout affection to God, the out-goings of holy desires towards his favour and grace and the lively actings of faith in his promises. We may learn out of it,
It is easy to apply the several passages of this psalm to ourselves in the singing of it; for we have often troubles, and always sins, to complain of at the throne of grace.
A psalm of David.
Psa 25:1-7
Here we have David's professions of desire towards God and dependence on him. He often begins his psalms with such professions, not to move God, but to move himself, and to engage himself to answer those professions.
Psa 25:8-14
God's promises are here mixed with David's prayers. Many petitions there were in the former part of the psalm, and many we shall find in the latter; and here, in the middle of the psalm, he meditates upon the promises, and by a lively faith sucks and is satisfied from these breasts of consolation; for the promises of God are not only the best foundation of prayer, telling us what to pray for and encouraging our faith and hope in prayer, but they are a present answer to prayer. Let the prayer be made according to the promise, and then the promise may be read as a return to the prayer; and we are to believe the prayer is heard because the promise will be performed. But, in the midst of the promises, we fine one petition which seems to come in somewhat abruptly, and should have followed upon v. 7. It is that (v. 11), Pardon my iniquity. But prayers for the pardon of sin are never impertinent; we mingle sin with all our actions, and therefore should mingle such prayers with all our devotions. He enforces this petition with a double plea. The former is very natural: "For thy name's sake pardon my iniquity, because thou hast proclaimed thy name gracious and merciful, pardoning iniquity, for thy glory-sake, for thy promise-sake, for thy own sake,' Isa. 43:25. But the latter is very surprising: "Pardon my iniquity, for it is great, and the greater it is the more will divine mercy be magnified in the forgiveness of it.' It is the glory of a great God to forgive great sins, to forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin, Ex. 34:7. "It is great, and therefore I an undone, for ever undone, if infinite mercy do not interpose for the pardon of it. It is great; I see it to be so.' The more we see of the heinousness of our sins the better qualified we are to find mercy with God. When we confess sin we must aggravate it.
Let us now take a view of the great and precious promises which we have in these verses, and observe,
Psa 25:15-22
David, encouraged by the promises he had been meditating upon, here renews his addresses to God, and concludes the psalm, as he began, with professions of dependence upon God and desire towards him.