3 Let no servant of yours be put to shame; may those be shamed who are false without cause.
The Lord is good to those who are waiting for him, to the soul which is looking for him.
And kings will take care of you, and queens will give you their milk: they will go down on their faces before you, kissing the dust of your feet; and you will be certain that I am the Lord, and that those who put their hope in me will not be shamed.
But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.
But as for me, I am looking to the Lord; I am waiting for the God of my salvation: the ears of my God will be open to me.
<To the chief music-maker. Of David. A Psalm.> When I was waiting quietly for the Lord, his heart was turned to me, and he gave ear to my cry. He took me up out of a deep waste place, out of the soft and sticky earth; he put my feet on a rock, and made my steps certain. And he put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God; numbers have seen it with fear, and put their faith in the Lord.
And in that day it will be said, See, this is our God; we have been waiting for him, and he will be our saviour: this is the Lord in whom is our hope; we will be glad and have delight in his salvation.
But the Lord is with me as a great one, greatly to be feared: so my attackers will have a fall, and they will not overcome me: they will be greatly shamed, because they have not done wisely, even with an unending shame, kept in memory for ever.
See! as the eyes of servants are turned to the hands of their masters, and the eyes of a servant-girl to her owner, so our eyes are waiting for the Lord our God, till he has mercy on us.
Our souls are waiting for the Lord; he is our help and our salvation.
Be waiting for the Lord, and keep his way; and you will be lifted up, and have the land for your heritage: when the evil-doers are cut off, you will see it.
Let me not be shamed, O Lord, for I have made my prayer to you; let the sinners be shamed, and let their mouths be shut in the underworld.
Let all those who take pleasure in my troubles be shamed and come to nothing: let those who are lifted up against me be covered with shame and have no honour.
Take me out of the power of the workers of evil, and keep me safe from the men of blood. For see, they are watching in secret for my soul; the strong have come together against me? but not because of my sin, or my evil-doing, O Lord. For no sin of mine they go quickly and get themselves ready; be awake and come to my help, and see. You, O Lord God of armies, are the God of Israel; come now and give punishment to the nations; have no mercy on any workers of deceit. (Selah.)
<To the chief music-maker. After Jeduthun. A Psalm. Of David.> My soul, put all your faith in God; for from him comes my salvation.
Let those who go after my soul have shame and trouble; let those who have evil designs against me be turned back and made foolish. Let those who say Aha, aha! be turned back as a reward of their shame.
Let the men of pride be shamed; because they have falsely given decision against me; but I will give thought to your orders.
Let all those who are against me be shamed and deeply troubled; let them be turned back and suddenly put to shame.
Let those who go after my soul for its destruction have shame and trouble together; let them be turned back and made foolish who take pleasure in my trouble. Let those who say to me, Aha, aha! be surprised because of their shame.
Words of hate are round about me; they have made war against me without cause.
If I have given back evil to him who did evil to me, or have taken anything from him who was against me without cause; Let my hater go after my soul and take it; let my life be crushed to the earth, and my honour into the dust. (Selah.)
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.