Trusting the Lord for Guidance, Mercy, and Redemption

Psa 25:6 The supplicatory reminiscere means, may God never forget to exercise His pity and grace towards him, which are (as the plurals imply) so rich and superabundant. The ground on which the prayer is based is introduced with כּי ( nam , or even quoniam ). God’s compassion and grace are as old in their operation and efficacy as man’s feebleness and sin; in their counsels they are eternal, and therefore have also in themselves the pledge of eternal duration (Psa 100:5; Psa 103:17).

Psa 25:7 May Jahve not remember the faults of his youth (חטּאות), into which lust and thoughtlessness have precipitated him, nor the transgressions (פּשׁעים), by which even in maturer and more thoughtful years he has turned the grace of God into licentiousness and broken off his fellowship with Him (פּשׁע בּ, of defection); but may He, on the contrary, turn His remembrance to him (זכר ל as in Psa 136:23) in accordance with His grace or loving-kindness, which אתּה challenges as being the form of self-attestation most closely corresponding to the nature of God. Memor esto quidem mei, observes Augustine, non secundum iram, qua ego dignus sum, sed secundum misericordiam tuam, quae te digna est.

For God is טּוב, which is really equivalent to saying, He is ἀγάπη. The next distich shows that טוּב is intended here of God’s goodness, and not, as e. g. , in Neh 9:35, of His abundance of possessions.

Psa 25:8 The בּ with הורה denotes the way, i.e., the right way (Job 31:7), as the sphere and subject of the instruction, as in Psa 32:8, Pro 4:11; Job 27:11. God condescends to sinners in order to teach them the way that leads to life, for He is טוב־וישׂר; well-doing is His delight, and, if His anger be not provoked ( Psa 18:27 ), He has only the sincerest good intention in what He does.

Psa 25:9 The shortened form of the future stands here, according to Ges. §128, 2, rem. , instead of the full form (which, viz. , ידרך, is perhaps meant); for the connection which treats of general facts, does not admit of its being taken as optative. The ב (cf. Psa 25:5, Psa 107:7; Psa 119:35) denotes the sphere of the guidance. משׁפּט is the right so far as it is traversed, i.

e. , practised or carried out. In this course of right He leads the ענוים, and teaches them the way that is pleasing to Himself. ענוים is the one word for the gentle, mansueti , and the humble, modesti . Jerome uses these words alternately in Psa 25:9 and Psa 25:9 ; but the poet designedly repeats the one word - the cardinal virtue of ענוה - here with the preponderating notion of lowliness.

Upon the self-righteous and self-sufficient He would be obliged to force Himself even against their will. He wants disciples eager to learn; and how richly He rewards those who guard what they have learnt!

Psa 25:10 The paths intended, are those which He takes with men in accordance with His revealed will and counsel. These paths are חסד loving-kindness, mercy, or grace, for the salvation of men is their goal, and אמת truth, for they give proof at every step of the certainty of His promises. But only they who keep His covenant and His testimonies faithfully and obediently shall share in this mercy and truth.

To the psalmist the name of Jahve, which unfolds itself in mercy and truth, is precious. Upon it he bases the prayer that follows.

Psa 25:11 The perf. consec. is attached to the יהי, which is, according to the sense, implied in למען שׁמך, just as in other instances it follows adverbial members of a clause, placed first for the sake of emphasis, when those members have reference to the future, Ges. §126, rem. 1. Separate and manifold sins (Psa 25:7) are all comprehended in עון, which is in other instances also the collective word for the corruption and the guilt of sin.

כּי gives the ground of the need and urgency of the petition. A great and multiform load of sin lies upon him, but the name of God, i. e. , His nature that has become manifest in His mercy and truth, permits him to ask and to hope for forgiveness, not for the sake of anything whatever that he has done, but just for the sake of this name (Jer 14:7; Isa 43:25).

How happy therefore is he who fears God, in this matter!

