The psalm is ascribed to David as its author. However, there is no help given from the title of the psalm to inform us of any background information that may be helpful to the reader. Many have suggested that David wrote this psalm late in his life because he asks God to not remember the sins of his youth. I am of the opinion though that if there is no background information given, then there is none needed for our study of this psalm. It is best to understand the psalm as a prayer of David intermixed with penitent petitions and mediations on God.1
Psalm 25 does not seem to fall very neatly into an outline. David moves from one idea to the next without any hint as to the common thread between them. There seems to be four themes that are repeated throughout the psalm which are enemies, guidance, guilt and trust.2 However, there is another kind of organization that occurs that is a poetic device and is lost in our English translations. David uses an acrostic of the Hebrew alphabet in this psalm.
The acrostic is not perfectly followed. Verse 2 begins with an א and not a ב, and so many commentators suggest starting the second line “in you” (בְּךָ) as the Greek version does. There is no letter ו in the sequence, which prompted the addition of a conjunction at the beginning of verse 5c to provide it. The letter ר is repeated in verses 18 and 19, whereas verse 18 should start with ק; some would emend the text to obtain the sequence. The final verse of the psalm stands outside the arrangement with letter 3 פ.
The final letter should be ת but instead the psalm has a second פ. Craigie gives a few possible explanations for the deviations from the Hebrew alphabet acrostic.
The occasion for the addition [of the second פ in v. 22] may have been provided by a change in the developing alphabetic system in post exilic times, when waw may have been suppressed and an additional (compensatory) pe added at the end of the alphabet.…The effect of the postscript is to transform the more individual prayer of the psalm into a prayer suitable for Israel as a nation; the “troubles” (v. 17) of the psalmist are analogous to the troubles of Israel.4
Yet perhaps a better explanation than the acrostic as to why the themes are repeated would be that the psalm seems to follow a chiastic structure on top of an acrostic. The acrostic would be as follows:5
A vv. 1-3. enemies (v2), shame (v. 2), soul (v1)
B vv. 4-7 sins (v7), Lord (v4)
C vv. 8-10 good (v8), show/way (v8), covenant (v10)
D v. 11
C’ vv. 12-14 good (v13), show/way (v12), covenant (v14)
B’ vv. 15-18 sins (v18), Lord (v15)
A’ vv. 19-21 enemies (v 19), shame (v20) soul (v20)
The main point of the psalm would then lie at the center of the structure of the psalm, “For thy name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon mine iniquity for it is great.” Both of these may lead to some confusion for those who are more familiar with poetic devices of the western world but this shows the amount of talent that was possessed by David. This has also caused for variations in preaching. Some have decided to preach the psalm thematically rather than sequentially through the verses. With this psalm, either method is fully defensible. I prefer to stick with the traditional style—sequentially; mainly because this is how the psalm is read.
25:1-3. David starts the psalm by claiming that he trusts in the Lord. The emphasis in this is that David is not looking to another god for help. He is looking the only One who can truly help him. There are other gods that were popular during David’s day but David knew that those pagan gods would be of no help. They were not real. The reason that David emphasizes the fact that he depends on the Lord rather some other god is because of the characteristics of the Lord which will be delineated in the verses to come.
After his claim of trust, David makes a request to God that he not be put to shame by his enemies. The enemy having victory over David would be putting David to shame. There is no clue as to who this enemy might be. The reason for David makes this request is because he knows that any man who waits on or trust in God will not be put to shame which is exactly what David is doing. Most translations do not have waiting on God in the optative. “Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed” (v. 3 NASB). David is actually certain that God will deliver him. David knows that the opposite will happen. Those who transgress without reason will be put to shame. In David’s day, battles were seen as the people who worship the Lord versus the people who worship a pagan god. The victor would claim that their god was greater than the god of the defeated foe. Those who depend on the Lord will not see defeat but those who depend on another god will be put to shame.
25:4-5. These two verses turn to the theme of guidance. At first, these verses would seem disconnected from the previous verses. However, David pointed out that transgressors will be put to shame. David does not want to be found as a transgressor. Therefore he asks God to teach him His ways and truths. The truth of God and the ways of God are tied together. You cannot have one without the other. You cannot walk in the paths of righteousness if you do not learn His truth.
