Psalm 25

This is an acrostic Psalm. Each verse in the Psalm begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It represents an ancient filing system, and in this particular psalm David kept a file on prayer requests. So we have a number of prayer requests filed alphabetically, with several exceptions. One letter, qoph, is left out. Qoph is the back of the head, the subconscious. There is no place in prayer for subconscious activity. Instead of qoph we have two verses beginning with resh, the “r” is the Hebrew language. Resh is the right lobe—prayer is in the right lobe. Then there is one extra verse at the end where it goes back to pe, which is the mouth. Since the mechanics of prayer involve the mouth we have pe in the proper order in the last verse, as well as in its proper place.

Verse 1 –Aleph is an ox and it stands for prosperity under and agricultural economy. In this passage we have spiritual prosperity and therefore we have to begin with God. “Unto thee” is actually “toward thee.” It is a directional preposition followed by a pronoun. “O Lord” – God the Father. All prayer is directed to God the Father—John 16:23; 15:16. And notice he doesn’t lift up his voice, he lifts up his soul—“do I lift up my soul.” The real “you” is the soul. The soul has mentality, and therefore we must have some knowledge of the doctrine of prayer. Prayer also involves thinking and is actually formed in the mentality of the soul. Prayer involves volition of the soul. You have to make decisions to pray and you have to make decisions with regard to effective prayer—the use of rebound, etc. Conscience is the norm and standard for the soul, and in this case conscience demands “Pray without ceasing.” Prayer is a part of the believer’s prosperity. It is always related to the human soul in a non-meritorious way.

Verse 2 – the beth file. Beth is a house and the house always speaks of the plan of God. In connection with prayer the house speaks of phase two. We are in the house of God from the time we are saved until the time that we depart from this life. “O my God, I trust in thee.” The word trust is first in the Hebrew and this is the word batach. The word God this time is Elohim which is plural. In verse 1 the vocative was Jehovah and translated by the word Lord, singular. The point of the use of Elohim here is that in the plan of God Jesus Christ performs phase one, the Holy Spirit executes phase two, the first person executes phase three; and so this is a recognition and an orientation with the plan of God, and is in keeping with the letter beth. Prayer is a part of the plan of God.

The word trust here is used for putting problems in the Lord’s hands. The point here is very simple. You put your problems in the Lord’s hands by means of prayer. Prayer is the actual vehicle by which you turn your problems over to the Lord. Batach actually means to dump your problems in the Lord’s lap. This is the basic principle of the faith-rest technique and this shows the relationship between faith-rest and prayer. In this file there are two petitions. The first one: “Let me not be ashamed.” The qal imperfect of bosh really means to be confused, sometimes perplexed. So David’s first petition is, ‘Don’t let me be confused.’ This is in the beth file. The house is the plan of God, and what David is saying is that he doesn’t want to be confused about the plan of God—don’t ever let me ever go sour on doctrine! Don’t ever let me exclude doctrine. Confusion is failure to understand doctrine and to orient to the grace of God.

The second petition has to do with other people: “Let not mine enemies triumph over me.” If you live a normal Christian life you will have some enemies, depending upon your growth, your impact for Christ, your understanding of doctrine. If you live your life out of fellowship you’ll have a lot of enemies. You have enemies because of your old sin nature—because you are jealous, because you pry, because you are vindictive, petty, etc. The word triumph is alats and it connotes gloating, a malignant satisfaction from hurting someone else. “Don’t let my enemies gloat.” David desires the triumph of grace in spite of his own failures. David recognises that the plan of God is greater than the greatest failure that has ever existed.

Verse 3 – the gimel file. Gimel is the camel, and it speaks of travel and therefore it comes to mean knowledge. In this file it is knowledge of doctrine. When we are talking about prayer we are talking about understanding Bible doctrine. Effective prayer is based on knowing the Word of God, orienting to the plan of God, and understanding the grace of God.

“Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed.” This is literally, “Also, they that trust in thee shall not be confused.” You cannot live [faith-rest] putting your problems in the Lord’s hands, watching the Lord solve your problems, watching the Lord work, without realising that there is no place for confusion in the Christian life. The word trust is not the word used previously, is qavah, which means to take a thread and another thread, and so on, and weave the threads into a great rope so that it cannot be broken. David recognises that he is in the plan of God. This word trust is translated in Isaiah “they that wait upon the Lord.”

“be ashamed” – is “shall not be confused,” bosh in the qal stem. The faith-rest technique plus doctrine orients to the plan of God and therefore there is no confusion.

“let them be confused which transgress without a cause.” Literally, “they shall be confused.” The word transgress is not transgress at all, it means to be faithless—the translation should be, “they shall be confused who are faithless emptily.” Faithless means failure to learn Bible doctrine, failure to use the techniques. Emptily means that they are empty of doctrine, empty of divine resources, empty of that which could sustain and help them.

Translation: “Also, they that trust in thee shall not be confused; they shall be confused who are faithless emptily.”

The believer who is empty of doctrine is faithless, therefore a confused believer, therefore an unstable believer, therefore a miserable believer, therefore out of phase with the plan of God.

Verse 4 – daleth, the door. This represents the believer entering the plan of God by Bible doctrine. In the previous verse believers minus Bible doctrine are confused, mixed up, empty. But in this verse we have the antithesis. When the believer learns doctrine all of that is changed. How do you orient to phase two? Daleth tells us.

“Show me” is literally, “Thou hast made known.” This is the hiphil from yada, the general word for learning or knowing doctrine; “to me thy ways” – phase two, doctrine pertaining to phase two. Therefore there is no excuse for confusion.

“teach me” – piel imperative of lamad. The intensity of the piel stem has to do with concentration, and concentration means the more you know the more you want to know, you more you learn the more you want to learn. Doctrine is built upon doctrine. So we have the principle that learning some doctrine in the past is not sufficient, we must continue to learn doctrine.

“thy paths” – phase two. The believers enters this door by doctrine and once he has he must keep on going.

Verse 5 – we have two files. One line for the he file and one for the waw. The he is a window. As you take in doctrine and take in doctrine your outlook changes. You have a window now, a perspective—Bible doctrine in the soul looking out at life. Therefore, with this new perspective you can take a look at life and say, ‘I can do the Lord’s will.’

“Lead me in thy truth” – Lead me is a hiphil imperative and it means “Cause me to be guided through they truth.” In other words, there is only one way of divine guidance and that is Bible doctrine. Notice that David does not pray for guidance until he prays for more doctrine. The basis for living the Christian life is not experience, the basis for living the Christian life is Bible doctrine in the soul. The more doctrine you have in your soul the more you can learn, but at the same time the more you can know the will of God and do the will of God for doctrine is also the nourisher of the soul. To know God’s will you must know doctrine. If you are ignorant of doctrine you can never know the will of God.

“teach me” is simply a repetition recognising that you must constantly learn doctrine to know the will of God. The believer can only be guided by God as he learns Bible doctrine; “God of my salvation” indicates that he is already in phase one and has a right to ask this.

Now the waw file—a peg or a hook on which you hang something. So he is the perspective, looking out the window of life through Bible doctrine and the waw file is the nail or the hook on which we anchor this life—Bible doctrine.

“on thee do I wait all the day” – the word wait is again the word qavah and it means to trust. This is the strongest word for the faith-rest technique in the Hebrew language. It means to be oriented to the grace of God, recognising your own weakness and helplessness and that only God Himself can provide.

“all the day.”

The doctrine of one day at a time

1. The believer who is oriented to the grace of God and knows Bible doctrine regards every day alike. He is the strong believer of Romans 14:5,6. He lives every day as unto the Lord.

2. Every day is a gracious gift from the Lord to be redeemed for the Lord—Ephesians 5:16-18. The word redeem means to purchase, to buy, to utilise capital. And so God graciously gives us one day at a time and He intends us to spend that day for Him.

3. The only time we possess to glorify God on this earth is the number of days that we have in phase two—James 4:13-15.

4. God provides the capital to make each day count for Him under the concept of more grace—James 4:6. He does not give you a day without providing some money to spend. He has provided the capital to spend that day for Him.

