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Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 25:1 A Psalm of David. Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. Psalm 25:1-22 THE recurrence of the phrase "lift up the soul" may have determined the place of this psalm next to Psalm 24:1-10 . It is acrostic, but with irregularities. As the text now stands, the second, not the first, word in Psalm 25:2 begins with Beth; Vav is omitted or represented in the "and teach me" of the He verse ( Psalm 25:5 ); Qoph is also omitted, and its place taken by a supernumerary Resh, which letter has thus two verses ( Psalm 25:18-19 ); and Psalm 25:22 begins with Pe, and is outside the scheme of the psalm, both as regards alphabetic structure and subject. The same peculiarities of deficient Vav and superfluous Pe verses reappear in another acrostic psalm ( Psalm 34:1-22 ), in which the initial word of the last verse is, as here, "redeem." Possibly the two psalms are connected. The fetters of the acrostic structure forbid freedom and progress of thought, and almost compel repetition. It is fitted for meditative reiteration of favourite emotions or familiar axioms, and results in a loosely twined wreath rather than in a column with base, shaft, and capital. A slight trace of consecution of parts may be noticed in the division of the verses (excluding Psalm 25:22 ) into three sevens, of which the first is prayer, the second meditation on the Divine character and the blessings secured by covenant to them who fear Him, and the third is bent round, wreath-like, to meet the first, and is again prayer. Such alternation of petition and contemplation is like the heart’s beat of the religious life, now expanding in desire, now closing in possession. The psalm has no marks of occasion or period. It deals with the permanent elements in a devout man’s relation to God. The first prayer section embraces the three standing needs: protection, guidance, and forgiveness. With these are intertwined their pleas according to the logic of faith-The suppliant’s uplifted desires and God’s eternal tenderness and manifested mercy. The order of mention of the needs proceeds from without inwards, for protection from enemies is superficial as compared with illumination as to duty, and deeper than even that, as well as prior in order of time (and therefore last in order of enumeration), is pardon. Similarly the pleas go deeper as they succeed each other; for the psalmist’s trust and waiting is superficial as compared with the plea breathed in the name of "the God of my salvation"; and that general designation leads to the gaze upon the ancient and changeless mercies, which constitute the measure and pattern of God’s working (according to, Psalm 25:7 ), and upon the self-originated motive, which is the deepest and strongest of all arguments with Him (for Thy goodness’ sake, Psalm 25:7 ). A qualification of the guest in God’s house was in Psalm 24:1-10 , the negative one that he did not lift up his soul- i.e ., set his desires-on the emptinesses of time and sense. Here the psalmist begins with the plea that he has set his on Jehovah, and, as the position of "Unto Thee, Jehovah," at the beginning shows, on Him alone. The very nature of such aspiration after God demands that it shall be exclusive. All in all or not at all is the requirement of true devotion, and such completeness is not attained without continual withdrawal of desire from created good. The tendrils of the heart must be untwined from other props before they can be wreathed round their true stay. The irregularity in Psalm 25:2 , where the second, not the first, word of the verse begins with Beth, may be attenuated by treating the Divine name as outside the acrostic order. An acute conjecture, however, that the last clause of Psalm 25:5 really belongs to Psalm 25:1 and should include "my God" now in Psalm 25:2 , has much in its favour. Its transposition restores to both verses the two-claused structure which runs through the psalm, gets rid of the acrostical anomaly, and emphasises the subsequent reference to those who wait on Jehovah in Psalm 25:3 . In that case Psalm 25:2 begins with the requisite letter. It passes from plea to petition: "Let me not be shamed." Trust that was not vindicated by deliverance would cover the face with confusion. "Hopes that breed not shame" are the treasure of him whose hope is in Jehovah. Foes unnamed threaten; but the stress of the petitions in the first section of the psalm is less on enemies than on sins. One cry for protection from the former is all that the psalmist utters, and then his prayer swiftly, turns to deeper needs. In the last section the petitions are more exclusively for deliverance from enemies. Needful as such escape is, it is less needful than the knowledge of God’s ways, and the man in extremest peril orders his desires rightly, if he asks holiness first and safety second. The cry in Psalm 25:2 rests upon the confidence nobly, expressed in Psalm 25:3 , in which the verbs are not optatives, but futures, declaring a truth certain to be realised in the psalmist’s experience, because it is true for all who, like him, wait on Jehovah. True prayer is the individual’s sheltering himself under the broad folds of the mantle that covers all who pray. The double confidence as to the waiters on Jehovah and the "treacherous without cause" is the summary of human experience as read by faith. Sense has much to adduce in contradiction, but the dictum is nevertheless true, only its truth does not always appear in the small arc of the circle which lies between cradle and grave. The prayer for deliverance glides into that for guidance, since the latter is the deeper need, and the former will scarcely be answered unless the suppliant’s will docilely offers the latter. The soul lifted to Jehovah will long to know His will and submit itself to His manifold teachings. "Thy ways" and "Thy paths" necessarily mean here the ways in which Jehovah desires that the psalmist should go. "In Thy truth" is ambiguous, both as to the preposition and the noun. The clause may either present God’s truth ( i.e. , faithfulness) as His motive for answering the prayer, or His truth ( i.e ., the objective revelation) as the path for men. Predominant usage inclines to the former signification of the noun, but the possibility still remains of regarding God’s faithfulness as the path in which the psalmist desires to be led, i.e. , to experience it. The cry for forgiveness strikes a deeper note