Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul

A Study of Psalm 25

Mike Wencel

 

[1]  Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 

{Barnes}  The thoughts are lifted up from earth and earthly subjects to God. This is the beginning of meditation;  The state of mind is that of one who turns cheerfully away from earthly themes, and opens his mind to more lofty and hallowed influences.

cf. Psalm 31:5 – where David says “Into thine hand I commit my spirit:” which was also a phrase quoted by Jesus in his last moment of life on the cross (Luke 23:46)

When we pray we should commit our whole soul and spirit to it - leaving all earthly cares and desires behind.

If fact, shouldn’t we commit our spirit to God each and every day?

 

[2]  O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. 

O my God – notice David does not just say “O God” – he says “O my God”  denoting a very personal and intimate relationship with God. This is diametrically opposed to the usage of this phrase in today’s vernacular (OMG). People use this phrase so unthinkingly today and I cringe whenever I hear it, because of the mindlessness of the person saying it. They are calling upon the name of the Lord for trivial and vain things, and as such are using God’s name in vain. It is akin to crying “wolf” in that they use it so frequently and so frivolously, that when they really need to call upon the name of God, He may no longer be listening. 

Let me not be ashamed – David is affirming that he will never be disappointed or ashamed for having trusted in God, and that his enemies, both physical and spiritual, will never be able to triumph over him, because of that complete trust in God.

cf. Romans 10:11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

While most of us would probably have trouble naming a person who is an enemy in the physical world, we all have a common enemy in the spiritual world – that cunning deceiver named Satan. We could and should pray this same prayer today – that God would not allow Satan to triumph over us. We know from many passages in the bible, that Jesus will triumph over Satan, and if we follow Jesus, we too can triumph over Satan, so we ask for strength to resist Satan’s temptation.

 

[3]  Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. 

David is praying the same prayer for all believers that he just a moment ago prayed for himself – that they would never be put to shame for trusting a God who never answered their prayers or did anything for them.

And he contrasts this with  the ones who rightly should be put to shame: those who transgress God’s laws

TRANSGRESS: To offend by violating a law; to sin.

WITHOUT CAUSE:  Unprovoked, done for no reason, just to satisfy themselves

{GW translation}  No one who waits for you will ever be put to shame, but all who are unfaithful will be put to shame.

I think of  David and Goliath – on that day David was not ashamed of his trust in God which he boldly exclaimed to Goliath and all the Philistines surrounding him. Goliath and the Philistines were the ones who were ashamed on that day. Imagine if God had not been with David, and Goliath had defeated him. The Philistines would have mocked David and put him to shame for having trusted in his God.

 

[4]  Show me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. 

{Coffman} "Man is so wanting in spiritual understanding, so morally blind and ignorant, that, unless enlightened from on high, he cannot discern the way of godliness'  Even a man as wise as David understood this.

 

{Barnes}  David prays that he might understand God’s will so well as to regulate his own conduct aright; that he might not lean upon his own understanding, or trust to His own guidance, but that He might always be under the guidance and direction of God.

Without God’s Word, humankind would be rudderless and would have no foundation for morality, civility or spirituality – it would be every man for himself – a free-for-all.

 

[5]  Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all

       the day. 

Again David is asking for God to teach me His truth, all the while knowing that God and only God holds the key to his salvation. On thee I wait: David understands that his prayers may not be granted instantaneously, he may have to wait for God’s timing.

There is application here for each of us – we must be persistent, but patient in our prayers and not expect immediate action by God.   

 

[6]  Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old. 

Tender Mercies: {Strong} compassion; by extension the womb (as cherishing the fetus), tender love,

{Webster} easily affected by the distresses of another, or anxious for another's good;

 

Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, used this term when he prophesied about the coming Messiah: 

    Luke 1:78  Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us,  To  

    give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. 

God was so concerned with the souls of sinners that in his mercy he sent his Son to be our path to salvation

 

Lovingkindness: {Nelson’s}  — God’s loyal love and favor toward His people. In the Old Testament, the word translated as “lovingkindness” refers to God’s long-suffering love—His determination to keep His promises to His chosen people in spite of their sin and rebellion. This attribute of God was shown through His divine mercy and forgiveness toward sinners when payment of sins through the sacrificial system was no longer effective.

 

Have been ever of old: A better translation might be “from eternity” (several bible translations use this verbiage). {Barnes} Looking over his own life, David saw that the mercies of God had been unceasing and constant toward him from his earliest years. In words expressive of warm love and gratitude, therefore, he says that those acts of mercy had never failed - had been from eternity.