5. Therefore every day is a special day in phase two—special in the sense that you are in full time Christian service, you are an ambassador for Christ, and one day at a time He intends for you to live for Him using the divine operating assets which He has provided, including prayer.

6. Each day the believer is to avoid mental attitude sins which produce self-induced misery and disorients to the grace of God—Proverbs 27:1.

7. Only in the days of time can God demonstrate His matchless grace to you through suffering—Psalm 107:1-3 cf. Revelation 21:4.

Verse 6 – the zayin file. Zayin is a weapon; it speaks of God’s protection. God’s essence, God’s character is the weapon of our protection. The believer’s

protection, then, depends on who and what God is and never on who and what we are. God is perfect; His protection is perfect.

“Remember” – this word zakar is going to occur in the next few verses. This is the imperative mood, so David is demanding that God remember. It is a qal imperative and it means to call to mind, to recollect something that is pleasant and wonderful. He says, “Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies,” but in effect he is saying, “I know what you are like and therefore I make demands upon you.” In the midst of all the confusion and failure of David’s life he had lots of doctrine which he called upon.

1. Zayin means weapon, which means protection. The believer’s protection is related to the essence of God.

2. The word remember is a qal imperative, it means to call to mind. This is David being reminded that God’s grace depends on God’s perfect character. David is asking God to remember, not so he can get something from Him, but so that if God remembers then God is operating on His character toward David.

3. “Thy tender mercies” refers to tender compassion. Tender compassion comes from grace. This is a response of love. This is a plural noun, it means “They tender compassions.”

4. David can appeal to the grace and compassion of God because God’s righteousness has already been satisfied at the cross.

5. No prayer appeal to God’s grace and God’s love is valid unless God’s righteousness has been satisfied. (Doctrine of propitiation); “loving kindness” – the basis of God’s love. It means a mental attitude toward you that is beneficent to the maximum. God cannot extend His love to any member of the human race until His righteousness. He has to be consistent and only by the cross can He be consistent.

6. The cross plus rebound makes it possible for God to be consistent.

7. There are two prerequisites for prayer. a) Salvation, by which a believer appropriates divine propitiation. b) Rebound, by which the believer prays from the sphere of temporal fellowship. Rebound in reality is an extension of propitiation.

“for they are of old” – eternity past. God always did have this love, His tender mercies and loving-kindness.

Verse 7 – the kheth file, the fence. This is the principle of protection. This emphasises the grace of God in keeping the believer on the earth, rather than the

believer remaining here because of his merit. Under this file David now says, “Remember not.” This is a qal imperfect of the same verb, zakar. Don’t remember my character. I am not coming on the basis of anything I have ever done.

“the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions” – a transgression is a link-up between mentality and volition in the soul.

“according to thy mercy remember thou me” – he goes back to the character of God; remembrance on the basis of the character of God.

“for the sake of thy good,” literally. The whole essence of God is absolute good or divine good. David is recognising the principle of grace.

Zayin is the sword which emphasises the essence of God, and kheth is the fence which God builds around us and keeps us in this life when we fail, when we succeed. Therefore we have a sword and a fence, and the one who provides the sword (active protection) provides the fence (passive protection). So all protection is based on who and what God is, and who and what God is, is why we are still here. This is the only approach in prayer.

Verse 8 -- the teth file speaks of relationship. Relationship speaks of the plan of God. The plan excludes and kind of human good or merit, and that is why it is called operation grace.

“Good” – refers to divine good, in fact the person of God or the essence of God; “and upright is the Lord.”

“therefore” – this brings us to a principle of communication: “will he teach” – the word for teach is yarah. This word doesn’t mean to teach by simply standing up and communicating, it means to teach and to train by discipline. This is learning the hard way. Yarah is in the hiphil stem—self-induced misery. It is the imperfect tense, which means it hasn’t been completed. It may take a long time.

“sinners” – chasha doesn’t mean a sinner in the sense that we usually use the word. It means one inclined toward the sin nature, one who is inclined to live in the energy of the flesh.

“in the way” – in operation phase two with its assets, its categories, and its techniques.