Psa 25:12 The question: quisnam est vir , which resembles Psa 34:13; Psa 107:43; Isa 50:10, is only propounded in order to draw attention to the person who bears the character described, and then to state what such an one has to expect. In prose we should have a relative antecedent clause instead, viz. , qui ( quisquis ) talis est qui Dominum vereatur . The attributive יבהר, ( viam ) quam eligat (cf.

Isa 48:17), might also be referred to God: in which He takes delight (lxx); but parallels like Psa 119:30, Psa 119:173, favour the rendering: which he should choose. Among all the blessings which fall to the lot of him who fears God, the first place is given to this, that God raises him above the vacillation and hesitancy of human opinion.

Psa 25:13 The verb לין (לוּן), probably equivalent to ליל (from ליל) signifies to tarry the night, to lodge. Good, i.e., inward and outward prosperity, is like the place where such an one turns in and finds shelter and protection. And in his posterity will be fulfilled what was promised to the patriarchs and to the people delivered from Egypt, viz., possession of the land, or as this promise runs in the New Testament, of the earth, Mat 5:5 (cf. Psa 37:11), Rev 5:10.

Psa 25:14 The lxx renders סוד, κραταίωμα, as though it were equivalent to יסוד. The reciprocal נוסד, Psa 2:2 (which see), leads one to the right primary signification. Starting from the primary meaning of the root סד, “to be or to make tight, firm, compressed,” סוד signifies a being closely pressed together for the purpose of secret communication and converse, confidential communion or being together, Psa 89:8; Psa 111:1 (Symm.

ὁμιλία), then the confidential communication itself, Psa 55:15, a secret (Aquila ἀπόῤῥητον, Theod. μυστήριον). So here: He opens his mind without any reserve, speaks confidentially with those who fear Him; cf. the derivative passage Pro 3:32, and an example of the thing itself in Gen 18:17. In Psa 25:14 the infinitive with ל, according to Ges. §132, rem. 1, as in Isa 38:20, is an expression for the fut.

periphrast. : faedus suum notum facturus est iis ; the position of the words is like Dan 2:16, Dan 2:18; Dan 4:15. הודיע is used of the imparting of not merely intellectual, but experimental knowledge. Hitzig renders it differently, viz. , to enlighten them. But the Hiph . is not intended to be used thus absolutely even in 2Sa 7:21. בּריתו is the object; it is intended of the rich and deep and glorious character of the covenant revelation.

The poet has now on all sides confirmed the truth, that every good gift comes down from above, from the God of salvation; and he returns to the thought from which he started.

Psa 25:15 He who keeps his eyes constantly directed towards God (Psa 141:8; Psa 123:1), is continually in a praying mood, which cannot remain unanswered. תּמיד corresponds to ἀδιαλείπτως in 1Th 5:17. The aim of this constant looking upwards to God, in this instance, is deliverance out of the enemy’s net. He can and will pull him out (Psa 31:5) of the net of complicated circumstances into which he has been ensnared without any fault of his own.

Psa 25:16 The rendering “regard me,” so far as פּנה אל means God’s observant and sympathising turning to any one (lxx ἐπιβλέπειν), corresponds to Psa 86:16; Lev 26:9. For this he longs, for men treat him as a stranger and refuse to have anything to do with him. יחיד is the only one of his kind, one who has no companion, therefore the isolated one. The recurrence of the same sounds עני אני is designedly not avoided.

To whom could he, the isolated one, pour forth his affliction, to whom could he unveil his inmost thoughts and feelings? to God alone! To Him he can bring all his complaints, to Him he can also again and again always make supplication.

Psa 25:17 The Hiph . הרחיב signifies to make broad, and as a transitive denominative applied to the mind and heart: to make a broad space = to expand one’s self (cf. as to the idea, Lam 2:13, “great as the sea is thy misfortune”), lxx ἐπληθύνθησαν, perhaps originally it was ἐπλατηύνθησαν. Accordingly הרחיבוּ is admissible so far as language is concerned; but since it gives only a poor antithesis to צרות it is to be suspected.

The original text undoubtedly was הרחיב וממצוקותי (הרחיב, as in Psa 77:2, or הרחיב, as e. g. , in 2Ki 8:6): the straits of my heart do Thou enlarge (cf. Psa 119:32; 2Co 6:11) and bring me out of my distresses (Hitzig and others).

