Psalms 25:1 - Meaning and Application

Here David shows his desire for God and his dependence on him. He often begins his psalms this way, not to persuade God, but to stir up his own heart and bind himself to live up to what he says.

He begins with this confession: “To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul” (Psalm 25:1). In the previous psalm, it was said that a good person does not lift up his soul to what is worthless, and the gates were called to lift up their heads for the King of glory to enter (Psalm 25:4; Psalm 24:1). David answers that call here: “Lord, I lift up my soul, not to vanity, but to you.” When we worship God, we must lift up our souls to him. Prayer is the soul’s rising to God. God must be kept in view, and the whole heart must be engaged. The old call, “Lift up your hearts,” fits well with devotion.

With holy disregard for the world and its empty things, David fixes his thoughts and faith on God. He sets God before him and lets his desires move toward him as the source of his happiness. Then he says, “O my God, I trust in you” (Psalm 25:2). His conscience tells him that he trusts neither himself nor any creature, and that he doubts neither God’s power nor his promise. This confession comforts him. Having put his trust in God, he is settled and calm, and he is not afraid of evil. He also pleads this faith with God, because it honors God when people trust him.

What people trust becomes either their joy or their shame, depending on how it turns out. So David asks, under faith’s guidance, that shame would not be his portion. He asks that he not be put to shame for trusting God, that fear would not shake him from that trust, and that in the end he would not be disappointed in what he has committed to God. If we make God our confidence, that confidence will not shame us. If we boast in him, our enemies will not end up boasting over us.

He also prays that none of God’s people would be put to shame. All the saints have received the same precious faith, so it will surely bring the same good result in the end. In this way, the fellowship of believers continues, even as they pray for one another. True believers will pray for all believers. No one who waits on God with faith and hopes in him with faith will be shamed for it.

Then David asks that shame would fall on the transgressors, those who sin without cause, or “vainly,” as the word means. Some turn away from God and from their duty, and some even from David and his rule, without any real reason. They cannot point to any wrong in God or say that he has worn them out. The weaker the temptation to sin, the stronger the corruption must be when people still give in. Those who sin just for the sake of sinning are the worst offenders. They also waste their efforts, because they know their plans against God will fail. They are imagining something empty, so they will soon be ashamed of it.

Next, David asks God to guide him in the path of duty (Psalm 25:4, 5). He prays more than once for teaching. He was already a wise man, but even the wisest and most observant people still need God to teach them. We are always learning from him.

What does he want to learn? Not fine words or clever ideas, but God’s ways, God’s paths, and God’s truth. He wants to know how God deals with people, for those ways are all mercy and truth (Psalm 25:10), and he wants to know how he himself should walk before God. The best teaching is the kind that shows us our duty and the good we should do (Ecclesiastes 2:3). God’s paths and his truth are the same thing, because all his laws rest on what is true. The way of God’s commands is the way of truth (Psalm 119:30). Christ is both the way and the truth, so we must learn Christ.

David also asks for what he needs in order to learn. He wants God to show him the way, so his understanding is made clear in hard cases. He also wants God to lead him, which means to guide his will and strengthen him to do what is right. That is more than simply pointing out the road. It is like leading someone who cannot see well, and also like helping someone weak and tired keep going without falling. We do not go one step farther toward heaven unless God leads us and holds us up.

He gives two reasons for this request. First, God is the God of his salvation. Those who choose God as their salvation may come boldly to him for direction in the way that leads there. If God saves us, he will also teach and guide us. The one who gives salvation also gives instruction. Second, he waits on God all day long. A servant should look for direction from his own master, especially when he waits on him continually. If we truly want to know our duty and are ready to do it, we need not doubt that God will direct us.

Finally, David appeals to God’s great mercy and throws himself on it, not on any merit of his own (Psalm 25:6). “Remember, O Lord, your tender mercies, and for the sake of those mercies lead me and teach me, because they have always been there.” He is saying, first, that God has always been merciful. Mercy belongs to God’s name and nature. Second, God’s merciful purpose was there from eternity. The people he would show mercy to were appointed to glory before the world began. Third, God’s mercy has been shown early, long ago, and all along to his church and to David himself. It began of old and has never stopped. “You have taught me from my youth,” he says, “teach me now.”

David is especially earnest about the pardon of his sins (Psalm 25:7). “Do not remember the sins of my youth.” He is asking God to remember his mercies instead, not his sins, which speak against him. This is an open confession of sin, especially the sins of youth. Our young faults and foolishness should still humble us later in life, because time does not erase sin’s guilt. Older people should grieve over the sinful pleasure and sinful laughter of their youth. He also makes his sins seem worse by calling them transgressions. The holier, more just, and more good the law is, the more sinful our breaking of it should appear to us.

This is a direct request for mercy. David asks, first, to be cleared of guilt: “Do not remember the sins of my youth.” In other words, do not count those sins against me, do not charge them to me, and do not judge me by them. When God forgives sin, he is said to remember it no more, which means a full pardon. He forgives and puts it away.

David also asks to be accepted by God: “Remember me.” He is asking God to think of him for good and to help him at the right time. We do not need anything more to be truly happy than for God to remember us with favor. David’s plea is “according to your mercy” and “for your goodness’ sake.”

The lesson is clear. When we ask God to forgive our sins and supply our needs, we must rest our hope on his goodness, not our own. We must rely on his mercy, not our merit. That is the right plea for people who know their own poverty and unworthiness, and who trust in the riches of God’s mercy and grace.