Verse 9 – the yodh file refers to the hand. We are in the hand of God which holds, guides, protects and delivers. It emphasises the grace of God. The believer is in the hand of God and always will be.

“The meek” – meekness is a mental attitude, not self-effacement. It is orientation to the grace of God. It is all systems go in the soul because it is fed from doctrine. (1 Peter 5: “but he gives grace to the humble” – the humble is the person who recognises that he is hopeless, helpless, useless, that he has nothing that will gain the approbation of God. He is the person who knows the plan of God, whose human spirit is loaded up with doctrine so that his soul is operating on ‘all systems go’)

“will he guide in judgement” – judgment means, again, yarah; and the meek will he teach” – the word for teach here is lamad. It is a word for teaching, but it means to teach by going over and over something again and again, to teach by drill, by repetition.

Verse 10 – the kaph file, the palm of the hand. The principle behind it is that every believer is in the plan of God. We are all in God’s hands and this is emphasised by John 10:28 where Jesus says, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

“All the paths of the Lord” refers to the plan of God. There is no place in the plan of God for human good. “Paths” is in the plural because phase two has many paths that are legitimate.

“mercy” – God has an attitude toward us, called here mercy but the Hebrew word means grace or grace in action. God’s paths are all mercy, God is free to love you. There is nothing that can happen in the believer’s life that is too great for the plan of God.

“and truth” – truth is a Hebrew word for Bible doctrine, Bible doctrine designed categorically to go on the shelves of the human spirit so that it can go from the human spirit to the human soul, and so that the believer’s life can have impact for Him.

“unto such as keep his covenants” – unto such refers to the believer. The word for keep here is a qal active participle which denotes linear aktionsart. The verb is natsar and it means to preserve, to keep on preserving. There are two words for Bible doctrine as presented in the Old Testament: a) covenant; b) testimonies. The word covenant has to do with God’s promises to the believer; testimony has to do with the very nature of God. These are preserved. To preserve means to take something out of its original environment and keep it—to take Bible doctrine out of (in this case) the Old Testament and to transfer that Bible doctrine into the human spirit where it becomes ⁺doctrine transferred to the soul. That is the preservation of doctrine in the believer’s life.

The kaph file is saying, your prayer life and every other facet of modus operandi must be related to doctrine.

Verse 11 – the lamedh file refers to an ox goad. The ox is the believer. Every believer is in full-time Christian service. The sharp point of the ox goad for the believer to keep him going is rebound. The sharp point was jabbed into Christ at the cross and therefore the sharp point does not stick in us. So if we knock off the point we have an appeal to grace. Christ was judged for our sins, so all the believer does is confess his sins.

“For thy name’s sake [Jesus Christ], O Lord, pardon me” -- because all of our sins were poured out upon Him. It doesn’t say “pardon me,” it says “you have forgiven me.” The Hebrew verb is salach. It means to be forgiven. It is in the qal stem, this is a straight down the middle forgiveness. It is in the perfect tense which means all the sins were forgiven at the cross. It means that when the believer names a sin he commits in time that sin was already forgiven. It was judged, the penalty was paid, it is forgiven already. The ox goad is in Christ so that under the angelic conflict the only motivation for Christian service would be grace. God never bullies you into doing something, into a course of action.

Verses 12 – the mem file. Mem signified water, and it refers to the water of the Word—Ephesians 5:26. So we have, then, the Word of God as the anchor, the basis for the prayer requests which are coming up in the next section of the Psalm.

“What man” refers to the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, but it refers to a specific type of believer, a believer who is occupied with the person of Christ.

“he that fearest” – the word used for fear here is not a verb but an adjective which means awe, and from it we get the principle of occupation with Christ. Throughout the scriptures the word “fear” is generally used for occupation with Christ rather than for actual fright. Occasionally it is used for fright or fear but the context always indicates which is which. The use of an adjective here instead of a verb places great emphasis on the principle of occupation with Christ through Bible doctrine. The thirsty believer is the believer who has ⁺V toward Bible doctrine. He desires it more and more and more and as he learns doctrine he comes to appreciate the Lord, as he comes to appreciate the Lord he comes to love the Lord, as he comes to love the Lord he is occupied with Christ, and therefore he does not fall into the usual problems—eyes on people, eyes on things, eyes on self—and therefore he avoids three great pitfalls in his self-consciousness. Eyes on people: disillusion; eyes on self: self-pity; eyes on things: materialistic lust. So he avoids these three great enemies and he stays in a bracket where he is oriented to the grace of God, he has a genuine love for the Lord Jesus Christ based on his understanding of doctrine, and he also develops the true capacity for love.

