PSALM 25 The second of the acrostic psalms, Psalm 25, emphasizes David’s need for deliverance from his enemies in verses (1-3, 16-22) and for forgiveness from God (verses 4-15).
1 In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.
2 I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause.
4 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
6 Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
12 Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.
13 They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land.
14 The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.
18 Look on my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.
19 See how numerous are my enemies and how fiercely they hate me!
20 Guard my life and rescue me; do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope, Lord,is in you.
22 Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles!
SECTIONS
I. Prayers in Times of Trial (25:1-7);
II. Praise in Periods of Confidence (25:8-15);
III. Petition for Help in Trouble (25:16-22).
THEME: Praying for forgiveness after you sin and asking God to teach you to follow his ways. God’s way are more about the kind of people he wants us to be than with what he wants us to do in life.
QUESTIONS
What happens to those who trust in God?
What things does David ask God to do for him in this whole psalm?
What does David say God does for a humble sinner ?
What happens to those who fear (revere) God?
How does David describe the character of God.
ADDITIONAL VERSES
Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Since this is an acrostic or alphabet psalm, we could kind of say that this psalm presents the “A-B-Cs” of Praying After You’ve Sinned.
Aleph- So, first of all, after you’ve sinned, Come to God to pray. Don’t avoid him. This is what most people do. This is what Adam and Eve did. When you sin, draw near to God. You might feel unworthy, and you are unworthy. But God wants to lift you up.
Beth- (1st letter of second word) After you’ve sinned, express your confidence in God – your trust in him. And then don’t be ashamed to ask that God would remove the shame from you. Your sin may have given occasion for people who hate you. It is perfectly legitimate to ask that God prevent that from happening or stop that from happening once it’s happened.
Gimel- Now, it doesn’t say “those who are sinless” will never be ashamed. It says “those who wait on thee” will not be ashamed. David is waiting on God for deliverance and help from the mess he’s made for himself.
Cheth- David then asks that God would think of him not in terms of his own sin but rather in terms of God’s loyal covenant love toward him.
Teth- David reminds himself of God’s character. Because of God’s character, he’s confident that God will teach him how to move on from his failures.
Kaph- David rejoices in the fact that God is good to those who obey him. Let’s take a queue from Psalm 25. Pour out your complaint to the Lord, express your confidence in him, make your petitions known to him. And let the knowledge of your own sin lead you to forgive others who have hurt you.
https://bible.org/seriespage/psalm-25-seeking-god-hard-times
This psalm is acrostic. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This may have helped people memorize the psalms. James Boice suggests this psalm is a theme of learning, which fits with the alphabetical arrangement. Acrostic psalms are often difficult to outline, because the content is guided more by the alphabetic arrangement than by a logical outline.
1-God’s children often face difficult, frightening circumstances. We can’t be certain about David’s circumstances in this psalm. Because of references to sins of his youth, he must have been older. Since his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband led to the events of Absalom’s revolt, it probably was written during that episode.
Have you ever been in a difficult trial and you knew that it was because of your sin? You wanted to cry to God for help, but were afraid because of your sin. Or, maybe your problems weren’t due to deliberate sin, but rather because of immaturity or stupid decisions. Psalm 25 teaches us to seek God in the hard times, no matter why we’re going through them.
David has many enemies that hate him and want to kill him. He feels lonely and afflicted, and his troubles are growing worse, not better. His repeatedly asks God to teach him and seems to imply that he’s confused in the midst of this mess. If David, who walked with God from his youth, was facing these kinds of trials, then none of us are exempt. Sometimes Christians say, “I’ve been following God and trying to obey. Why am I experiencing all of these trials?” Obeying God doesn’t gives us a free pass from trials. Many of the most godly men and women in the Bible went through difficult trials.
2-Sometimes the difficult circumstances that we face are due to our own sins or shortcomings. David’s guilt runs through this psalm.“Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions.” Apparently his troubles later in life dredged up the sins that he had committed in earlier years. The closer you draw near to God, the more hideous your past sins can appear. Some of the sins from my youth come back to haunt me.“ How could I have done those things? What was I thinking?” Answer: “I wasn’t thinking!” Only God’s grace kept me from doing things that could have had more serious consequences! I try not to dwell on those sins because they are now under the blood of Christ. But when they come to mind, they remind me of how corrupt my heart not only was, but still is because I’m still susceptible to the same sins. Thank God that He sent His Son to bear my penalty.
3. God can bring trials into our lives so that we seek Him more fervently and recognize our dependence on Him. David didn’t just shrug off his sins by thinking, “What do you expect? I was just a teenager!” He didn’t compare himself to his enemies and say, “I may have my faults, but these guys are evil!” He didn’t belittle his sins by saying, “Okay, I was wrong to sleep with Bathsheba, but hey, I’m just a red-blooded guy who likes women!” or say, “Being the king is a tough job. So if I made some mistakes, I’m only human!” David’s guilt drove him to confess and plead for pardon. He asks God to remember His compassion and loving-kindness.
4. When seeking God, look at and affirm God’s character. We all need to remind ourselves of God’s attributes. Look at all God’s attributes in this psalm! David has gone public in affirming his trust in the Lord. If the Lord lets him down and David’s enemies triumph over him, not only David’s honor, but the Lord’s honor, is at stake. Was he a fool to put trust in God? So David’s argument is, “Lord, I’m trusting in You. Don’t let me be ashamed, because if I’m ashamed, Your name is going to be dishonored.”
No matter how difficult our trials, the Lord is able to deliver us from them, for His glory and for our good. The Bible is clear that God will not always miraculously heal us or get us out of all our problems. John the Baptist, James, and Paul (2 Tim. 4:18) were martyred. Many of God’s faithful witnesses have died young through sickness or accidents. His way of getting the gospel to the Waodani tribe in Ecuador resulted in the murder of five young missionaries. We don’t always understand God’s ways or know why God allows something to happen.
The times we live in are so troubled. People losing their jobs, the stock market falling, natural catastrophes, and uncertainty in what the future holds. In today’s economy there is little to hope for the future, however God is never caught off guard because he knows the future. And you are not the only one that has felt that there is no hope. Even Bible heroes had times when they wanted to give up like Job, Moses, Jonah, Jeremiah, and Elijah.
The biblical definition of hope is not a “hope” so but a “know” so. There is nothing on this earth more certain than our hope in God. He will never leave us nor will He ever forsake us. He is our anchor in the present and in the future. His plans are not intended to harm you but to prosper you. This doesn’t mean that He plans to make you rich, but He does plan for you to have a secure future. Your stockbroker or financial adviser might have plans for you too, but they don’t know the future and don’t have the ability to bring it about. God is planning our future better than anyone else can, even ourselves.
We will never be ashamed for placing our hope in Him because He has the power to deliver us out of all our troubles. Our 401K doesn’t have such power. God owns the whole earth, He owns every animal in the forest, and He is the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills as Psalm 50:10-11 says, “for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.” We are finite creatures and can’t look beyond today but God has planned every step we take.
SONG: Show Me Your Ways, Standing on the Promises of God