Psalms 25King James Version
An alphabetic acrostic. Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Remember not the sins of my youth. The Lord is good and upright: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
An acrostic psalm of trust and petition from a person in genuine danger and genuine shame. It opens by lifting the soul to God, moves through a request for guidance and memory of sins not to be remembered, through humility, through a portrait of who God guides (the meek and humble), through protection from treachery, and closes with a prayer for Israel. Every verse begins a new letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
The way through shame and danger is not self-justification but honest request for guidance from the one who remembers sins against the one who forgets them.
verse: "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD." Memory is the battleground: whose memory counts.
Superscription: 'A Psalm of David.' The acrostic structure (Hebrew alphabetic sequence) requires artful composition rather than emotional spontaneity, suggesting a carefully crafted wisdom psalm. The 'enemies' and 'treacherous' suggest political threat, while 'sins of my youth' indicates personal retrospection. Both layers coexist.
David as speaker throughout; God addressed as teacher, guide, and pardoner; enemies who hate without cause; the meek whom God guides; Israel in the closing verse as the wider community.
Psalm 25 is one of the earliest and most structurally complete acrostic psalms in the Psalter. Its combination of personal petition, wisdom instruction, and communal application (closing v22) makes it a microcosm of the Psalter's own breadth. The theology of divine forgetfulness of sin (v7) is central to Jeremiah 31's new covenant promise.
For when past choices are following you into the present and you want to know if the record can be rewritten. This psalm speaks directly to that fear.
1[A Psalm of David.] Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.
2O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.
3Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.
4Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
5Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
6Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.
7Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.
8Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
9The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
10All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
12What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
13His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.
14The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
15Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
16Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.
17The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.
18Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.
19Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.
20O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.
21Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.
22Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.