of pathos, and, as asking a more wondrous blessing, grasps still more firmly the thought of what Jehovah is and always has been. The appeal is made to "Thy compassions and lovingkindnesses," as belonging to His nature, and to their past exercise as having been "from of old." Emboldened thus, the psalmist can look back on his own past, both on his outbursts of youthful passion and levity, which he calls "failures," as missing the mark, and on the darker evils of later manhood, which he calls "rebellions," and can trust that Jehovah will think upon him according to His mercy, and for the sake of His goodness or love. The vivid realisation of that Eternal Mercy as the very mainspring of God’s actions, and as setting forth, in many an ancient deed, the eternal pattern or His dealings, enables a man to bear the thought of his own sins. The contemplation of the Divine character prepares the way for the transition to the second group of seven verses, which are mainly meditation on that character and on God’s dealings and the blessedness of those who fear Him ( Psalm 25:8-14 ). The thought of God beautifully draws the singer from himself. How deeply and lovingly he had pondered on the name of the Lord before he attained to the grand truth that His goodness and very uprightness pledged Him to show sinners where they should walk! Since there is at the heart of things an infinitely pure and equally loving Being, nothing is more impossible than that He should wrap Himself in thick darkness and leave men to grope after duty. Revelation of the path of life in some fashion is the only conduct consistent with His character. All presumptions are in favor of such Divine teaching: and the fact of sin makes it only the more certain. That fact may separate men from God, but not God from men, and if they transgress, the more need both in their characters and in God’s. is there that He should speak. But while their being sinners does not prevent His utterance, their disposition determines their actual reception of His teaching, and "the meek" or lowly of heart are His true scholars. His instruction is not wasted on them, and, being welcomed, is increased. A fuller communication of His will rewards the humble acceptance of it. Sinners are led in the way; the meek are taught His way. Here the conception of God’s way is in transition from its meaning in Psalm 25:4 to that in Psalm 25:10 , where it distinctly must mean His manner of dealing with men. They who accept His teaching, and order their paths as He would have them do, will learn that the impulse and meaning of all which He does to them are "mercy and truth," the two great attributes to which the former petitions appealed, and which the humble of heart, who observe the conditions of God’s covenant which is witness of His own character and of their duty, will see gleaming with lambent light even in calamities. The participators, then, in this blessed knowledge have a threefold character: sinners humble: keepers of the covenant and testimonies. The thought of these requirements drives the psalmist back on himself, as it will do all devout souls, and forces from him a short ejaculation of prayer, which breaks with much pathos and beauty the calm flow of contemplation. The pleas for forgiveness of the "iniquity" which makes him feel unworthy of Jehovah’s guidance are remarkable. "For Thy name’s sake" appeals to the revealed character of God, as concerned in the suppliant’s pardon, inasmuch as it will be honoured thereby, and God will be true to Himself in forgiving. "For it is great" speaks the boldness of helplessness. The magnitude of sin demands a Divine intervention. None else than God can deal with it. Faith makes the very greatness of sin and extremity of need a reason for God’s act of pardon. Passing from self, the singer again recurs to his theme, reiterating in vivid language and with some amplification the former thoughts. In Psalm 25:8-10 the character of Jehovah was the main subject, and the men whom He blessed were in the background. In Psalm 25:12-14 they stand forward. Their designation now is the wide one of "those who fear Jehovah," and the blessings they receive are, first, that of being taught the way, which has been prominent thus far, but here has a new phase, as being "the way that he should choose"; i.e. , God’s teaching illuminates the path, and tells a man what he ought to do, while his freedom of choice is uninfringed. Next, outward blessings of settled prosperity shall be his, and his children shall have the promises to Israel fulfilled in their possession of the land. These outward blessings belong to the Old Testament epoch, and can only partially be applied to the present stage of Providence. But the final element of the good man’s blessedness ( Psalm 25:14 ) is eternally true. Whether we translate the first word "secret" or "friendship," the sense is substantially the same. Obedience and the true fear of Jehovah directly tend to discernment of His purposes, and will besides be rewarded by whispers from heaven. God would not hide from Abraham what he would do, and still His friend will know His mind better than the disobedient. The last clause of Psalm 25:14 is capable of various renderings. "His covenant" may be in the accusative, and the verb a periphrastic future, as the A.V. takes it, or the former word may be nominative, and the clause be rendered, "And His covenant [is] to make them to know." But the absolute use of the verb without a specification of the object taught is somewhat harsh, and probably the former rendering is to be preferred. The deeper teaching of the covenant which follows on the fear of the Lord includes both its obligations and blessings, and the knowledge is not mere intellectual perception, but vital experience. In this region life is knowledge, and knowledge life. Whoso "keeps His covenant" ( Psalm 25:10 ) will ever grow in appropriation of its blessings and apprehension of its obligations by his submissive will. The third heptad of verses returns to simple petition, and that, with one exception ( Psalm 25:18 b), for deliverance from enemies. This recurrence, in increased intensity, of the consciousness of hostility is not usual, for the psalms which begin with it generally pray themselves out of it. "The peace which passeth understanding," which is the best answer to prayer, has not fully settled on the heaving sea. A heavy ground swell runs in these last short petitions, which all mean substantially the same thing. But there is a beginning of