Psa 25:18-19 The falling away of the ק is made up for by a double ר strophe. Even the lxx has ἴδε twice over. The seeing that is prayed for, is in both instances a seeing into his condition, with which is conjoined the notion of interposing on his behalf, though the way and manner thereof is left to God. נשׂא ל, with the object in the dative instead of the accusative ( tollere peccata ), signifies to bestow a taking away, i.

e. , forgiveness, upon any one (synon. סלח ל). It is pleasing to the New Testament consciousness that God’s vengeance is not expressly invoked upon his enemies. כּי is an expansive quod as in Gen 1:4. שׂנאת חמס with an attributive genitive is hatred, which springs from injustice and ends in injustice.

Psa 25:18-19 The falling away of the ק is made up for by a double ר strophe. Even the lxx has ἴδε twice over. The seeing that is prayed for, is in both instances a seeing into his condition, with which is conjoined the notion of interposing on his behalf, though the way and manner thereof is left to God. נשׂא ל, with the object in the dative instead of the accusative ( tollere peccata ), signifies to bestow a taking away, i.

e. , forgiveness, upon any one (synon. סלח ל). It is pleasing to the New Testament consciousness that God’s vengeance is not expressly invoked upon his enemies. כּי is an expansive quod as in Gen 1:4. שׂנאת חמס with an attributive genitive is hatred, which springs from injustice and ends in injustice.

Psa 25:20 He entreats for preservation and deliverance from God; and that He may not permit his hope to be disappointed (אל־אבושׁ, cf. 1Ch 21:13, instead of אל־אבושׁה which is usual in other instances). This his hope rests indeed in Him: he has taken refuge in Him and therefore He cannot forsake him, He cannot let him be destroyed.

Psa 25:21 Devoutness that fills the whole man, that is not merely half-hearted and hypocritical, is called תּם; and uprightness that follows the will of God without any bypaths and forbidden ways is called ישׁר. These two radical virtues (cf. Job 1:1) he desires to have as his guardians on his way which is perilous not only by reason of outward foes, but also on account of his own sinfulness.

These custodians are not to let him pass out of their sight, lest he should be taken away from them (cf. Psa 40:12; Pro 20:28). He can claim this for himself, for the cynosure of his hope is God, from whom proceed תם and ישׁר like good angels.

Psa 25:22 His experience is not singular, but the enmity of the world and sin bring all who belong to the people of God into straits just as they have him. And the need of the individual will not cease until the need of the whole undergoes a radical remedy. Hence the intercessory prayer of this meagre closing distich, whose connection with what precedes is not in this instance so close as in Ps 34:23.

It looks as though it was only added when Ps 25 came to be used in public worship; and the change of the name of God favours this view. Both Psalms close with a פ in excess of the alphabet. Perhaps the first פ represents the π, and the second the φ; for Psa 25:16; Psa 34:17 follow words ending in a consonant, and Psa 25:22; 34:23, words ending in a vowel. Or is it a propensity for giving a special representation of the final letters, just as these are sometimes represented, though not always perfectly, at the close of the hymns of the synagogue ( pijutim )?

Ps. 25 and Psa 26:1-12 are bound together by similarity of thought and expression. In the former as in this Psalm, we find the writer’s testimony to his trust in God (בּטחתּי, Psa 25:2; Psa 26:1); there as here, the cry coming forth from a distressed condition for deliverance (פּדה, Psa 25:22; Psa 26:11), and for some manifestation of mercy (חנּני Psa 26:11; Psa 25:16); and in the midst of theses, other prominent points of contact (Psa 26:11; Psa 25:21; Psa 26:3; Psa 25:5).

These are grounds sufficient for placing these two Psalms close together. But in Psa 26:1-12 there is wanting the self-accusation that goes hand in hand with the self-attestation of piety, that confession of sin which so closely corresponds to the New Testament consciousness (vid. , supra p. 43), which is thrice repeated in Ps 25. The harshness of the contrast in which the psalmist stands to his enemies, whose character is here more minutely described, does not admit of the introduction of such a lament concerning himself.

