16 Turn toward me, and be gracious unto me; for I am solitary and afflicted.
Turn toward me, and be gracious unto me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
And my spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate.
{To the chief Musician. On Shushan. Testimony. Michtam of David; to teach: when he strove with the Syrians of Mesopotamia, and the Syrians of Zobah, and Joab returned, and smote the Edomites in the valley of salt, twelve thousand.} O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased: restore us again.
Deliver me out of the mire, let me not sink; let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the depths of waters. Let not the flood of waters overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut its mouth upon me. Answer me, O Jehovah; for thy loving-kindness is good: according to the abundance of thy tender mercies, turn toward me; And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble: answer me speedily. Draw nigh unto my soul, be its redeemer; ransom me because of mine enemies. *Thou* knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am overwhelmed: and I looked for sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
I am afflicted and expiring from my youth up; I suffer thy terrors, [and] I am distracted. Thy fierce anger hath gone over me; thy terrors have brought me to nought: They have surrounded me all the day like water; they have compassed me about together. Lover and associate hast thou put far from me: my familiar friends are darkness.
He will yet again have compassion on us, he will tread under foot our iniquities: and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
And when [the] sixth hour was come, there came darkness over the whole land until [the] ninth hour; and at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, [saying], Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of those who stood by, when they heard [it], said, Behold, he calls for Elias.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 25
Commentary on Psalms 25 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 25
Ps 25:1-22. The general tone of this Psalm is that of prayer for help from enemies. Distress, however, exciting a sense of sin, humble confession, supplication for pardon, preservation from sin, and divine guidance, are prominent topics.
1. lift up my soul—(Ps 24:4; 86:4), set my affections (compare Col 3:2).
2. not be ashamed—by disappointment of hopes of relief.
3. The prayer generalized as to all who wait on God—that is, who expect His favor. On the other hand, the disappointment of the perfidious, who, unprovoked, have done evil, is invoked (compare 2Sa 22:9).
4, 5. On the ground of former favor, he invokes divine guidance, according to God's gracious ways of dealing and faithfulness.
6, 7. Confessing past and present sins, he pleads for mercy, not on palliations of sin, but on God's well-known benevolence.
8, 9. upright—acting according to His promise.
sinners—the general term, limited by the
meek—who are penitent.
the way—and his way—God's way of providence.
9. in judgment—rightly.
10. paths—similar sense—His modes of dealing (compare Ps 25:4).
mercy and truth—(Job 14:1-22), God's grace in promising and faithfulness in performing.
11. God's perfections of love, mercy, goodness, and truth are manifested (his name, compare Ps 9:10) in pardoning sin, and the greatness of sin renders pardon more needed.
12, 13. What he asks for himself is the common lot of all the pious.
13. inherit the earth—(compare Mt 5:5). The phrase, alluding to the promise of Canaan, expresses all the blessings included in that promise, temporal as well as spiritual.
14. The reason of the blessing explained—the pious enjoy communion with God (compare Pr 3:21, 12), and, of course, learn His gracious terms of pardon.
15. His trust in God is fixed.
net—is frequently used as a figure for dangers by enemies (Ps 9:15; 10:9).
16-19. A series of earnest appeals for aid because God had seemed to desert him (compare Ps 13:1; 17:13, &c.), his sins oppressed him, his enemies had enlarged his troubles and were multiplied, increasing in hate and violence (Ps 9:8; 18:48).
20. keep my soul—(Ps 16:1).
put my trust—flee for refuge (Ps 2:12).
21. In conscious innocence of the faults charged by his enemies, he confidently commits his cause to God. Some refer—
integrity, &c.—to God, meaning His covenant faithfulness. This sense, though good, is an unusual application of the terms.
22. Extend these blessings to all Thy people in all their distresses.