calm; and the renewed petitions are a pattern of that continual knocking of which such great things are said and recorded in Scripture. The section begins with a declaration of patient expectance: "Mine eyes are ever towards Jehovah," with wistful fixedness which does not doubt though it has long to look. Nets are wrapped round his feet, inextricably but for one hand. We can bear to feel our limbs entangled and fettered, if our eyes are free to gaze, and fixed in gazing, upwards. The desired deliverance is thrice presented ( Psalm 25:16 , "turn unto"; Psalm 25:18 , "look upon"; Psalm 25:19 , "consider," lit. look upon) as the result of Jehovah’s face being directed towards the psalmist. When Jehovah turns to a man, the light streaming from His face makes darkness day. The pains on which He "looks" are soothed; the enemies whom He beholds shrivel beneath His eye. The psalmist believes that God’s presence, in the deeper sense of that phrase, as manifested partly through delivering acts and partly through inward consciousness, is his one need, in which all deliverances and gladnesses are enwrapped. He plaintively pleads, "For I am alone and afflicted." The soul that has awakened to the sense of the awful solitude of personal being, and stretched out yearning desires to the only God, and felt that with Him it would know no pain in loneliness, will not cry in vain. In Psalm 25:17 a slight alteration in the text, the transference of the final Vav of one word to the beginning of the next, gets rid of the incongruous phrase "are enlarged" as applied to troubles (lit. straits), and gives a prayer which is in keeping with the familiar use of the verb in reference to afflictions: "The troubles of my heart do Thou enlarge, {cf. Psalm 18:36 } and from my distresses," etc . Psalm 25:18 should begin with Qoph, but has Resh, which is repeated in the following verse, to which it rightly belongs. It is at least noteworthy that the anomaly makes the petition for Jehovah’s "look" more emphatic, and brings into prominence the twofold direction of it. The "look" on the psalmist’s affliction and pain will be tender and sympathetic, as a mother eagle’s on her sick eaglet; that on his foes will be stern and destructive, many though they be. In Psalm 25:11 the prayer for pardon was sustained by the plea that the sin was "great"; in Psalm 25:19 that for deliverance from foes rests on the fact that "they are many," for which the verb cognate with the adjective of Psalm 25:11 is used. Thus both dangers without and evils within are regarded as crying out by their multitude, for God’s intervention. The wreath is twined so that its end is brought round to its beginning. "Let me not be ashamed, for I trust in Thee," is the second petition of the first part repeated; and "I wait on Thee," which is the last word of the psalm, omitting the superfluous verse, echoes the clause which it is proposed to transfer to Psalm 25:1 . Thus the two final verses correspond to the two initial, the last but one to the first but one, and the last to the first. The final prayer is that "integrity (probably complete devotion of heart to God) and uprightness" (in relation to men) may preserve him, as guardian angels; but this does not assert the possession of these, but is a petition for the gift of them quite as much as for their preserving action. The implication of that petition is that no harm can imperil or destroy him whom these characteristics guard. That is true in the whole sweep of human life, however often contradicted in the judgment of sense. Like Psalm 34:1-22 , this concludes with a supplementary verse beginning with Pe, a letter already represented in the acrostic scheme. This may be a later addition for liturgical purposes. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. Psalm 25:1-3 David depressed J. H. Evans, M. A. I. DAVID WAS AT THIS TIME IN A STATE OF GREAT TROUBLE. This is the children's path; it is the path most of God's family walk in. It is not an uncommon path. The Master trod the path before them, and told His people to expect tribulation. In this Psalm we see affliction in every variety. David traces his afflictions up to his sins (ver. 18). All sin is the cause of suffering. If no sin, no suffering. If no body there would be no shadow. There may have been some searching out of peculiar sins. Times of affliction are usually times of deep searching of heart. II. DAVID WAS AT THIS TIME DEPRESSED. The very expression "lift up" implies a previous casting down. Ver. 16, he says, "I am desolate and afflicted." The believer, compared with the unbeliever, is a strong man; he must needs be strong. But the strongest is not always strong. All borrowed strength is of necessity strength that fluctuates. Creature strength is dependent strength, and therefore it is but comparative weakness. Faith's wing does not always soar aloft; love does not always burn brightly. Unbelief always weakens. David looked to his troubles and was depressed. In our afflictions there are two especial dangers — that of despising them, as if they came fortuitously; and the danger of being encumbered and weighed down by them, looking at the circumstances, and not at the God of the circumstances. III. DAVID BETAKES HIMSELF TO HIS REMEDY. The believer has but one remedy. The world talks of its many remedies, but all are ineffective. A general view of God, in the power of faith and by the power of the Holy Ghost, lifts up the soul. Nothing so lifts us up against soul trouble as when we are enabled to say, "O my God, I trust in Thee." Is there anything above God's promises? Yes, God Himself is above His promises, and the very substance of them. Our trust is in Him. ( J. H. Evans, M. A. ) The nature of true prayer F. W. Brown. This opening sentence is as if David had said, "Let others lift up their souls to vanity, I will dare to be singular, I will lift up my soul to Thee." Holy resolution, blessed determination. I. THE REALISATION AND RECOGNITION OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. II. THE ABSTRACTION FROM THE INFLUENCES OF THE WORLD. "I will lift up my soul." III. THE CONSECRATION AND CONCENTRATION OF ALL THE ENERGIES OF THE MAN. The consecration willing and loving. If the soul be lifted up all the powers are so. IV. THE RESULTS OF SUCH LIFTING UP OF THE SOUL. We shall be — 1. Transported with the Divine nearness. 2. Transformed into the Divine likeness. 