The description applies well to the Absolomites. They are hypocrites, who, now that they have agreed together in their faithless and bloody counsel, have thrown off their disguise and are won over by bribery to their new master; for Absolom had stolen the hearts of the men of Israel, 2Sa 15:6. David at that time would not take the Ark with him in his flight, but said: If I shall find favour in the eyes of Jahve, He will bring me back, and grant me to see both it and His habitation, 2Sa 15:25.

The love for the house of God, which is expressed herein, is also the very heart of this Psalm.

Psa 26:1-2 The poet, as one who is persecuted, prays for the vindication of his rights and for rescue; and bases this petition upon the relation in which he stands to God. שׁפטני, as in Psa 7:9; Psa 35:24, cf. Psa 43:1. תּם (synon. תמים, which, however, does not take any suffix) is, according to Gen 20:5. , 1Ki 22:34, perfect freedom from all sinful intent, purity of character, pureness, guilelessness (ἀκακία, ἀπλότης).

Upon the fact, that he has walked in a harmless mind, without cherishing or provoking enmity, and trusted unwaveringly (לא אמעד, an adverbial circumstantial clause, cf. Psa 21:8) in Jahve, he bases the petition for the proving of his injured right. He does not self-righteously hold himself to be morally perfect, he appeals only to the fundamental tendency of his inmost nature, which is turned towards God and to Him only.

Psa 26:2 also is not so much a challenge for God to satisfy Himself of his innocence, as rather a request to prove the state of his mind, and, if it be not as it appears to his consciousness, to make this clear to him (Psa 139:23.) בּחן is not used in this passage of proving by trouble, but by a penetrating glance into the inmost nature (Psa 11:5; Psa 17:3).

נסּה, not in the sense of πειράζειν, but of δοκομάζειν. צרף, to melt down, i. e. , by the agency of fire, the precious metal, and separate the dross (Psa 12:7; Psa 66:10). The Chethîb is not to be read צרוּפה (which would be in contradiction to the request), but צרופה, as it is out of pause also in Isa 32:11, cf. Jdg 9:8, Jdg 9:12; 1Sa 28:8. The reins are the seat of the emotions, the heart is the very centre of the life of the mind and soul.

Psa 26:3 Psa 26:3 tells how confidently and cheerfully he would set himself in the light of God. God’s grace or loving-kindness is the mark on which his eye is fixed, the desire of his eye, and he walks in God’s truth. חסד is the divine love, condescending to His creatures, and more especially to sinners (Psa 25:7), in unmerited kindness; אמת is the truth with which God adheres to and carries out the determination of His love and the word of His promise.

This lovingkindness of God has been always hitherto the model of his life, this truth of God the determining line and the boundary of his walk.

Psa 26:4-5 He still further bases his petition upon his comportment towards the men of this world; how he has always observed a certain line of conduct and continues still to keep to it. With Psa 26:4 compare Jer 15:17. מתי שׁוא (Job 11:11, cf. Psa 31:5, where the parallel word is מרמה) are “not-real,” unreal men, but in a deeper stronger sense than we are accustomed to use this word.

שׁוא (= שׁוא, from שׁוא) is aridity, hollowness, worthlessness, and therefore badness (Arab. su' ) of disposition; the chaotic void of alienation from God; untruth white-washed over with the lie of dissimulation (Psa 12:3), and therefore nothingness: it is the very opposite of being filled with the fulness of God and with that which is good, which is the morally real (its synonym is און, e.

g. , Job 22:15). נעלמים, the veiled, are those who know how to keep their worthlessness and their mischievous designs secret and to mask them by hypocrisy; post-biblical צבוּעים, dyed (cf. ἀνυπόκριτος, Luther “ ungefärbt ,” undyed). (את) בּוא עם, to go in with any one, is a short expression for: to go in and out with, i. e. , to have intercourse with him, as in Pro 22:24, cf.

Gen 23:10. מרע (from רעע) is the name for one who plots that which is evil and puts it into execution. On רשׁע see Psa 1:1.