Psalm 25 1 "(A Psalm of David.) My soul, O Lord, longs for you."
Psalm 25 2 "O my God, I have always Trust in you; do not put me to shame, and do not let my enemies triumph over me."
Psalm 25:3 "No one who waits for you will be ashamed; but he who commits treachery without cause will be put to shame. ”
1. God will not abandon anyone who “waits” for Him (verse 3). Although His power does not always appear in the time we expect, His time is always the best. of. Because God always answers our prayers “Of His love, In His time, By His way.”
2. Today, like the author, we are often worried that our beliefs will eventually be proven to be illusory, so we will be "ashamed". But God is a living God, and human history testifies to us: Those who rely on God and wait on God “will not be ashamed,” just as the Lord Jesus said: “He who comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). And those who deviate from God and resist God will "shall be ashamed" in the end.
The original text of "3. To practice treachery without cause" is "to practice treachery in vain", which refers to those who have strayed from the right path (78:57; Jeremiah 3:20).
The tone of this poem is like a student asking a teacher or a son asking his father for advice. This psalm is also an alphabetic poem. Except for the last stanza, the original Hebrew text of each stanza begins in the order of the 22 Hebrew letters. Psalms 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, and 145 are all alphabetic psalms.
Psalm 25:4 “O Lord, show me your ways, teach me your ways!”
Psalm 25:5: “Please teach me your ways!” Guide me and teach me the truth, because You are the God of my salvation, and I wait for You all day long.” People who don’t know God only ask God to bless us and keep us on our own path, but people who know God ask God for guidance. Walk God's way yourself, because only God's way is the blessed way. "There is a way for man that seems right, but its end is the way to death" (Proverbs 14:12), but God wants us to "enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, Many are who enter into it; for strait is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life, and few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Therefore, wise people should ask God to use the truth to "guide" us in God's way: "You will show me the way of life. In your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are everlasting happiness" (16 11).
The Holy Spirit is our teacher, "who will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).
We "wait" on God all day long because we have tasted the wonderful taste of the Lord's grace and our hearts "delight in God" (Romans 5:11), so we are eager to receive more of His words.
Psalm 25:6 “Remember, O Lord, your mercy and your love, for it has been from everlasting.”
Psalm 25:7 “Please Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; remember me, O Lord, for your favor and for your love.”
4. Only when a person understands his true nature as a sinner, Only then will you realize how much you need "mercy and love" before God (verse 6), and therefore you will treat others with "kindness" and "love". A person who does not recognize his true nature as a sinner will inevitably become self-righteous and treat others harshly.
Psalm 25:8 "The Lord is good and upright; therefore he will teach the sinners the right path."
Psalm 25:9 "He will lead the meek in justice, Teach them his ways."
Psalm 25:10 "The Lord is merciful and faithful to everyone who keeps his covenant and his testimonies."
5. God is “good and upright” (v. 8). He “keeps up mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:7). As long as we sinners are willing to turn to Him, He will Like a good teacher, he teaches and guides us on the “right path” (verse 8).
6. The original text of "humble man" (verse 9) is "poor, humble, small", that is, a person who knows that he has nothing and is nothing. A "humble person" will not insist on himself, so he is willing to obey God's "leading" and "teachings" (verse 9); a "humble person" will not boast that he can "take the right path" better than others, so he can fully attribute " "A good and upright God"; "humble people" will not find it easy to abide by God's covenants and laws, so they can always understand the difficulties of others and be willing to help others seek God's "love and honesty."
Psalm 25:11 “O Lord, for your name’s sake forgive my sin, for my sin is great.”
“The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23), so in the eyes of God, all sins are "serious", and any sin requires a sin offering and Christ's death on our behalf. Therefore, only when a person understands the "seriousness" of his sin and knows that he cannot compensate for this sin can he sincerely repent and seek salvation and be forgiven by God.
The reason why God forgives our sins is not because of our qualifications or merits, but entirely because of God’s own name, that is, His loving and faithful nature.
Psalm 25:12 “Whoever fears the LORD, the LORD will show him the path he should choose.
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Psalm 25:13 “He will dwell in safety; his descendants will inherit the earth.”
Psalm 25:14 “The Lord is close to those who fear Him; He will show them His covenant.”
God created man in His own image and gave him free will. Therefore, God does not force man, but lets him learn to choose “the path he should choose.” (verse 12). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). Only those who “fear the Lord” (verse 12) have the wisdom to make the right choices.
If a person fears God, he will inevitably rely on God, so he no longer needs to fear any difficulties, and he will "dwell in safety and inherit the earth" (verse 13); if a person does not fear God, he will only rely on God Any difficulty will frighten him.
8. "Fearing the Lord" means treating God as God and establishing a correct relationship with God. The essence of this relationship is not fear, but an intimate relationship between man and God, and a deeper understanding of God’s will, because “the Lord is intimate with those who fear him; he will reveal his covenant to them.” As the Lord Jesus said: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and show myself to him” (John 14:21 ).
Psalm 25:15 “My eyes are always on the Lord, for he will pull my feet out of the net.”
We often get caught up in the world, lust, and the devil’s “ "net", so we need to "always look to the Lord" and ask God to rescue us. Once we behold the glory and beauty of God within the “net” of our environment, we will no longer be caught in those empty “nets”.
9. "Net" refers to the hunter's net for catching animals, which is a metaphor for the difficulties in life.
Psalm 25:16 "Please turn to me and have mercy on me, for I am lonely and distressed ”
This picture: Believers often fall into the world and the devil’s net
10. God’s children are not always smooth sailing in this world, and they will also be “lonely and troubled” (16) verse), there will also be “many sorrows” (verse 17). These difficulties force us to turn to God: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19).
Some sufferings are the punishment we receive because of our sins, so we must first confess our sins and ask God to "forgive me all my sins"; some sufferings are God's creation of our lives, so don't rush to ask God to speed up. Move away quickly and just ask God to "look after my distress and my hardship." God "will lead you out of trouble into a place that is broad and not narrow; and the food set on your table will be full of fatness." (Job 30 6.16)?.
Psalm 25:19 "Look at my enemies, for they are many and hate me bitterly."
Psalm 25:20 "Protect me deliver me from my life, that I may not be put to shame, for I have taken refuge in You.”
Psalm 25:21 “Keep me pure and upright, for I wait for You.”
< p>When we are of the same mind as God, our enemies are God’s enemies. Although "they are many", "Do not be afraid! More are with us than with them" (2 Kings 6:16)11. "Hate me bitterly" original text is "Hate me with violence, cruelty, and injustice."
12. “Purity and integrity” are God’s attributes, and they are also the best self-defense God gives to those who “wait” for Him. When we "wait" on God, we should "always have a good conscience toward God and men" (Acts 24:16). If we "walk deceitfully" (verse 3), we will lose our "purity and integrity." ”, leaving an opening for the enemy to attack.
Psalm 25:22 “O God, redeem Israel from all his sorrow.”
In the process of “waiting” on God (verse 21), David’s His heart becomes wider and wider, so that he not only prays for himself, but also brings the needs of the people before God.
Above: The Golden Gate on the east side of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem