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Psalms 25:1 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

1 <Of David.> To you, O Lord, my soul is lifted up.

Cross Reference

Psalms 86:4 BBE

Make glad the soul of your servant; for it is lifted up to you, O Lord.

Psalms 143:8 BBE

Let the story of your mercy come to me in the morning, for my hope is in you: give me knowledge of the way in which I am to go; for my soul is lifted up to you.

1 Samuel 1:15 BBE

And Hannah, answering him, said, No, my lord, I am a woman whose spirit is broken with sorrow: I have not taken wine or strong drink, but I have been opening my heart before the Lord.

Psalms 24:4 BBE

He who has clean hands and a true heart; whose desire has not gone out to foolish things, who has not taken a false oath.

Lamentations 3:41 BBE

Lifting up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens.

Commentary on Psalms 25 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


PSALM 25

Ps 25:1-22. The general tone of this Psalm is that of prayer for help from enemies. Distress, however, exciting a sense of sin, humble confession, supplication for pardon, preservation from sin, and divine guidance, are prominent topics.

1. lift up my soul—(Ps 24:4; 86:4), set my affections (compare Col 3:2).

2. not be ashamed—by disappointment of hopes of relief.

3. The prayer generalized as to all who wait on God—that is, who expect His favor. On the other hand, the disappointment of the perfidious, who, unprovoked, have done evil, is invoked (compare 2Sa 22:9).

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

6, 7. Confessing past and present sins, he pleads for mercy, not on palliations of sin, but on God's well-known benevolence.

8, 9. upright—acting according to His promise.

sinners—the general term, limited by the

meek—who are penitent.

the way—and his way—God's way of providence.

9. in judgment—rightly.

10. paths—similar sense—His modes of dealing (compare Ps 25:4).

mercy and truth—(Job 14:1-22), God's grace in promising and faithfulness in performing.

11. God's perfections of love, mercy, goodness, and truth are manifested (his name, compare Ps 9:10) in pardoning sin, and the greatness of sin renders pardon more needed.

12, 13. What he asks for himself is the common lot of all the pious.

13. inherit the earth—(compare Mt 5:5). The phrase, alluding to the promise of Canaan, expresses all the blessings included in that promise, temporal as well as spiritual.

14. The reason of the blessing explained—the pious enjoy communion with God (compare Pr 3:21, 12), and, of course, learn His gracious terms of pardon.

15. His trust in God is fixed.

net—is frequently used as a figure for dangers by enemies (Ps 9:15; 10:9).

16-19. A series of earnest appeals for aid because God had seemed to desert him (compare Ps 13:1; 17:13, &c.), his sins oppressed him, his enemies had enlarged his troubles and were multiplied, increasing in hate and violence (Ps 9:8; 18:48).

20. keep my soul—(Ps 16:1).

put my trust—flee for refuge (Ps 2:12).

21. In conscious innocence of the faults charged by his enemies, he confidently commits his cause to God. Some refer—

integrity, &c.—to God, meaning His covenant faithfulness. This sense, though good, is an unusual application of the terms.

22. Extend these blessings to all Thy people in all their distresses.