Psalm 25 Remembered Mercy, Forgotten Sins

I have posted commentary on parts of this psalm five times over the years but this is my first blog post on Psalm 25. For followers of this blog, you know I have been stuck on 25 for a long time while my writing time was directed elsewhere. Here are more than a few verses from Psalm 25 that I am considering in this season...

 

⁶ Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,
    for they have been from of old.
⁷ Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
    according to your steadfast love remember me,
    for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

⁸ Good and upright is the Lord;
    therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
⁹ He leads the humble in what is right,
    and teaches the humble his way.
¹⁰ All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
    for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

 

The psalmist recognizes not only his own need for mercy but that the Lord is the only one who can provide it. He asks no less than three times for forgiveness in this psalm. Spiritually, the psalmist is humbling himself in this manner, admitting that he needs forgiveness from God as well as deliverance from his enemies. So what about us? Will we learn from the Lord in humility or continue on in our pride? No one else can say that “all their paths…are steadfast love and faithfulness” like God can. If we are honest with ourselves and not totally clueless we must admit that we all have a history that needs to be forgiven, a litany of stuff we are not proud of. I recently told my students that, “demanding law for others and grace for ourselves is the first sign of self-deception.”

 

The end of Psalm 25 continues to resonate with Israel’s cry for deliverance in Egypt, from oppression so deep and so intense that we can hardly imagine it in the comfort of the west. Where it is said that,

 

"God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.  So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them." (Exodus 2:24-25)

 

When God remembers, it is not like he forgot, but it is the moment when he manifests his loving character into the circumstances of his people. Will we look to him to remember us in our situation? Psalm 25 continues... 

 

¹⁵ My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
    for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me,
    for I am lonely and afflicted.
¹⁷ The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
    bring me out of my distresses.
¹⁸ Consider my affliction and my trouble,
    and forgive all my sins.

¹⁹ Consider how many are my foes,
    and with what violent hatred they hate me.
²⁰ Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
    Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
²¹ May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
    for I wait for you.

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

 

What do we do in times of trouble? Do we pray first? The psalmist advocates for God to redeem Israel, not just from the guilt of sin but from the “causeless hatred” of man that always seeks to tear down.

Rabbi Johanan said: "What was the cause of the first destruction of Jerusalem? Idolatry. And of the second destruction? Causeless hatred." He continues by explaining that causeless hatred "is more grievous than idolatry." '['The Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Kallah Rabbati 54b]

Much could be said in response to the quote above. I think the Rabbi spoke of more than even he knew. However, I would like to just briefly address v. 15 which reminds me of the person today who may be stuck in whatever trap of “causeless hatred” that has been set for him/her be it physical, economic, or spiritual, and who have no hope of extricating themselves. Can you picture yourself in the midst of a minefield or stepping on the tripwire to an IED where if you move it will go off? Something that we can’t free ourselves from is the consequences of sin (ours or another’s). David was in a situation like that…feeling and actually being ambushed on so many levels. In those situations, he trusted that the Lord was the only one who could rescue him…whether from external enemies or internal ones (sins). And, the Lord is trustworthy—Jesus said,

 

I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:9-11)

 

Jesus set us free taking the blast for us…and he is no less committed to our life today than he was then!

 

As my son’s unit returns from a year’s deployment in Afghanistan, I thank the Lord for his answered prayer. He has guarded and he has delivered. In this case, delivered all the way back to Oregon. Thanks be to God, for He is faithful!