3. Translated into the Divine presence now and hereafter. ( F. W. Brown. ) Uplifting the soul W. Jay. It is not easy to do this. "My soul cleaveth unto the dust." We may lift up hands and eyes and voices, but it is another thing to uplift the soul. Yet without this there is no real devotion. And the Christian will be no more satisfied than God. This marks the spiritual worshipper. He may have failed in words, but his soul has been lifted up to God. And the spirituality of religion is its enjoyment. It is good to draw near to God. Then we attend on the Lord without distraction. And when such a worshipper comes forth he will recommend Christ to others, and that not without effect. For his profiting will appear unto all men. His face shines. His heart speaks. His life speaks. His character speaks. He cannot but do good, even without design and without effort. ( W. Jay. ) The uplift of the soul in prayer Gotthold, in his Emblems , says, "Doves have been trained to fly from place to place, carrying letters in a basket fastened to their necks or feet. They are swift of flight; but our prayers and sighs are swifter, for they take but a moment to pass from earth to heaven, and bear the troubles of our heart to the heart of God. These messengers no hostile force can detain; they penetrate the clouds, never linger on the way, and never desist until the Most High attends. A tyrant may shut up a godly man in the deepest dungeon, immure him between massive walls, and forbid him all intercourse with his fellow men, but these messengers he cannot restrain; in defiance of all obstacles they report to the Omniscient the affliction of the victim, and bring back to him the Divine consolation." The lifting up of the soul to God A. Symson. The names which he gives God are Jehovah and Elohim — the first taken from His nature, the other from His power; and he applieth them to himself, my strong Gods, including the persons of the Trinity. He leadeth us to God in our prayers, Whom have I in heaven but Thee? He that cometh to God must believe that God is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. 1. First, He must love thee, and then He will defend thee. Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord. Those are foolish who seek His protection, not first having assurance of His love. If He be to thee Jehovah, then shall He also be to thee Elohim. His prayer is signified by his circumscription, "I lift up my soul to Thee"; and his faith, "I trust in Thee." What is prayer but a lifting up of the heart to God, for the heart must first be affected, and then it will frame all the members of the body, and draw them up with it. Whereby it appeareth that there is no prayer or spiritual service acceptable to God but that which comes and is derived from the heart, "My son, give Me thy heart" Ye are praying, but your heart is as the eye of the fool everywhere. Sometimes ye are thinking of the earth, sometimes of your pleasure, sometimes sleeping, sometimes ye know not what ye are thinking. And sometimes your voice is repeating some idle and deaf sounds, your heart no whir being moved, but as a parrot, uttering uncertain sounds, or a bell, sounding it knows not what; so are ye with your mouth praising God, your heart being absented from Him. 2. Next, his faith is not carried about hither and thither, but only fixeth itself upon God. 3. Thirdly, the lifting up of the heart presupposeth a former dejection of his soul. ( A. Symson. ) Phases of a pious soul Homilist. I. A PIOUS SOUL RISING TO GOD. An indication of the true elevation of man; what is it? 1. The elevation of the soul, that is, the rational and spiritual nature, that which was the divinity within him. 2. It is the elevation of the soul to God. The soul going up in devout thought, in holy gratitude, in sublime adoration, in moral assimilation to the Infinite Jehovah. 3. It is the elevation of the soul to God by personal exertion. No man can lift up my soul for me. II. A PIOUS SOUL TRUSTING IN GOD. "O my God, I trust in Thee." What does trust in the Lord imply? 1. A sense of dependency in the truster. 2. A belief in the sufficiency of the trusted. III. A PIOUS SOUL WAITING UPON GOD. "On Thee do I wait all the day." 1. To wait means patience. 2. To wait means hope. 3. To wait means service. IV. A PIOUS SOUL PRAYING TO GOD. "Let none that wait on Thee be ashamed." The prayer, from vers. 3 to 7, falls into two divisions. 1. Prayer for self. (1) Prayer respecting Divine deliverance. (2) Prayer respecting Divine guidance. (3) Prayer respecting Divine remembrance. 2. Prayer for others. (1) For success to the good. (2) For defeat to the wicked. ( Homilist. ) Let me not be put to shame. Psalm 25:2 Deliverance and guidance A. Maclaren, D. D. Trust that was not vindicated by deliverance would cover the face with confusion. "Hopes that breed not shame" are the treasure of him whose hope is in Jehovah. Foes unnamed threaten; but the stress of the petitions in the first section of the Psalm is less on enemies than on sins. One cry for protection from the former is all that the Psalmist utters, and then his prayer swiftly turns to deeper needs. In the last section the petitions are more exclusively for deliverance from enemies. Needful as such escape is, it is less needful than the knowledge of God's ways, and the man in extremest peril orders his desires rightly if he asks holiness first and safety second. The cry in ver. 2 rests upon the confidence nobly expressed in ver. 3, in which the verbs are not optatives, but futures, declaring a truth certain to be realised in the Psalmist's experience, because it is true for all who, like him, wait on Jehovah. True prayer is the individual's sheltering himself under the broad folds of the mantle that covers all who pray. The double confidence as to the waiters on Jehovah and the "treacherous without cause" is the summary of human experience as read by faith. Sense has much to adduce in contradiction, but the dictum is nevertheless true; only, its truth does not always appear in the small are of the circle which lies between cradle and grave. The prayer for deliverance glides into that for guidance, since the latter is the deeper need, and the former will scarcely be answered unless the suppliant's will docilely offers the latter. The soul lifted to Jehovah will long to know His will, and submit itself to His manifold teachings. "Thy ways" and "Thy paths" necessarily here mean the ways in which Jehovah desires that the Psalmist should go. "In Thy truth" is ambiguous, both as to the preposition and as to the noun. The clause may either mean God's truth ( i.e. faithfulness) as