Psalms 25:1

The Psalm begins, like Psa 16:1-11; Psa 23:1, with a monostich. Psa 25:2 is the ב strophe, אלהי (unless one is disposed to read בך אלהי according to the position of the words in Psa 31:2), after the manner of the interjections in the tragedians, e.g., oo'moi, not being reckoned as belonging to the verse (J. D. Kצhler). In need of help and full of longing for deliverance he raises his soul, drawn away from earthly desires, to Jahve (Psa 86:4; Psa 143:8), the God who alone can grant him that which shall truly satisfy his need. His ego, which has the soul within itself, directs his soul upwards to Him whom he calls אלהי, because in believing confidence he clings to Him and is united with Him. The two אל declare what Jahve is not to allow him to experience, just as in Psa 31:2, Psa 31:18. According to Psa 25:19, Psa 25:20; Psa 38:17, it is safer to construe לי with יעלצוּ (cf. Psa 71:10), as also in Psa 27:2; Psa 30:2, Mic 7:8, although it would be possible to construe it with אויבי (cf. Psa 144:2). In Psa 25:3 the confident expectation of the individual is generalised.

Here we have David's professions of desire towards God and dependence on him. He often begins his psalms with such professions, not to move God, but to move himself, and to engage himself to answer those professions. I. He professes his desire towards God: Unto thee, O Lord! do I lift up my soul, Psa 25:1. In the foregoing psalm (Psa 25:4) it was made the character of a good man that he has not lifted up his soul to vanity; and a call was given to the everlasting gates to lift up their heads for the King of glory to come in, Psa 25:1. To this character, to this call, David here answers, "Lord, I lift up my soul, not to vanity, but to thee." Note, In worshipping God we must lift up our souls to him. Prayer is the ascent of the soul to God; God must be eyed and the soul employed. Sursum corda - Up with you hearts, was anciently used as a call to devotion. With a holy contempt of the world and the things of it, by a fixed thought and active faith, we must set God before us, and let out our desires towards him as the fountain of our happiness. II. He professes his dependence upon God and begs for the benefit and comfort of that dependence (Psa 25:2): O my God! I trust in thee. His conscience witnessed for him that he had no confidence in himself nor in any creature, and that he had no diffidence of God or of his power or promise. He pleases himself with this profession of faith in God. Having put his trust in God, he is easy, is well satisfied, and quiet from the fear of evil; and he pleads it with God whose honour it is to help those that honour him by trusting in him. What men put a confidence in is either their joy or their shame, according as it proves. Now David here, under the direction of faith, prays earnestly, 1. That shame might not be his lot: "Let me not be asha…

Ps 25 This individual lament includes instruction in wisdom and a community lament; it begins and ends with an affirmation of trust in the Lord (25:1-3, 15-22). The psalmist prays for guidance (25:4-7) and encourages the godly to practice a lifestyle of wisdom (25:12-14). In addition to the enemies who trouble him, the psalmist confesses his sins (25:7, 11, 18) as part of his anguish. Trust develops with understanding God’s character: He is compassionate, faithful, and good (25:8-10). 25:1-3 The psalmist expresses confidence that the godly will be vindicated and his enemies will not succeed (see 25:15-22). 25:1 The psalmist commits himself to the Lord instead of to idols (see 24:3-4).