Bible Commentary - Psalms 25

Psalm 25 is clearly a prayer psalm, but it does not follow the pattern of the prayer psalms that I have previously described.  In some important ways, Psalm 25 deviates from previous visions of God’s role as the great justice, and perhaps more closely follows the line of post-exilic Jewish thought.  Allow me to explain these points in turn.

A typical prayer psalm that we have analyzed so far has three parts: a problem statement, a petition for relief, and thanksgiving in anticipation of God’s response.  One strong example of this format, out of several I could offer, is Psalm 18.  Psalm 25 differs in that it does not offer a clear problem statement, i.e. the situation that compels David to seek the LORD’s deliverance.  He briefly mentions his enemies’ “violent hatred” (v. 19), but structurally it is not in the right place to justify David’s petition as per the usual format.  Secondly, the prayer in Psalm 25 does not contain thanksgiving in anticipation of God’s deliverance.

 Besides these structural differences, the psalm also modifies its depiction of God and even more starkly, it’s depiction of the petitioner and his relationship with God.  In many other places, God is depicted as the great judge who blesses the righteous and punishes the wicked.  We see this moral framework in such places as Job and Deuteronomy, but also in Psalms 1, 5, 7, 9, and many others.  In this framework, David typically places himself in the righteous category, his enemies in the wicked category, and then implores God to fulfill his role as the judge by delivering David (the righteous) and punishing or destroying his enemies (the wicked).

I really want to focus on Psalm 7 as a contrast.  In Psalm 7:3-5, David specifically calls down a curse on himself and says that if he has done any wicked thing, then “let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it”.  In other words, if he has done anything wrong then it is right that God should destroy his life as fair punishment.

Psalm 25 could not be more different.  In this case, even though David includes occasional references to his “enemies” as a source of distress, and he also petitions the LORD for deliverance, instead of focusing on the wickedness of his enemies he focuses on his own sins and wickedness and pleads the LORD for mercy and forgiveness.  For examples, see v. 7, 11, 18.  In a sense, verse 8 is the same thing where David is acknowledging that God leads “sinners”, such as himself.

David is not making a single claim anywhere that he is innocent, like what we found in Psalm 7.  Perhaps David believes that his guilt is the reason why he is now suffering.  Instead, David acknowledges his sins and asks for forgiveness.  Furthermore, David argues that God should heal and restore him not because he is righteous, but because he places his faith in God.  We see this theme throughout the psalm, in various forms, such as verses 1-3, 5, 10, 12, 14-15, 20-21.  “My eyes are continually toward the LORD” (v. 15).

David is basically saying that he is not innocent; he has done things that are wrong and evil in God’s sight.  However, he looks to God for healing and deliverance, and continues to hope that God will forgive him and restore him.  I will also add in, verses 4-5 show that David wants to be taught God’s ways and God’s truth, so it’s not just that he wants to continue doing evil while God continues to forgive him (this is a common criticism by non-believers who see forgiveness as a mechanism to defer the punishment of sin while continuing the practice of sin).  It shows that David wishes to break the cycle of sin and punishment, but he knows that only God has the power to do either: to lead David out of sin, and to forestall the punishment that David rightly deserves for previous sins.

Lastly, this psalm seems to have more in common with post-exilic Jewish thought than pre-exilic, for the simple reason that it focuses so much on Israelite guilt and forgiveness, themes that were greatly amplified after Israel’s national punishment in the Babylonian exile.  For instance, consider the prayer of the Levites in Nehemiah 9, or the prayer of Ezra in Ezra 9.  Not to say that there was no acknowledgement of guilt in pre-exilic Israel (such as the many rebellions and idolatries in the books of Numbers and Judges), but thematically it became more important and more frequent in post-exilic discourse for obvious reasons.

To me this prayer is significant because it shows that we can have faith in God, and yet have sin in our lives.  Like David, we seek forgiveness for the things we have done wrong, we desire instruction from God to teach us how to be righteous, and we seek deliverance from our enemies and troubles, even if they are the punishment that we deserve.  The key is in verse 12, to fear the LORD, and from that fear come the blessings of verses 13-15.