His motive for answering the prayer, or His truth ( i.e. the objective revelation) as the path for men. Predominant usage inclines to the former signification of the noun, but the possibility still remains of regarding God's faithfulness as the path in which the Psalmist desires to be led, i.e. to experience it. The cry for forgiveness strikes a deeper note of pathos, and, as asking a more wondrous blessing, grasps still more firmly the thought of what Jehovah is and always has been. The appeal is made to "Thy compassions and loving kindnesses," as belonging to His nature, and to their past exercise as having been "from of old." Emboldened thus, the Psalmist can look back on his own past, both on his outbursts of youthful passion and levity, which he calls "failures," as missing the mark; and on the darker evils of later manhood, which he calls "rebellions," and can trust that Jehovah will think upon him "according to His mercy," and "for the sake of His goodness or love." The vivid realisation of that Eternal Mercy, as the very mainspring of God's actions, and as setting forth in many an ancient deed the eternal pattern of His dealings, enables a man to bear the thought of his own sins. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) Shew me Thy ways, O Lord; and teach me Thy paths. Psalm 25:4 Divine authority upon earth Charles Voysey, B. A. All right-minded men will agree with Matthew Arnold's famous saying, that "Conduct is three-fourths of human life." It will be also admitted that the professed aim of all Churches and religious societies is to regulate and improve conduct. Sometimes, alas! orthodoxy, or right opinion, has been put not merely first, but by itself alone as the one chief aim to be enforced by the clergy, and to be accepted by the laity. But it seems only fair to say that these were examples of departure from the original ideal of a Church and its purpose. The claim of Divine authority to control the minds, hearts, and lives of the people, and to interfere even forcibly with individual freedom of thought and action, was designed, in the first instance, for the welfare of society and the moral elevation of its various members, and in that light must not be ruthlessly condemned. But the principle was liable to abuse, and the mischiefs wrought by its abuse have been terrible. They have been the cause of conflict which will continue as long as the claim of Divine authority is made on the one hand, and the sense of a God-given right to individual freedom remains on the other. What is the mischief that we want to remedy? It is the belief in the "Divine" authority of that which is but "human"; and as a consequence, the separation of the human soul from personal and direct intercourse with God — the substitution, in short, of the human for the Divine. We have these objections to it which are fatal. I. THAT IT IS FALSE. It is sufficient to expose the fallacy of the argument by which the claim of Divine authority is defended. And nothing is easier than this. The Church of Rome asserts, without proof, that God Himself lived on earth in the Person of Jesus, who transmitted, or delegated, His Divine power and authority first to the apostles, and subsequently to the Church founded by them, and to every succeeding head or pope of that Church; and that this Divine authority extends to matters of faith, i.e. doctrines to be believed, to rites and ceremonies, and to discipline and morals. Over all these, at least, the authority of the Church is claimed to be identical with the authority of God. But when we reverently ask on what ground we must accept the alleged Divine authority of Jesus, in the first instance, we are distinctly told that we must take all that on the authority of the Church. This is arguing in a circle. II. THE CLAIM IS NEEDLESS. That is to say, men would get on in all things good, in the attainment of truth, in the adoption of religious ceremonies, and in the practice of virtue, quite as well without a divinely instituted Church as with it. It is not hard to show that the absence of belief in the claim to Divine authority has not been generally followed by any detrimental results either to religion or virtue. What is true and good and useful is entirely discoverable without the aid of miraculous revelation. It may be argued, this claim is needful, because the mass of men will not, or cannot, think for themselves; and the vast majority crave for certainty in things Divine, which certainly they cannot attain without the intervention of a divinely appointed authority upon earth. Because men crave for an external authority in matters of faith and duty, does not involve that they really need the authority they desire. ( Charles Voysey, B. A. ) A prayer for Divine enlightenment H. Woodcock. The text expresses the sincere desire of every Christian. He feels that he needs a Divine Teacher to enable him to understand Divine truth and obey the Divine precepts. Hence he approaches the fountain of all wisdom with the prayer of the text. I. A PRAYER FOR DIVINE ENLIGHTENMENT. 1. The importance of a knowledge of God's ways. 2. A willingness to follow Divine teaching. Every Christian is a learner, conscious of his own ignorance, and anxious to be divinely taught, he is prepared to renounce everything in his creed and conduct not in harmony with the Word of God. 3. A willingness to obey Divine teachings." "Lead me in Thy paths." We must first know God's will, then do it. II. GOD IS THE TEACHER OF HIS PEOPLE. How does He teach? Human spirit can speak with human spirit. Who shall dare to say that the human spirit cannot be communicated with by the Divine? 1. By His Word. 2. By His Spirit. 3. By His providence. III. THE PSALMIST'S METHOD OF OBTAINING THE DIVINE TEACHING. "On Thee do I wait all the day." 1. Wait humbly. 2. Wait earnestly. 3. Wait believingly. 4. Wait perseveringly. 5. God's response to prayer is certain.Let us have confidence in God. If the greatest Being deserves the profoundest reverence; if the kindest Being deserves the heartiest thanks; and if the best of Beings deserves the warmest love, then our highest reverence, thanks, and love are due to God. ( H. Woodcock. ) Taught in God's ways A. Symson. In this verse are contained — 1. The Person whom he implores, Jehovah; whom he describeth, leading him, teaching him, receiving him in favour, and nourishing him (vers. 4, 5, 6, and 7). 2. What he seeks. God's ways. 3. By what means? Teach me, and lead me. 4. The reason. Because Thou art my God, and I trust in Thee. So should pastors do. Who would be a good master, let him be a good apprentice; and this same should all private Christians desire, that God would teach them that way which will please Him best, even His own ways. ( A. Symson. ) The knowledge of God in His ways G. Jeans, M. A. Two ways in which we may understand this Psalm. The writer may mean it as a prayer for direction, that he may be taught what to do, how to walk so as to please God. Or that God would declare Himself to the petitioner, and manifest to him what he is doing; that God would show His own ways to David, and teach him the issue of the hidden paths in which he was walking towards Him; not the paths the writer ought to follow, but those which the Almighty was pursuing. Consider this latter view. Such petitions and such complaints are common in the Scriptures, and natural to the heart of man. They are found in the secret thoughts, and not seldom in the expressed prayers of experienced and advanced Christians. Job was no common adept in the use of grace, and yet he earnestly begs, Show me wherefore Thou contendest with me. Jeremiah was a deeply exercised man, yet he could plainly perceive the difference in his own mind between belief and faith, between principle and practice. He says to God, "Let me talk with Thee of Thy judgments." In the text the Psalmist appears to have the natural feeling more subdued. He cannot tell what God is doing. It is all dark and mysterious, and probably he thought that on that account he could not learn any lesson of wisdom from it: a conclusion which does by no means follow. It is not, "Show me Thy way, O Lord," but ways; plural, not singular, not as though it were one and definite. What is mysterious, but intricate and manifold, often crossing one another, and apparently inexplicable, on account of seeming contradictions; not merely such as we do not understand on account of our ignorance, but such as seem impossible to be explained, because of their contrariety in themselves. And in very deed this is often the appearance of the ways of God. They are not only so plural, but so infinite in their plurality; so intertwined with and intersecting each other that there is reason to believe that if they were fully laid open to our view we would not be able to understand them, so intricate is their network. There is not a circumstance that occurs to ourselves or to others that is not an organised part of God's instrumentality for bringing His purposes to pass. Consider the ways in which God deals with a soul in mercy. 1. In awakening, warning, and opening the eyes. 2. God's ways in securing to Himself the heart of His child on earth are oftentimes perplexing. Discipline may succeed when love fails. 3. The ways in which a soul is led to feel after and find the Lord. No one can tell beforehand of another or of himself what will be the effective way, or what will fail. 4. It is the same in the teaching and building up of a soul. ( G. Jeans, M. A. ) David's desire in the time of trouble J. H. Evans, M. A. I. THE PETITION. David may have meant, "Show me Thy ways, O Lord, in Thy providence." He may have wished a clearer insight into the great ways of God in His grace. He may have desired to know more distinctly the path in which he should walk. See how earnestly he urges his plea: he has every sort of motive in it. There is the plea of blindness, of ignorance, of utter weakness. II. THE PLEA. 1. "Thou art the God of my salvation." 2. It is the God of MY salvation. 3. He says, "On Thee do I wait all the day," that is, throughout the whole day. Points for consideration. See what the true mark of a spiritual man is. See that God's ways are always deep. His providence — how often it is intricate. The administrations of His grace — how profound they are. 4. See the humbleness of sanctified affliction. Sanctified affliction, because it is quite a mistake to suppose that all affliction is blessed to a child of God. It may ultimately tend to good, but there are many afflictions that are not immediate blessings to him. ( J. H. Evans, M. A. ) O Lord, teach me Thy loaths. The Lord's path J. Burns, D. D. The wicked say to God, Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways; the good man acknowledges God in everything, and he commits himself entirely to His guidance and guardian care. I. THE PRAYER. The subject of the prayer — "Lord's paths." 1. Paths of Divine providence. Often dark, mysterious — always wise and right and good. 2. Paths of grace. Way of holiness, happiness, etc. Way through the desert to Canaan. Sometimes obscure and clouded. Pillar of cloud necessary. 3. Paths of duty. "Lord, what wouldest Thou have me to do?" Duty and ease, duty and interest, duty and desires, often at variance.The prayer itself is for Divine teaching — "Lord, teach me." Here is an admission of ignorance, of insufficiency, of anxiety, and of application to the right source. "Lord, teach me" — 1. Clearly to understand Thy paths. 2. Heartily to approve of them. 3. Constantly to walk in them. Notice — II. THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS PRAYER. It is important to our intellectual and spiritual improvement. To grow in knowledge, path shine more and more, etc. ( 2 Peter 1:5 ). ( J. Burns, D. D. ) Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me. Psalm 25:5 Guiding and teaching William Scott. A short but expressive prayer. All need it. We need it when we are surrounded with gloom, when we are tempted, and when we find bur path very rough. I. THE PETITION FOR GUIDANCE. We need it because — 1. We are ignorant of the future. 2. The way is dark. 3. We need thus to pray, from a deep conviction that we dare not go alone. 4. Because we are so weak. The Psalmist asks that God will lead him according to His own revealed will. "In Thy truth." II. THE PETITION FOR INSTRUCTION. How much we need to learn. How little we know after all these years. We don't know our bodies, still less our souls. We know not about time, how precious it is, but yet less of eternity. How little we know of life or of men, Therefore we need to pray, "Lord, teach me." ( William Scott. ) On Thee do I wait all the day. How to spend the day with God Matthew Henry. Who can truly say this? Who among us lives such a life of communion with God? This waiting is that of patient expectation and constant attendance. God was keeping David in suspense. He could not tell what was the mind and will of God. But he waits continually on Him. And so, in like circumstances, must we. I. WHAT IS IT TO WAIT UPON GOD? 1. It is to live a life of desire towards Him. Our desire should be, not only towards the good things God gives, but towards God Himself. 2. It is to live a life of delight in God. Desire is love in motion, as a bird upon the wing. Delight is love at rest, as a bird upon the nest. 3. It is a life of dependence on God, as the child waits on the father. 4. It is a life of devotedness to God, as the servant waits on his master. 5. And it is to make His will our rule; for our practice or for our patience, as the will of His providence may ordain. II. THIS WE MUST DO EVERY DAY, AND ALL DAY LONG. 1. Every day. Servants in the courts of princes have their weeks or months of waiting appointed them, and are tied to attend only at certain times; but God's servants must never be out of waiting. Sabbath days and weekdays, idle days and busy days, days of prosperity and of adversity. 2. Toto die , — or all the day through. By casting our daily care upon Him. By managing our daily business for Him. Receiving our daily comforts from Him. Resisting our daily temptations, and doing our daily duties, in the strength of His grace. Application: Consider this need of waiting on God at particular times. At family worship. When teaching your children. At shop or business. At meal times. On friendly visits. God waits to be gracious to those who wait on Him. ( Matthew Henry. ) Waiting on God W. G. Barrett. I. ILLUSTRATE THE SPIRIT AND MEANING OF THIS VERSE. 1. It does not mean that David was incessantly occupied with religious exercises. 2. The words are quite consistent with a knowledge of many transgressions. 3. The words involve a figurative meaning. This "waiting" is the spirit of trust, of loving obedience, of hope and confidence, of a most intimate friendship, of the deepest reverence. II. IN WHAT WAY WOULD A DAY BE SPENT BY ONE WHO SINCERELY UTTERED THESE WORDS? 1. The day would be begun with God. 2. One who has begun the day with God will remember His presence, and seek His favour through the day. What is wanted of all of us is to carry the habit of religion into our ordinary pursuits. ( W. G. Barrett. ) Prolonged waiting upon God Thomas G. Selby. The thoughtless rush before God, in which we expect to get all we covet and away again, is worse than sacrilege. The unapproachable glories cannot be known in the twinkling of an eye. One of Ruskin's pupils once said to him, "The instant I entered the gallery at Florence I knew what you meant by the supremacy of Boticelli." "In an instant, did you?" was the somewhat withering reply. "It took me twenty years to find it out." If we wait before God for a lifetime we shall only just begin to feel His enchantments. ( Thomas G. Selby. ) Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies. Psalm 25:6, 7 Things to remember and to forget J. G. Greenhough, M. A. It is only by a figure of speech that we can speak of God as remembering and forgetting. It is an accommodation to our human weakness and ignorance. He who sees all things at a glance has no need to remember, and is incapable of forgetting. Yet God acts towards us as if He both remembered and forgot, and it is enough for us to think of Him in that way. Here the Psalmist's mind seemed to sway backward and forward between these two words "remember" and "remember not." And so — I. WE WISH TO BE REMEMBERED BY GOD. It is sweet to be had in remembrance by friends. No one of us likes to be forgotten. The religious man desires, above all things, to be remembered of God. It is the sign and proof of His sincerity. If there be no serious and solemn purpose in life; if all its aims and motives and actuating impulses are vulgar, sensual, selfish, there will be no wish to have God's eye upon it; there will be a sort of relief in the thought that He takes no notice of it, that He passes it by in forgetfulness. But to one whose endeavours are after the higher life the thought of having no place in God's mind is dreadful. II. WE ARE HAPPY IN THE THOUGHT THAT GOD REMEMBERS. But we wish, like the Psalmist, that He could both remember and forget. Memory brought back to David the sins of bygone years. O God, he cried, forget all those crooked and dark things, as I would forget them, and call to mind only Thine own goodness and love. What a strangely mingled cup it is that memory gives us to drink — full to the brim, overflowing with sweetness. Yet we cannot take a deep draught of the cup without coming to bitter ingredients, nay, perhaps to fiery morsels that burn and blister the mouth. Memory is as the Ebal and Gerizim of our lives. The Psalmist wished to separate these two elements of memory. He was afraid lest God should eternalise those old sins by keeping them in mind. He did not like to remember them himself. He wished to think only of the brighter, lovelier things — the Divine, the promising, the hopeful. O God, forget the evil, that I may forget it too. Yes, forget as far as possible the dark scenes of the years that lie behind. Forget the very sorrows and trials and bereavements, unless, indeed, they are so recent and so acute that it would only mock you to ask you to forget them. Bring with you out of the passing years a large and generous legacy of sweet and pure and holy memories. Be sure that all the mercies which we have ever known, all the Divine love and pity and helpfulness which we have ever proved, all that compassion and sympathy of Jesus Christ which have been our stay, will be repeated in the coming days. He will not forget. ( J. G. Greenhough, M. A. ) The Divine remembrance An aged Christian, lying on his deathbed in a state of such extreme weakness that he was often entirely unconscious of all around him, was asked the cause of his perfect peace. He replied, "When I am able to think, I think of Jesus; and when I am unable to think of Him, I know he is thinking of me." For they have been forever. The eternity of God's mercies A Symson. A fair commendation of God's mercies from the eternity thereof. His mercies had no beginning, as Himself had none, and shall have no end — From everlasting to everlasting Thou art our God. As the ocean and main sea can never be exhausted, but would furnish water to all the world, if everyone should bring vessels to draw water therefrom; so if we have faith and prayer to seek grace from God, He is all-sufficient in Himself to furnish us all. ( A Symson. ) The antiquity of mercy J. Cole. Let the ancientness of Divine love draw up our hearts to a very dear and honourable esteem of it. Pieces of antiquity, though