Psalms 25:1

PSALM 25

A PRAYER FOR FORGIVENESS

We have entitled this psalm "A Prayer for Forgiveness," because of the triple plea to that effect in the psalm. Halley called it, "The Prayer of a Sin-oppressed Soul,"[1] which is also a very appropriate title.

Some writers have supposed that the author of this psalm was not, in any sense, writing it as a personal prayer for himself, but as a prayer suggested for others who might need to pray such a prayer. As Taylor expressed it, "The writer is not composing an address to God on his own behalf but constructing, rather, a form of prayer for the use of anyone who in a time of distress seeks divine help."[2]

We reject such a notion altogether. McCaw entitled this psalm, "A Personal Prayer,"[3] and we believe that is exactly what it is.

As for who is the author here, the ancient inscriptions ascribe it to David, the king of Israel: "And there is nothing that stands in the way of accepting the claim that stands in the heading that David was the author; nor is there any need of departing from a purely personal interpretation of it."[4]

Some critics date the psalm "in post-exilic times,"[5] but they do so upon very insufficient evidence. As Leupold said, "That claim is based upon two factors, (1) that the psalm is an acrostic (imperfect), and (2) that Psalms 25:4,5,12,13,14 contain motifs identified with the wisdom literature (which critics claim was unknown in the days of David and Solomon)."[6] Leupold rejected both reasons as unproved.

"The fact that wisdom literature had not been developed in the days of David and Solomon is one of many unproved assertions; and besides, we know too little about the acrostic form to ascribe only late dates to it."[7]

Spurgeon's comment was that, "This is evidently a composition from David's later days; he mentions the sins of his youth; and from the craft and cruelty of many foes, it seems to refer to the times of the rebellion of Absalom. This has been styled one of the seven Penitential Psalms. It is the mark of a true saint that his sorrows remind him of his sins, and his sorrow for sin drives him to God in prayer."[8]

As DeHoff pointed out, "This is also one of the nine acrostic psalms."[9] Taylor enumerated the imperfections in the acrostic pattern. The perfect acrostic begins each line or each section of a composition with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet from Aleph to Tav; but as Taylor noted, some letters are omitted and some are used twice in this psalm.

Rhodes divided the psalm into three paragraphs: (1) A prayer for Protection, Guidance and Forgiveness (Psalms 25:1-7); (2) God's Dealings with his People (Psalms 25:8-15); and (3) A renewed prayer for Protection and Forgiveness.[10]

Psalms 25:1-7

"Unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul.

O my God, in thee have I trusted,

Let me not be put to shame;

Let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Yea, none that wait for thee shall be put to shame:

They shall be put to shame who deal treacherously without cause.

Show me thy ways, O Jehovah;

Teach me thy paths. Guide me in thy truth, and teach me;

For thou art the God of my salvation;

For thee do I wait all the day.

Remember, O Jehovah, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses;

For they have been ever of old.

Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions:

According to thy lovingkindness remember thou me,

For thy goodness sake, O Jehovah."

"Let me not be put to shame" (Psalms 25:2). The distress of the petitioner is evident throughout the psalm. He is acutely conscious of his enemies and the treachery of those whom he has trusted. He is oppressed by the consciousness that he does not really know what to do under the distressing circumstances, hence the cry:

"Show me... guide me" (Psalms 25:4,5). "Man is so wanting in spiritual understanding, so morally blind and ignorant, that, unless enlightened from on high, he cannot discern `the way of godliness.' He does not know at any given moment what God would have him do."[11]

The distress and uncertainty send the psalmist to God for sure and certain answers. He is acutely conscious of sins in his life reaching all the way back to his youth; and there is an instinctive reaction to this in that all suffering, disease, sorrows and distresses are associated in the human mind with sins. True, they are not always directly related, as in the case of the man born blind (John 9); but there is a sub-conscious reaction of the human race which does not fail to relate sin and suffering as cause and effect, whether true or not.

This is the background that prompts the psalmist to pray for the forgiveness of the sins of his youth.

"Remember thy mercies ... lovingkindness ... thy goodness" (Psalms 25:6-7). It is significant that David here based his plea that God "Remember not" the sins of his youth, not upon the basis of any merit of his own, but solely upon the goodness, kindness and mercy of God.

"Remember... remember not ..." (Psalms 25:6-7). Only God can "forget" sins, an achievement of which men are incapable. The promise that God would both forgive and forget sins was revealed by the prophet Jeremiah as the outstanding characteristic of the New Covenant. "I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more" (Jeremiah 31:34).

All of the forgiveness available under the Old Covenant fell short of the absolute sense of it in the New Testament, because the Atonement of Christ was yet in the future. In the practical sense, however, a type of forgiveness was granted to Old Testament saints in the action of God whose "passing over of the sins done aforetime" (Romans 3:25) may be viewed as a practical equivalent of New Testament forgiveness "in Christ."

"Sins of my youth, nor my transgressions" (Psalms 25:7). There are two classes of sins here, concerning which the psalmist pleaded that God would not remember them. (1) These were the "sins of his youth," and (2) his "transgressions." Perhaps he had found, as so many others have discovered, that "the sins of youth" are never terminated automatically with the arrival of maturity. On the other hand, sins have a way of fastening themselves upon the sinner and increasing as the years go by. An apostle warned us that "wickedness shall wax worse and worse."