The rest of this verse indicates the importance of the Word of God and learning the Word of God.

“him shall he teach” – yarah in the hiphil stem, causative and active voice. He causes to teach. This causation from the hiphil stem indicates the whole mechanics of learning the Word of God. First of all the Word of God is available to us in written form. In order to get this into the individual there is a ministry. The Holy Spirit teaches the human spirit. Doctrine then goes into the proper receptacle which is the human spirit. From there it is piped into the various facets of the soul resulting in the believer having the true perspective. He is oriented to the plan of God, oriented to the grace of God, and he is producing divine good. His inner life is working in a manner which is glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ. The real individual is then operating on the correct basis. This word yarah originally meant to shoot a lot of arrows, to keep throwing something at someone until they can’t forget it. It is in the imperfect tense here which means the action is not completed, it goes on and on and on.

“in the way he shall choose” refers to operation phase two, the way that He chooses, elects. The verb is bachar, and it means that God elects this way. This is God’s plan and God therefore planned it in eternity past. The planning is now in operation, so we have the qal stem in the imperfect tense to indicate that while it was planned in eternity past the operation is being unfolded in time. Bible doctrine in the soul gives the believer both occupation with Christ and the basis to make decisions compatible with the will of God.

Notice that in this verse at least three characteristics of the essence of the soul are mentioned. First, the adjective to fear—the self-consciousness of the soul. “Shall he teach”—mentality of the soul. “He shall choose” – volition of the soul.

Verse 13 – the letter nun. In the Hebrew this letter was originally drawn like a fish, and it represents a fish. A fish has food, shelter and clothing. His shelter is the water, and there is always the water. He finds food in the water and apparently he never has any trouble with clothing. So a fish is provided for. A fish has everything a fish needs, so we open this nun drawer and we find out something about needs. Therefore we have reference to the soul because what we really need is not in the body, it is in the soul.

“His soul” – this is the real you, the inner part of man; “shall dwell at ease” should be translated, his soul shall dwell in good. The Hebrew word for good here is tob. It refers to divine good. When doctrine is in the human spirit it is piped into self-consciousness. Self-consciousness is parlayed into occupation with Christ. It is piped into mentality—divine viewpoint of life; volition—decisions are made compatible with the will of God; emotion—appreciation for God; conscience—divine norms and standards are established. The Holy Spirit controls the life most of the time. The fish file means that when your soul dwells in divine good there will never be a difficulty, adversity, pressure, a need that will not be perfectly met in the plan of God. The plan of God is on the outside but the plan of God comes into the inside through Bible doctrine in the human spirit. The believer’s needs on the inside will be met perfectly through doctrine so that God’s purpose for his life will be fulfilled and he will dwell in good.

The rest of this verse tells about the Jew in David’s day. David is getting ready to anticipate something that would come later on, some discipline to the children of Israel. This discipline would not come in his day but he recognises “his seed shall inherit the earth [land].” David is now telling them something, i.e. if you want your progeny to have prosperity then doctrine is the answer. If you have your soul crammed with doctrine then you will perpetuate something in your country. The progeny inherit the land, promised under the Palestinian covenant.

Verse 14 – the samekh file. A samekh is a fulcrum. When you have a fulcrum and a lever you lift the weight. This is a principle. Samekh is going to deal with problems, pressures. This is the believer’s sufferings, disaster, frustrations, difficulties, whatever they happen to be. The fulcrum is Bible doctrine; the lever which reaches down and gets the weight off the believer is God’s plan, God’s strength, God’s ability—God’s person: omnipotence; God’s plan: phase two provision, divine operating assets for phase two. If the believer is going to have the weights lifted he must have a lever. Bible doctrine is the fulcrum. God’s plan, God’s power, God’s grace is the lever.