Recall the hymn lyrics “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end “Think about how God has blessed you from your birth until today.

 

[7]  Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember

        thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord. 

{Coffman} Only God can "forget" sins, an achievement of which men are incapable. The promise that God would both forgive and forget sins was revealed by the prophet Jeremiah as the outstanding characteristic of the New Covenant. 

Jeremiah 31:34 - I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.

Perhaps David had found that "the sins of youth" are never terminated automatically with the arrival of maturity. On the other hand, sins have a way of fastening themselves upon the sinner and increasing as the years go by.  cf. 2^nd Timothy 3:13 - “evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

We’ve all done things in our lives, perhaps in our physical youth or our spiritual youth (immaturity) or even in our in our adult Christian life that we are not proud of and would like God to forget. God tells us that he will indeed do that for his faithful followers (upon repentance and baptism).

For thy goodness’ sake: {Barnes} In order that thy goodness or benevolence may be displayed and honored - not primarily that I may be saved, but that thy character may be seen to be good and merciful.

 

[8]  Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. 

Upright: straightforward, just, fitting, proper

God is equal and just in his dealings with people. He is impartial and not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).

Because of this, we can have confidence in God’s integrity. We need a God who is not merely benevolent and kind, but who is just and faithful; whose administration is based on principles of truth and justice. Isn’t it comforting to know that God’s justice and integrity will never change.

cf. Malachi 3:6 - For I am the LORD, I change not;

He will teach sinners in the way:  God doesn’t just leave us to our own devices and then punish us for our iniquities, he has given us a standard, an instruction manual that reveals his will to us. He will judge us against that standard and not against the standards of men. 

cf. John 12:48  - He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 

 

[9]  The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. 

Many modern translations use the word humble instead of meek, which is acceptable because the Hebrew word can be translated as poor, needy, weak, lowly, or humble. In other words, those who are humble enough to know that they need God to teach them his truth. As opposed to the arrogant who don’t think they need God and do not value his Word at all. In order to be teachable, one has to have a desire to learn – the arrogant person thinks he already has all the knowledge he needs.

cf. James 4:6b "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

[10]  All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. 

The word “covenant” here is equivalent to “command or law;” and the idea is, that if they keep His laws they will find Him to be merciful and true. The word “testimony” refers to that to which God has declared to be truth.

So those who walk in God’s truth and obey commands can be assured of His mercy, those who do not walk in God’s ways have no such assurance. 

 

[11]  For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great. 

{Coffman} A passage such as this thunders the message that, "God's true people are not sinless." Yes, forgiveness is available for those who in penitence and meekness seek it, and who do not place themselves in the fatal position of the wicked by refusing to seek it, or to trust the grace and goodness of God to bestow it.

Rawlinson identified the "great” iniquity mentioned by David in this place as that revolving around Bathsheba the wife of Uriah. Note that David's prayer for pardon was granted by God, but God did not spare David from the consequences of his sin:

2 Samuel 12:10-11  Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'  Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

2 Samuel 12:14  However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die."

The same is true for us today - if we repent of our sin, God may forgive it and even forget it, but that doesn’t  mean that we will not have to suffer the consequences of that sin. The law of cause and effect is always in play.

 

[12]  What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. 

Knowing Gods Word will enable us to choose the right path for our lives. Some modern translations state it this way:

    (ERV)  When people choose to follow the Lord, he shows them the best way to live.

    (GNB)  Those who have reverence for the Lord will learn from him the path they should follow.

This indicates a reciprocal relationship between man and God – men who reverence God and study his word will become enlightened as to the proper path to take in their life. 

 

[13]  His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. 

The implied comparison here is between the calmness, peace, and security of the man who has found the truth and who serves God and the confusion, anxiety and hopelessness of the man who ignores or defies God.

This peacefulness and being at ease is one of the great tangible benefits of being a faithful Christian.

cf. Philippians 4:7  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

His seed shall inherit the earth: a man’s descendants, who follow his example and fear the Lord as he does, shall possess the good things of this world and the next. What better inheritance can a parent leave his children?

 

[14]  The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant. 

We usually use the word “secret” to describe a well-guarded bit of information that only one or two other people are privy to. But that is not what the word means here. God does not hide his will from mankind, it is freely available to anyone who wants to know it.

Mark 4:22  For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. 

What the word “secret” means in this psalm is much more profound – it means a circle of familiar friends, counsel, intimacy with God. Several modern translations render the word as “friendship” instead of secret, but somehow secret sounds deeper and more intimate than mere friendship. 

