Psalm 25 is an individual lament. The superscription, of David, is a later addition, as are all of them in the psalter.[1] The psalm is one of nine acrostic psalms in the Psalter, the other psalms being 9-10, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, and 145. This special literary form begins each line with a letter of the alphabet and progresses through all 22 Hebrew letters. Much of the Book of Lamentations is also in an acrostic form. It is not clear what purpose the acrostic form served. People may have considered it an artful way of constructing a poem. It may also have served to aid memorization of poetic units during the era of oral transmission of the biblical material. Due to the transmission process, however, not all biblical acrostics are complete, of which this psalm provides two examples.[2]
The themes of Psalm 25 are those of wisdom literature because of its continuing theme of the instruction of humanity that the Lord provides. Here is a prayer for the covenant mercies of the Lord when suffering affliction for sins. As much as one may want to love God and others, love may have to live in history as suffering love, since the power of sin makes a simple triumph of love impossible.[3] Here is a prayer for the covenant mercies of the Lord when enemies seize the occasion to attack, by trying to discredit the psalmist through false accusations. Here is a pensive and earnest soul. Thus, one might recite the psalm at the covenant festival. The psalmist composed it in the quiet of a lonely life. It speaks to others in that position. The psalmist closely relates all these themes. God teaches the way of the covenant.
I am impressed with the honesty of the psalmist. I think of him as a pensive and earnest soul. He may have composed it as at a lonely time in his life. It speaks to others in that position. I see his honesty in using words like shame, enemies, foes, and wait, underscoring the distressing situation the psalmist faces. He says he has enemies without cause. In addition to such an external threat, he admits an internal threat. The psalmist begs God to remember, not his sins or iniquities, but himself. He needs forgiveness. He needs relief from affliction. He also has some theological affirmations that keep him going during a confusing situation. Thus, the psalmist can pray like this because God's covenant faithfulness, God's chesed, is "from of old." It is forever. The Lord is good. The writer needs something from God in this area. He needs God to remember him out of mercy and compassion, for his own sins is on his mind. Therefore, in the midst of external and internal threats, he is aware that if he is to find a way, it will be through the Torah and worship with the people of God.
“To you, Oh Lord, I lift up my soul" is the theme of the Psalm. The action of lifting one's soul/life up, however, need not indicate desire in the right direction. One might also "lift one's life/soul" up to worthless things.
“In you, O God, I trust.” Christian hope rests on such trust. Hope in the Psalms is always in God, which means that the vitality we bring to hope is perishable. When our hope rests or grounds itself in God, the basis is outside us.
Psalm 25:1-7 are a lament spoken to the Lord in prayer. Verses 1-3 have a basis in personal experience, the writer knowing that the soul can find edification and trust. Shame, enemies, foes, and wait for you underscore the hope of the psalmist. It begins with a common image in the psalms: 1 To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul (nephesh), "I present my life, my very self, to you in prayer." The psalm begins in the same abbreviated fashion in which the Hebrew of Psalm 25 begins, as do many other Psalms (27, 28, 34, 35, 37, 61, 103, 138, and 144). Biblical and Christian hope rests on faith. Therefore, hope in the prayers of the Psalms is always in God. Hope is sustainable that does not derive from our own vitality or depend on what is perishable. One directs such hope to God and grounds such hope in God. It has its basis outside itself. [4] It implies directing one's life toward a goal. It implies offering one's life and soul to God. Lamentations 3:41 mentions offering one's heart to God, which for the ancient Hebrews was the physical seat of thought and reason, rather than emotion. We also tend to assume that lifting up one's soul is always an ennobling thing. The action of lifting one's soul/life up, however, need not indicate desire in the right direction. One might also "lift one's life/soul" up to worthless things or iniquity (Deuteronomy 24:15; Proverbs 19:18; Hosea 4:8; Psalm 24:4). 2 O my God, in you I trust (appealing to his own reliance on God); do not let me be put to shame (bosh, public humiliation or disgrace, a hope and prayer for relief of affliction); do not let my enemies exult over me (a hope and prayer for deliverance from enemies). 3 Do not let those who wait (qawah) for you (a hope) have circumstances put them to shame; rather, allow shame to come to those who are wantonly treacherous. In verses 4-6, the poet has the realization that the gracious action of the Lord to help him is necessary. We see the concern for the mercy and graciousness of the Lord, as well as the dominate thought of the sins of the writer. The writer goes on to pray for guidance in the will of the Lord. 4 Make me to know (a prayer for enlightenment that is part of wisdom literature) your ways (derek), O Lord; teach me your paths. A common image in this Psalm is the "way" or "path" upon which God leads the righteous. The writer wants the Lord to teach the way or path of the covenant, a theme of wisdom literature. 5 Lead (darak) me in your truth ('emet, faithfulness, dependability), and teach me (a theme of wisdom literature), for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait (qawah) all day long (appealing to his own reliance on the Lord).[5] 6 Be mindful (zkr) of your mercy (rahamim), (appealing to covenant benevolence) OLord, and of your steadfast love (chesed, appealing to covenant benevolence), for they have been from of old. As the body needs food, so the soul needs to lift itself in prayer. Verse 7 shows a deep awareness of personal sin. God can restore the broken relationship. 7 Do not remember (zkr) the sins of my youth or my transgressions (as the writer is remembering them); according to your steadfast love (chesed, appealing to covenant benevolence) remember (zkr) me, for your goodness’ sake appealing to covenant benevolence), O Lord! He is praying for the forgiveness of sin. The author makes an appeal to the covenant benevolence of God, such as mercy, love, goodness, uprightness, faithfulness, and grace in verses 6-7.