“The secret of the Lord” – God doesn’t have any secrets from the believer. They may be secrets if the believer does not know the Word, but everything he needs to know from God is found in the Word of God. The literal translation here is, The intimacy of the Lord. Intimacy with the Lord depends on knowing Bible doctrine, otherwise it is pseudo love and it doesn’t count. Every believer is designed to be intimate with the Lord.

“with them that fear him” – fear, again, is occupation with Christ.

“he will show them his covenant” – literally, he will cause them to know his covenant. The covenant refers to categorical doctrine. This doctrine is the fulcrum by which the believer handles problems in time. The verb to know here is the verb yada in the hiphil stem. He causes us to know doctrine, and when we have doctrine then God has a lever to lift our problems, our sufferings, our adversities. You cannot lift a heavy load with a lever flat on the ground, there must be a fulcrum. The lever is strong, that’s God plan, God’s power. It is the person of God plus the work of God, but it is the fulcrum that gives leverage for the lever.

In verses 15-22 we have the pressure petitions.

Verse 15 – the ayin file. “Mine eyes ever toward the Lord”—occupation with Christ. Bible doctrine leads to occupation with Christ. Occupation with Christ then utilises the principle of leverage and the fulcrum of samekh.

“for he shall pluck” is incorrect. It is he shall lift up; “my feet out of the net” – the fulcrum and leverage lifts the believer up. The net refers to suffering, misery, tragedy, trial, etc. This doesn’t always mean the suffering is removed, but it means that when the suffering is not removed there is the ability to bear the pressure (1 Corinthians 10:13) and have inner happiness and occupation with Christ.

Verse 16 – the pe file is a mouth. The mouth expresses the petitions.

“Turn [thee] unto me” – David is saying, Look in my direction. This is an idiom for ‘help me.’ But he wants to clarify his help, he wants his help to be on certain principles. This is a qal imperative, he demands it. And when he demands it, it means he is occupied with Christ, he has Bible doctrine, the leverage, and he says therefore, Lift!

“have mercy” – the Hebrew word is chanan and it means be gracious. It is a qal imperative. David is not out of line when he demands God’s grace to operate. What makes him do it? The fulcrum, Bible doctrine. He knows enough doctrine to be oriented to the grace of God.

“for I am desolate and afflicted” – that is not what he said at all. He said, “I am lonely and under pressure.” There is only one answer to David’s kind of loneliness—doctrine. The answer has already been given—the intimacy with the Lord.

Verse 17 – the tsadhe file. This is a sickle or a reaping hook, a scythe.

“The troubles of my heart are enlarged” – his pressure was so great. He was not cracking up but he was getting more and more pressure.

“bring me out of my distress” – ‘bring me out’ means deliver. He wants deliverance in the sense of inner peace and happiness, and so on.

Verse 18 the resh file gives us the solution to the tsadhe file. (qoph has been skipped) Qoph is the subconscious and resh is the thinking part of the mind. But this is a prayer, these are petitions under pressure, and since David is praying under pressure these prayers are in his mind, there’s no place for the subconscious. Verses 18 & 19 are both the resh file because qoph was omitted.

Verse 18 – “forgive my sins.” That isn’t what he said. He didn’t say forgive my sins, he said lift them up. “Look upon my affliction (mental pressure), my pain (physical suffering). The word forgive is lift up. What does he mean by lift up my sins? He is saying that God is gracious and can even take his sins and the divine discipline that comes from them and convert it into blessing.

Verse 19 –this is another type of pressure now. If blessing is going to come out of his cursing then what should he do about these enemies? How can he handle the problem? These people are on the outside and they hate him, they are full of mental attitude sins direct toward David. There is a solution and it is in the soul of David.

Verse 20 – the shin file. Shin is teeth, with which you eat. Their primary purpose is to assimilate food.

Oh, keep my soul” – the word keep means to guard, preserve, protect. Protecting and guarding the soul is Bible doctrine from the human spirit into the essence of the soul. Protect the soul with divine provision—doctrine.