What David is telling us is that God happily reveals his will to the small percentage of people who desire to know it. In that respect is is a secret to the rest of the world, a treasury of information that they they do not possess.

Meditate on that for a bit – God has shared his secrets and his covenant with faithful Christians – no other group has this blessing – because not all religions believe ALL of God’s Word (e.g. Jews, Muslims etc).   

cf.  Proverbs 3:32 - For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, But His secret counsel is with the upright. 

 

[15]  Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. 

David expresses that He constantly looked to God and sought His direction. In perplexity, in doubt, in difficulty, in danger, in view of death and the future world, he looked to God as his guide. ­ How smart we would be to adopt the same attitude.

Pluck my feet out of the net – a poetic metaphor for a trap. When you think of a fish net – you envision a device that can trap or ensnare fish and render them helpless.  A net is used metaphorically in the bible to represent temptations, troubles, afflictions or anything that the devil can use to trap us into sinning.

But David tells us that God can help us to avoid those traps by knowledge of his Word, and He can also help of out of the trap via his mercy and forgiveness if we fall into the trap.

Isn’t this exactly what Jesus said to pray for in the model prayer:

Matthew 6:13 - Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  “Pluck my feet out of the net is another way of saying “deliver us from evil” 

 

[16]  Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. 

The word desolate here means one who is alone, or who is solitary, forsaken, wretched. What could be sadder that the thought that I am alone in the world; that I don’t have a friend; that no one cares about me, that no one would care if I were to die tomorrow.

As Christians we need never have this fear, for we know that God is always with us.

cf. Hebrews 13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

 

[17]  The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. 

[18]  Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins. 

David seems to be experiencing the pain caused by his sins. When our troubles are the greatest, when we are the most distressed and afflicted -  that is the time we God the most. David realized this and so should we.

He also realized that he needed God’s forgiveness – this type of realization requires a humble and penitent heart, which David had. 

 

[19]  Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred. 

If I asked you: how many enemies do you have? - many of us would be hard pressed to come up with one. Obviously David had many real physical enemies who wanted him dead or at least greatly weakened.  Kings were always having to deal with enemies who wanted to take over their kingdoms and their power, so from that perspective, David had a much more tangible set of enemies than any of us ever will.

But we as Christians do have enemies, although they are spiritual in nature. Satan as the leader and all of the fallen angels that follow him and do his bidding, want to do the same thing to our souls as David’s enemies wanted to do to his body, namely destroy it. They want us to be permanently separated from God and follow them in their evil ways. Thankfully we can resist them and triumph over them with the sword of the Spirit, which is the knowledge of God in our hearts and minds.

cf. Ephesians 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God

[20]  O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee. 

A repetition of the thought that the psalmist stated in verse 2 of this Psalm, restating his trust in God to do what is right, such that he could never be put to shame for his faith.

This idea is stated by both Peter and Paul when they quote Isaiah’s prophecy:

1st Peter 2:6 - Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."  (Isaiah 28:16)

He also adds a prayer for God to be the keeper of his soul (and not Satan) and for God to deliver (or save him) from his enemies, both physical and spiritual).  A request that we should include in our prayers as well.

 

[21]  Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee. 

{Coffman} It should be noted here that David does not say, "Let MY integrity and uprightness preserve me.” It is the uprightness of God (see verse 8 above) to which David is here looking.

 

{Spurgeon, Treasury of David} To pretend to wait on God without holiness of life is religious hypocrisy, and to trust to our own integrity without calling upon God is presumptuous atheism. The integrity and uprightness referred to here are those righteous attributes of God, which faith rests upon as a guarantee that the Lord will not forfeit his word.

 

[22]  Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. 

The word “Israel” is used here, as elsewhere in the Bible, to denote the people of God.

{Barnes} Out of all his troubles – Before this point, David’s prayer related mainly to himself. He had made mention of his own troubles and sorrows, and had earnestly sought relief. The psalm, however, closes appropriately with a reference to others; to all the people of God who might be in similar circumstances. Religion is not selfish. The mind under the influence of true piety, however intensely it may feel its own trouble,  is not forgetful of the troubles of others; and prayers for their comfort and deliverance are freely mingled with those which the afflicted children of God offer for themselves.

 

{Coffman}  We are never to become so immersed in our own problems as to forget the needs of all of God's people.

 

This same attitude is reflected in the model prayer given to us by Jesus: 

Matthew 6:11-13  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil .