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Psalm 25

Prayer for Guidance and for Deliverance

Of David.

To you, O L ord, I lift up my soul.

O my God, in you I trust;

do not let me be put to shame;

do not let my enemies exult over me.

Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;

let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Make me to know your ways, O L ord;

teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth, and teach me,

for you are the God of my salvation;

for you I wait all day long.

Be mindful of your mercy, O L ord, and of your steadfast love,

for they have been from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

according to your steadfast love remember me,

for your goodness’ sake, O L ord!

Good and upright is the L ord;

therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right,

and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the L ord are steadfast love and faithfulness,

for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

For your name’s sake, O L ord,

pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Who are they that fear the L ord?

He will teach them the way that they should choose.

They will abide in prosperity,

and their children shall possess the land.

The friendship of the L ord is for those who fear him,

and he makes his covenant known to them.

My eyes are ever toward the L ord,

for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn to me and be gracious to me,

for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart,

and bring me out of my distress.

Consider my affliction and my trouble,

and forgive all my sins.

Consider how many are my foes,

and with what violent hatred they hate me.

O guard my life, and deliver me;

do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.

May integrity and uprightness preserve me,

for I wait for you.

Redeem Israel, O God,

out of all its troubles.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

3. Yea, none of those, etc. If these words should be explained in the form of a desire, as if David had said, Let none who wait on thee be put to shame, ⁵⁵³⁵⁵³ “Que tons ceux qui s’attendant a toy ne soyent point confus.” — Fr. then, in this verse, he continues his prayer, and extends to all the faithful in common what he had spoken of himself alone. But I am rather inclined to understand the words in a different sense, and to view them as meaning that David shows the fruit of divine grace which should proceed from his deliverance. And there is peculiar force in the word yea; for as he knew that he was seen by many, and that the report of his confidence in God was widely spread, his meaning is, that what shall be done in his person shall extend far and wide, as an example to others, and shall have the effect of reviving and animating all the children of God, on the one hand, and of casting to the ground the arrogance of the wicked, on the other. The words might also be understood in another sense, namely, that David, for the strengthening of his faith, sets before himself a promise which God frequently makes in his word. But the sense in which I have interpreted them seems to be more suitable. By the wicked that deal falsely without cause, he no doubt means especially his enemies. Accordingly, he declares that when he is delivered he will not enjoy exclusively the benefit of it; but that its fruit shall extend to all true believers; just as on the other hand, the faith of many would have been shaken if he had been forsaken of God. In the last clause of the verse, which he puts in opposition to the first, he argues that when the wicked lie confounded, it redounds to the glory of God, because the vaunting in which they indulge in their prosperity is an open mockery of God, while, in despite of his judgment, they break forth more boldly in doing evil. When he adds, without cause, it only tends to show the aggravated nature of the offense. The wickedness of a man is always the more intolerable, when, unprovoked by wrongs, he sets himself, of his own accord, to injure the innocent and blameless.

⁵⁵³ “Que tons ceux qui s’attendant a toy ne soyent point confus.” — Fr.