“and deliver me” – deliverance on the inside, inner happiness, occupation with Christ. The systems of the soul are all operating.

“let me not be ashamed” – the word ashamed means confused. How is the believer confused? No doctrine running through the soul. So the answer to enemies and pressure on the outside is an inner life with the Lord.

“for I put my trust in thee” – the word trust is chasah.

Verse 21 – the tau file, a signature. This is God’s signature—God’s character. “Let integrity and uprightness” – integrity: the essence box; uprightness: God’s perfect character and planning—omniscience plus His righteousness. In other words, he is saying God’s person plus God’s power on the other end of the lever lifts all the problems away.

“preserve me; for I wait on thee” – wait is the strongest word for faith under the faith-rest technique.

Verse 22 is not a part of the true acrostic because we go back to the pe file, the mouth. He utters one final prayer about the Jews because he knows what is going to happen.

“Redeem Israel” means deliver Israel, “O God out of all his troubles.” He knows that Israel is headed for trouble and that in the next generation doctrine will decrease. He knows that when doctrine departs trouble begins for the entire national entity.

________

Psalm Twenty-Five

{David's Victory Psalm}
1~~{A Psalm of} David.
Unto You, O Jehovah/God,
I {David} lift up my soul.

{Note: RBT says that David wrote this Psalm after his encounter with Saul at the caves of Engedi. In I Samuel 24:22, David 'ascended' or was lifted up to a higher place. Now he is lifting up his soul to the Lord. In this section of the Word, the story was recorded that David could have easily killed Saul - who was chasing after David in an attempt to kill him. But, David would not kill the anointed king of the Lord so he spared Saul's life. Saul, in an emotional reaction, repented the evil he had done David and stopped the chase - temporarily.}

2~~O my Elohiym/Godhead,
I 'have just trusted {batach} in You'
 {means to put the matter in the hands of God for divine justice}.
Do not let me blush about it ever again {buwsh}
  {David was wrong in cutting off the hem of the robe of Saul
  and admits his mistake to God - Principal: when you fail/sin,
  confess it to God and forget about it - no room for 'feeling
  ashamed' about past sins - confess and forget.}.
Let not my enemies {Saul and others} exult/rejoice over me
  {here David was wrong in cutting the clothes of the King and he
  prays that this will give his reversionistic enemies something to
  gloat over - 'oh David sinned' type thing. Small people full of
  sins love to gloat over the sins of mature believers}.

3~~Also/Yes, let those who have confidence in You
  {other mature believers}
not be confused {about David's incorrect actions}.
Let them be ashamed
who act treacherously {bagad}
and emptily
  {reyqam - acting without 'divine viewpoint'/doctrine in their soul}.

{Note: Many mature believers look up to David for his leadership. David is praying that they do not think his mistakes are something to emulate! Then, the reversionistic people who are two-faced (Ziphites recently in I Samuel 23 and 24) and betray for their own profit, let them understand and be ashamed of their own actions - these who are 'empty of doctrine' in their souls.}

4~~Cause me to keep on learning {yada`}
Show me Your Ways, O Jehovah/God.
'Teach me over and over'
  {lamad - the type of learning like close order drill in the military}
Your 'Ways of life'/Paths.

{Importance of the Inculcation of Doctrine}
5~~Cause me to be consistent in moving down the path of {darak}
Your Doctrine/Truth
  {means to beat down a certain section of grass so much a path is
  created to 'beat down a path in the righteous Ways of the Lord'},
'teach me over and over'
  {lamad - again the type of learning by going over and over and
  over again}.
For You are the Elohiym/Godhead of my deliverance.
On You, I {David} have perfect confidence {qavah} all the day.

6~~Remember/'Recall Your love for me' {zakar},
O Jehovah/God, Your 'tender compassions' {racham - plural}
and Your 'grace functions' {checed - plural}
for they are of old
  {never was a time when God was not love, compassion or grace -
  God does not change (immutability) - all God is, He always was,
  always will be}.