of base metal, and otherwise of little use or value, how venerable are they with learned men! and ancient charters, how careful are men to preserve them; although they contain but temporary privileges, and sometimes but of trivial moment! How, then, should the great charter of heaven, so much older than the world, be had in everlasting remembrance, and the thoughts thereof be very precious to us; lying down, rising up, and all the day long accompanying us! ( J. Cole. ) Remember not the sins of my youth. Psalm 25:7 Youthful sins Archibald G. Brown. The Psalm belongs to the later days of David. In youth we live in the present; in age we live in the past. I. YOUTHFUL SINS ARE REMEMBERED WHEN THE SINNER ATTAINS TO AN ADVANCED AGE. Generally speaking, the youthful sinner is a thoughtless sinner. He does not trouble about the sin or its consequences. There is a fallacy about, that the sins of youth are not actual sins. If youthful follies gradually developed themselves into manly virtues, then all hail, 'youthful follies! But if sin always remains sin, and wild oats sown will only grow up wild oats, then this is a fallacy indeed. There comes a time when youthful sins rise up to remembrance, both with the sinner and with the saint. The saint may know that his sins are forgiven, but that does not alter the grief with which he remembers them. How much more sadly true this is of the sinner, who does not know of sin forgiven. There comes a time when old iniquities, long forgotten, shall rise again from the dead, and like spectres haunt the man. There will come a time when the sins of the past will march before you and demand judgment; and what then? II. WHEN IN ADVANCED AGE THE SINS OF YOUTH ARE REMEMBERED, THE CRY OF THE SOUL IS, O GOD FORGET WHAT I MUST REMEMBER. David does not ask that he might forget his sins, but that God would forget them. It would not be well for us to forget them, even when they are forgiven. Arc your sins in God's memory as well as in your own? There are those who have their sins in the memory of God, but not in their own. Others have their sins in their own memory and in the memory of God too. And others have their sins in their own memory, but not in God's. ( Archibald G. Brown. ) The sins of youth F. E. Paget. We have no ground for supposing that the youth of David was sinful in the ordinary sense of the term, that he lived otherwise than "soberly, righteously, and godly"; or that he did not serve God purely, willingly, and lovingly. So far as we know, his offences against God in his youth were but the inevitable faults of his age — shortcomings, indeed, negligences and ignorances, and so things to be deplored and avoided; but there is nothing like any intimation of a vicious youth recorded against him in the Word of God. Nevertheless, there are always undeveloped tendencies towards evil lurking in every youthful heart, and on their encouragement or discouragement the tenor of the future life depends. The presumption is, that David was no longer young when this Psalm was composed. So we have this lesson, that his penitence and sorrow for sin were not things which, being once expressed, were thought of no more, but that they were ever before him, for years and years after his sins were committed. So must it be with those whose early years are stained with the defilements of sin. Either they will go on as they have begun, adding sin to sin, or they must be content to pass the remainder of their days as mourning penitents. As we sow we shall reap. If we have engaged in a course of sin we must be content to have a course of sorrow afterwards. Is a course of indulgence in any sin whatever worth the miseries into which sin inevitably leads? David is said to be a man after God's own heart; but only because, when he fell, he did not continue in sin. He was not a man after God's own heart with his sins, but without them,

25:1-7 In worshipping God, we must lift up our souls to him. It is certain that none who, by a believing attendance, wait on God, and, by a believing hope, wait for him, shall be ashamed of it. The most advanced believer both needs and desires to be taught of God. If we sincerely desire to know our duty, with resolution to do it, we may be sure that God will direct us in it. The psalmist is earnest for the pardon of his sins. When God pardons sin, he is said to remember it no more, which denotes full remission. It is God's goodness, and not ours, his mercy, and not our merit, that must be our plea for the pardon of sin, and all the good we need. This plea we must rely upon, feeling our own unworthiness, and satisfied of the riches of God's mercy and grace. How boundless is that mercy which covers for ever the sins and follies of a youth spent without God and without hope! Blessed be the Lord, the blood of the great Sacrifice can wash away every stain. 25:8-14 We are all sinners; and Christ came into the world to save sinners, to teach sinners, to call sinners to repentance. We value a promise by the character of him that makes it; we therefore depend upon God's promises. All the paths of the Lord, that is, all his promises and all his providences, are mercy and truth. In all God's dealings his people may see his mercy displayed, and his word fulfilled, whatever afflictions they are now exercised with. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth; and so it will appear when they come to their journey's end. Those that are humble, that distrust themselves, and desire to be taught and to follow Divine guidance, these he will guide in judgment, that is, by the rule of the written word, to find rest for their souls in the Saviour. Even when the body is sick, and in pain, the soul may be at ease in God. 25:15-22 The psalmist concludes, as he began, with expressing dependence upon God, and desire toward him. It is good thus to hope, and quietly to wait for the salvation of the Lord. And if God turns to us, no matter who turns from us. He pleads his own integrity. Though guilty before God, yet, as to his enemies, he had the testimony of conscience that he had done them no wrong. God would, at length, give Israel rest from all their enemies round about. In heaven, God's Israel will be perfectly redeemed from all troubles. Blessed Saviour, thou hast graciously taught us that without thee we can do nothing. Do thou teach us how to pray, how to appear before thee in the way which thou shalt choose, and how to lift up our whole hearts and desires after thee, for thou art the Lord our righteousness.