We need to reflect a bit upon the notion of shame and guilt.
Charles Darwin did a study of emotion in human beings and animals. The one emotion he did not find among animals was that of shame. Shame reveals a conscience sensitive to moral issues. Blushing reveals shame.
Guilt is different. We may have committed a specific act that we know to be wrong. Sin is not good, but the fact that we experience guilt is a good thing. It reveals that we have a sense of what is right.
Some psychology today would say the opposite. Sigmund Freud said shame was a mechanism that cripples and inhibits the growth of the person. Fritz Pearles, the founder of the Gestalt Therapy movement, said, "Shame, embarrassment, self-consciousness, and fear restrict the individual's expression."
Other psychiatrists will tell us that the truth about us is hard to come by. We lie, particularly about ourselves. So do not expect too much raw honesty from me about my sin. I defend myself well. We become more adept in utilizing our defense mechanisms, as we grow older, as we gain education and experience. There is a cost to a life spent polishing the mask.
In other words, we want to cover up shame and guilt. However, it will always be there. The conscience will not let us forget.
The Talmud has a beautiful comment: "A sense of shame is a lovely sign. Whoever has a sense of shame will not sin so quickly; but whoever shows no sense of shame in their visage, their father surely never stood on Mount Sinai."
The experiences of shame and guilt are signs of health, but they can also overwhelm us and crush us if we do not experience them as on the way to God. Will the daylight come? We need to learn the power as well of lifting up our souls to God, who is merciful, and will forgive us and preserve us through our time of distress and trouble.
Yet, after one honestly faces shame and guilt, what are we to do? When will the daylight come? The Christian faith has an odd response. You can repent. Worship is often an opportunity to repent. The church sets aside the season of Lent as a season of repentance. The ancient practice of Advent was that it was a “little Lent” that prepared the way for the celebration of the birth of Christ. If we can be honest in such moments, then maybe we can be honest for the rest of our lives. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Because God does have mercy, we can be honest. We need not loudly assert our innocence, for after we hung him on a cross through our sin, no one here has clean hands. We are not right. We have not done right.
Seventeenth-century Puritan theologian Thomas Watson argued that repentance was a spiritual medicine made up of six special ingredients. "If anyone is left out, it loses its virtue." 1) Sight of sin, 2) Sorrow for sin, 3) Confession of sin, 4) Shame for sin, 5) Hatred for sin, 6) Turning from sin.[6]
A little boy visited his grandparent on the farm. They gave him a slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he never hit his target. As he came back to the house, there was grandma's pet duck in the backyard. On a whim, he took aim and fired. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead. He panicked. He did not think anyone was watching, so he hid the duck in a woodpile. He did not notice that his sister had seen the whole thing. At lunch, grandma asked Sally to help with the dishes. She said, "Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn't you, Johnny?" Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck." Later, grandpa said he wanted both Sally and Johnny to go fishing. Grandma said she needed to have Sally home to make supper. Sally said, "That's all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it." Again, she whispered to Johnny, "Remember the duck." After several days of doing both his own chores and Sally's, he could not stand it. He confessed to his grandma that he killed the duck. She responded, "I know, Johnny," and gave him a big hug. "I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."[7]
We also need to reflect a bit upon this notion of remembrance in verses six and seven. In this way, he is praying that he would attain personal immortality in the Lord remembering him. He prays that his sins would cease to exist because the Lord chose not to remember them. The reason he may appeal to the Lord for this is that the covenant faithfulness of the Lord, chesed, is "from of old" or forever, for us, a concept that stretches from now into the future. For the ancient Israelites, it was a concept that stretched backward in time. For them, immortality meant becoming part of the infinite heroic past, where the righteous gained immortality in the remembrance given them by their descendants. Remembrance was life, and for that reason the remembrance of one’s life by the Lord brings eternal life, and the non-remembrance of the Lord of sins brings eternal forgiveness. One became part of the future of the people through descendants who would “remember.” Someone not remembered ceased to exist.[8]