{Note: Zakar does mean to remember, but it is an insult to God to imply that He ever forgets anything. Zakar also has the connotation of recalling to mind your affection or love for someone dear to you. That is what the word really means - David is asking God to recall His love, acts of compassion, and all His grace functions.}

7~~Remember {zakar}
not the sins of my immaturity
  {spiritual status not physical age - refers to the stupid mistakes
  David made in Nob on and on},
nor my transgressions/sins.
According to Your grace,
remember me . . .
according to Your 'perfect essence/character'/goodness {tuwb},
O Jehovah/God.

8~~'Perfect essence/character'/good
  {towb - perfect in all areas of His Essence}
and upright/correct/just/righteous {yashar} . . . {is} Jehovah/God
  {God does not diminish His perfect Character by loving 'imperfect
  creatures'. Why not? Because of the work of His Son on the cross
  - Justification - God is justified in loving us}.
Therefore, He will teach "believers' failing"/reversionists {chatta'}
the Way {the righteous way of God}.

9~~ In justice, He guides the humble/'SuperGrace believer' {`anav}.
Consequently, He teaches the humble/'SuperGrace believer' {`anav}
His Way.

{Note: The 'meek' or humble is the grace orientation principal. Once a believer taking in doctrine understands how great God is and, in comparison, how little he is, then true humility sets in. He is on the road/Way to spiritual maturity - understanding the righteous ways of the Lord.}

10~~All the paths of Jehovah/God
are grace/mercy
  {checed - here refers to the perfect character and perfect plan of
  God}
and Doctrine/Truth
  {'emeth - God's 'character'/divine viewpoint in writing}
unto those who guard His covenant
  {the covenant here is God's ability to be propitiated by the work of
  Christ on the cross and is therefore free to love and bless us}
and His testimonies
  {`edah - refers to categorical teaching in the Word concerning Who
  and What God is}.

11~~For Your 'name's sake'/reputation {referring to God the Son},
O Jehovah/God {refers to God the Father here},
You have forgiven/pardoned {calach}
my sins -for they are numberous.

12~~What man is he who respects {the authority of} Jehovah/God?
Him shall He {God} 'teach over and over'
  {meaning the one who respects the Lord and therefore is positive
  to His Word: yarah - in certain stems means to 'shoot arrows over
  and over - here is to shoot doctrine upon doctrine until you are
  inculcated with divine viewpoint}
 in the way that he shall choose
  {God will give the doctrine so you know divine viewpoint, but your
  volition still comes in play - you must choose to apply divine
  viewpoint to experience or fall back on your own human
  viewpoint}.

13~~His soul {of the SuperGrace believer}
shall 'pass the night living in enjoyment' {luwn towb}
  {this means to have the blessings of God while in this life}.
And his seed/descendents shall inherit the earth
  {principal of 'grace by association' - Solomon became the richest
  man in the world - from inheritance from his SuperGrace father
  David}.

14~~The intimacy {cowd} of Jehovah/God
is with them who respect Him.
And He will cause them to know His contract/covenant
  {the New Covenant/Contract of Grace}.

15~~My eyes are ever toward Jehovah/God
for he shall pluck my feet out of the net
  {David was delivered again and again from the traps of Saul}.

16~~Turn toward me
  {the blessings for which You have designed for me}.
Be gracious upon me
for I am lonely and under pressure.

{Note: All leaders know loneliness. And, David is under great pressure from Saul.}

17~~The troubles on my 'right lobe'/heart have become extensive.
O bring me through of my pressures.

18~~Look upon my affliction and my pain
and forgive all my sins.

{Note: David knows he will fail. But he does not want his failures to affect all the people for whom he is responsible as their leader.}

19~~'Keep track of'/'make a reconnaissance of my enemies
for they are many {numerous and strong}
and they hate me with cruel hatred
  {reversionists filled with mental attitude sins}.

20~~You have 'guarded my soul in the past
and keep on guarding my soul',
and rescue me.
Let me not be ashamed {poise in his leadership functions}
 for I have used You as my refuge.

21~~Let my integrity and uprightness 'defend me'/'be my guard'
for I have great confidence in You.

22~~'Deliver to freedom'/Redeem Israel
  {refers to impending civil war with King David},
O Elohiym/Godhead,
out of all his catastrophes/disasters
  {military provides freedom in any nation}.