Psalm 25
Trusting His Mercy is More
This is a Psalm of trust. Trust is highly valued and sought after. But it seems to be something that we are increasingly cautious about giving in the modern world. This prayer and song says that there is One who we can lean all our weight on. He will not let down our confidence and faith.
We can trust in
God’s Power
God’s Wisdom
God’s Mercy.
Of David.
1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
6 Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!
8 Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For your name's sake, O LORD,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears the LORD?
Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.
13 His soul shall abide in well-being,
and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him,
and he makes known to them his covenant.
15 My eyes are ever towards the LORD,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.
POWER
To wait on something is to exercise trust. When we politely decline the offer to go for a coffee as we wait for the Amazon delivery promised in the email that morning, we are exercising trust.
This Psalm opens with a full throated declaration of trust in the LORD.
A trust that says even when surrounded by enemies and evil, it will stay rooted in God. For God alone can deliver us from defeat and shame.
That is the situation David, King of God’s people finds himself in, as he makes this prayer to God. His foes are numerous and innumerable (19). But greater than their number is their vehement and violent hatred toward God’s anointed King.
This Psalm opens and closes with a deep hearted confidence that only God can step in, shield and save us (2,20).
And it is those who wait on the LORD, trusting that he will do his work in his way, are those that will be delivered. To wait is to have faith. To wait is to believe God’s promises.
When we wait, we say we trust God’s power and timing, but also his wisdom.
WISDOM
The link is never made explicit, but it seems that the pressure David and his people find themselves in is because they have neglected God’s word and ignored his ways. He stands under pressure from his foes because he did not stay within God’s will.
In calling on God to
• “teach me your paths” (4,5,9)
• “make me to know your ways” (4,14)
• “lead me in your truth” (5,9)
• “instruct in the way” (8,12)
David is stating repeatedly and clearly that God’s wisdom is better than his own or the world’s.
So often we get caught up in thinking like the world and not have out thinking conformed to the Word. But God is gracious and those who come in humility (9) find a faithful guide in God. But it is more than that. They find true counsel in the truest Friend available. God befriends the humble. He is the friend closer than a brother (Proverbs 18.24).
We are told that Abraham believed God and was then considered a friend of God (James 2.23). Abraham trust the wisdom and timing of God. And God made known his covenant promises and precepts to Abraham and does so for all who believe like Abraham (Romans 4.23-25).
But it is not just trusting in God’s wisdom to redirect our ways that we need. It is vital for our life that we also trust God’s mercy for when we turned away from God’s will, word and ways (6-7, 11-13, 16-18).
MERCY
David’s first word to God is asking him to “remember” (6). He does not ask him to remember anything he brings to the table. He has no sufficient amount of credit in his bank account, no amount of good deeds in his book. All he has is God’s promise of mercy and love to lean all his weight and trust on.
Knowing God’s unfading grace, he also pleads with him to NOT remember his sins (7).
Even though our sins go all the way back to our youth, God’s steadfast love has a longer and richer history, all the way from before the beginning. When our sin and his steadfast love collide, there is only one winner.
That modern hymn we sing reads,
“thrown into a sea without bottom or shore,
our sins they are many, his mercy is more.”
The picture is of our sin never sinking to the bottom. No deep sea diver is ever finding it on the ocean bed. It is also a sea with no shore, therefore the currents will never bring it up on the beach for someone to discover and bring it back to us.
Our sin and shame has been dealt with both now and forevermore by the steadfast love of God, which sent his Son to bear the punishment for our sins.
In the final verse, the King prays for the whole people of God to be redeemed. Because he has been delivered, he can now lead his people out of their distress. Jesus who though he was innocent and perfectly obedient bore the penalty for our sin. And now he can and does lead us out of death in trespasses and make us alive with him when we put our trust in him.
Therefore we say, “O my God, in you I trust!”
Glory be to God the Father, whose steadfast love finds us when we are lost in sin.
Glory be to God the Son, who is the very wisdom of God.
Glory be to God the Spirit, who leads us along the narrow path to life and peace.
Ever three and ever One.