David gives two reasons as to why He wants to lead and instructed. God is his salvation. God is the only one that is able to deliver David from all his troubles—both physical and spiritual. David has a physical enemy against him, perhaps some military, and a spiritual enemy which is his transgressions. They seem to be interrelated to each other in this psalm and perhaps caused the confusing arrangement. The second reason David requests to be taught the ways of God is because he is willing to wait on the Lord all the day. Like the waiting in v. 3, this would be better translated as an expectant hope. The NIV states, “And my hope is in you all day long.”
25:6-7. The words may seem strange but David calls upon God to remember His tender mercies and lovingkindnesses. David states these things because he knows that the first step in walking the paths of God is to be delivered by God from his sin. The basis of this forgiveness though comes not from David’s good works. David knows that the only reason why he is delivered from his sin is because of God’s mercy and lovingkindness. David even points out that these are character traits of God that have been around for a long time. The KJV states, “For they have been ever of old,” but the Hebrew for old—עוֹלָם (ʿôlām)—could also be translated as everlasting or forever.
After establishing the mercy of God, David requests that God not remember the sins of his youth. The youth is a person that knows better than to abandon wisdom but does not care. The sins that are committed and the consequences of those sins done in a man’s youth stay with the man for the rest of life. The guilt he bears plagues him. Many a man, including David, look back upon their younger years and regret what they have done knowing they should have made better decisions. Therefore David is asking God to forget those actions for a forensic purpose. He does not want those actions to be counted against him. David asks that he would be remembered and not his sin. And again, David knows that this is only accomplished through God’s mercy. God’s forgiveness also shows His glory. He is a God that does not care about us when we cry out. He is a God that delivers when we ask for forgiveness and to be taught in the paths of righteousness.
25:8-11. David continues the theme from the previous verses. He again meditates on the character of God. The declaration of God’s character then becomes the reason for God teaching sinners in the way of righteousness. David is not saying that He instructs those who do not trust in God; David is calling himself a sinner and is in need of instruction. The logic is because God is good and upright, what He teaches to sinners will be good and upright. The fact that God is wiling to teach sinners should bring comfort. As Spurgeon commented, “Let those who desire to be delivered from sin take comfort from this. God himself will condescend to be the teacher of sinners. What a ragged school is this for God to teach in!”6 God does this for those who are meek or those who are humble. If we are going to learn to walk in His ways we first have to be sure that we are humble. We must put any ideas in our head of what a good way looks like. You must not begin to think that you have it all figured out. You need to understand that you need to set aside your personal desires. You must be humble, meek and lowly and submit to the righteousness of God for that is what He has called us to. When our ideas are gone then we can learn of His judgements/decisions (מִשְׁפָּט [mišpāṭ]). David brings up the metonymy of God’s paths again and says they mercy and truth. The Hebrew for mercy is חֶסֶד (ḥeseḏ) which is a word that was used earlier in v. 6 and was translated as lovingkindnesses. As usual, the word ḥeseḏ appears within the context of an agreement or “covenant”. In short, David was depending on the promises of God in his prayer—a good example for us to follow in our prayers. God is faithful to the promises that He has made in His covenants. There is no reason for us to worry or doubt. Our faith comes not from a personal confidence in ourselves; this is humanism. Our faith comes from the fact that we have a God that keeps to His word.
This is the center verse. Knowing God has established a covenant with those who trust in Him, He expects us to follow through on our end of the covenant—that we trust Him and seek forgiveness of sins.
But all covenants have two parties, and the lovingkindness of God, the senior partner in the covenant (v 10a), was related to the psalmist’s obedience to the covenant stipulations (v 10b). It is this reminder that launches the prayer for forgiveness in v 11; if God’s response depended upon sinlessness with regard to the covenant stipulations, then there could be no response.7
David’s words should be familiar for the Christian. Yes, the Christian understands that he has been forgiven of sin at the cross of Christ. He knows that Christ’s death on the cross was a one-time payment that was sufficient for all of my sin in my entire life including future sin. Yet, the Christian on a regular bring his sin before the Lord as David has done. We cannot allow for sin to get in the way of our relationship with God. When we start to follow in sin we soon realize that we need God’s guidance again. We need to be shown the paths of righteousness once more and once more if need be. These things are mutually exclusive. Yes God has forgiven us but He has called us to a life of holiness and to mortify the flesh (Rom. 8:13). He has called us to meekness.
25:12-14. David quickly returns to his references concerning the way of the Lord by asking a rhetorical question. David talked v.9 of how the Lord will teach the meek His way. A person that fears the Lord is a person that is also meek. This fear speaks of reverence toward a higher authority. The same kind of fear is also the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7). The antecedent of the pronoun for the last “he” in v 12 is debated. I am not sure if the verse conveys whether God teaches to make the right choices or He makes the choices for us to walk. Really, either one would be acceptable because both is true.