Psalm 25:8-10 stresses that one gains knowledge through the struggle of the soul, so that there is a universally valid religious truth. The Lord teaches the way of keeping covenant. The Lord has demands that meet in the lovingkindness of the Lord. He is praying for guidance in the will of the Lord. Let us be honest. It can be hard to find our way in life. The psalmist is praying, and that is one way to discern the way. If you find it difficult to pray, join the club. I would encourage you to find a book of prayers, a classic is John Baillie, A Diary of Private Prayer. I would also encourage reading of the Bible, which can be a constant companion in your life. 8 Good and upright is the Lord(appealing to the to the covenant benevolence of the Lord); therefore the Lord instructs (yarah) sinners in the way (a common image in this psalm is the prayer for instruction in the way the Lord leads the righteous). The author makes an appeal to the covenant benevolence of God, such as mercy, love, goodness, uprightness, faithfulness, and grace. The Lord 9 leads (darak) the humble in what is right, and teaches (a theme of wisdom literature) the humble the way of the Lord. A common image in this Psalm is the "way" or "path" upon which God leads the righteous. Jesus told his closest associates, "I am the way, and the truth and the life" (John 14:6a). Early followers of Jesus were commonly known as those who belonged to "the Way" (Acts 9:2; 18:25-26; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22). The writer asks the Lord for guidance. 10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love (chesed) and faithfulness, (appealing to the covenant benevolence of the Lord) for those who keep (sod being in an intimate circle of confidants) his covenant (berit) and his decrees. Abraham is called God's friend (II Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23). Jesus calls his followers his friends (John 15:12-15) if we do what he instructs/commands/commissions us to do. Jesus caringly sits in a close circle with us, confidently sharing his trust in God, as well as teaching us his wise insights and expectations. He offers us his ongoing guidance, forgiveness and the sometimes gentle, but always effective, power of God's Spirit. A common image in this Psalm is the "way" or "path" upon which God leads the righteous. The author makes an appeal to the covenant benevolence of God, such as mercy, love, goodness, uprightness, faithfulness, and grace. This passage is important in providing part of the Old Testament background of combining grace and faithfulness or truth.[9] The Psalms constantly extol the kindness and faithfulness of the Lord together, a combination also found in John 1:14. In the Old Testament, the righteousness of the Lord has a close relation to faithfulness. [10] If one seeks wisdom, according to the authors of the wisdom literature, one will find it in two primary places: in the Torah and in the company of those who fear the Lord and bind themselves to the covenant of the Lord.
The issues the psalm raises are complex. Yet, as human beings, we can make a certain kind of peace with complexity. Living a human life is complicated. Too often, we are the ones who make it so. We stir up the dust and complain we cannot see. We make our lives messy. Very simply, life is difficult. Thus, we may need to have some peace with loose ends. Frankly, I would give nothing for simplicity if it has not gone through the difficult waters of complexity. Yet, as we wrestle with the complex issues of a human life, we often find a hard-won simplicity.[11] The answers are not simple. Yet, we can live in peace amid complexity. When going through challenging times, here is one way to think of what to do next.
If you can't fly, then run.
If you can't run, then walk.
If you can't walk, then crawl,
But, whatever you do,
You have to keep moving forward.[12]
[1] Here the Greek begins the psalm in the same manner as Psalm 24 begins - not simply with the attribution "Of David," but with the addition of the term "mizmor," indicating the song type of the composition. There is no compelling reason to think the Hebrew is corrupted, however.
[2] Some scholars think that, although very flawed and illusive, Nahum 1:1-8 forms a half-acrostic that ends at the mid-point of the alphabet. Psalms 9 and 10 have to be read together to see the whole acrostic - Psalm 9 having the first half of the alphabet and Psalm 10 the second half. Others, including Psalm 25, have certain letters of the sequence missing.
[3] Reinhold Niebuhr, Nature and Destiny of Man, II,(New York: C. Scribners Sons, 1941-43), 209.
[4] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 174.
[5] Verse 25:5 should contain a clause beginning with the letter "vav" - but this letter, which attaches to the beginning of words and means "and," "or," or "but," is frequently dropped out of ancient texts. One can restore it with confidence, however, because both the Greek and the Syriac include the word "and" in their translations of these cola.
[6] --The Doctrine of Repentance (1668), 18.
[7] Richard Hoefler, Will Daylight Come?
[8] One of the studies on this passage in Homiletics.
[9] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume I, 255.
[10] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume I, 436.
[11] Oliver Wendell Holmes
[12] Martin Luther King Jr.
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