V 13 shows the result of following in the way of God. “Ease” is the Hebrew טוֹב (ṭôḇ) which is usually translated as good but can have a broad range of meaning. In this case טוֹב could refer to general prosperity or even the opposite of evil (cf. 1 Kings 8:36).8 The prosperity given will allow for the children of the discerning man to inherit the land. This is a promise that is familiar to us from the Mosaic Covenant (Lev. 26:3, 9; Deut. 4:1) but also in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:5).
The subject of reverent fear is seen again in v 14. This time it shows that the “secret” of the Lord is with him. The Hebrew for secret is סוֹד (sôḏ) which is defined as “intimate fellowship, i.e., a very close, personal association with another or a group.”9 The ESV even uses the word “friendship”. The overall idea is a very close friendship where one would be comfortable enough to personal information that would be kept in confidence. A good example of this kind of relationship between God and a believer was between God and Abraham when God reveal to Abraham what he was about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:17).
25:15. David picks up on familiar themes that were used earlier especially on seeing the Lord as a primary source for deliverance. This time David’s dependance is pictured as a fixed gaze upon the Lord. If one is to follow after God, it will be hard to do so if you are looking at something else. You need to be looking where you to go so that your steps fall where they should. The picture is parallel to the imagery used earlier of expectantly waiting on God. David is confident that he will be delivered from his trouble by using a metaphor. A net would be used for a trap of some kind usually used to catch game animals. David is using the metaphor to claim that God will deliver him from the present situation.
25:16-21. The rest of the psalm, with the exception of v 22, is request from David for deliverance. The request for deliverance is both spiritual and physical. At first David deals with his spiritual enemy—consequences of his sin. “Turn thee unto me” is an anthropomorphism symbolizing God’s presence and mercy for deliverance from the situation. This would be the opposite if God were to hide His face. David finds himself in a place where he is alone. The Hebrew for desolate is יָחִיד (yāḥîḏ) which is defined as “lonely, alone, i.e., pertaining to being in a solitary place and so isolated and in a state of anxiety.”10 There is possibility that David is stating that he is spiritually alone. He desires to have a deep friendship with God and there my be none else who has the same desires. Thus the troubles of his heart have become heavy.
The statement from v 15 becomes the petition in v 17. “Bring me out” comes from the same verb for “he shall pluck” (יָצָא).
“The acuteness of the loneliness and the sense of distance from God are amplified by their dual source; they are partly a consequence of the psalmist being surrounded by enemies who create trouble and partly a consequence of the awareness of sin within (v 18b) which, if not removed, would bar him from the divine fellowship.”11 It very well could be that both are interrelated to each other in same manner. The situation with David’s enemy could be something that God is using to teach David about the consequences of sin. Sinful actions often bring about physical problems in our lives and others. David’s request continues concerning deliverance from his enemies which first seen in v 2. The enemies of David are now characterized as having cruel or violent hatred. David described earlier as men who transgress without reason. As the request for deliverance continues, we see the topic of shame come up again. However, the reason why David should not be put to shame is slightly different this time. This time David’s reason is because he trusts in God—the one who is merciful. The emphasis is on the compassion of God rather than God being the only credible source for strength.
David requested earlier that he be taught the ways of uprightness. Now he is asking that God would use that to have him be preserved. David wants to be seen as individual that was faithful and obedient to the commandments and has no reason to be accounted with the wicked.
25:22. The last verse, which is not part of the acrostic, takes David’s request for deliverance and applies to the entire nation of Israel. This verse may have been added at a later time. Perhaps the author of this verse saw parallels between David’s personal life and the history of the nation of Israel (e.g. Assyrians, Babylonians).
Notes
1. Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Classic Reflections on the Wisdom of the Psalms ([1885?]; repr., Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011), 1:1:391.
2. Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72, KCC (1973; repr., Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 133-4.
3. Allen P. Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms, Kregel Exegetical Library (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011-5), 1:594-5.
4. Peter C. Craigie and Marvin E. Tate, Psalms 1-50, Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 19, 2nd ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004), 222.
5. Ibid, 217-8.
6. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, 1:1:394.
7. Craigie and Tate, Psalms 1-50, 220.
8. TWOT, 793a.
9. DBLH, 6051:7.
10. DBLH, 3495:2.
11. Craigie and Tate, Psalms 1-50, 221.
No comments:
Post a Comment