Psa 25:9-10 | KingComments | STEP | David is in the presence of God. He has prayed with regard to his enemies. But there is a greater danger than being overcome by his enemies. That danger is that he himself will wander away from the ways of God. If the LORD does not guide him, he will become like his enemies and also act treacherously. He does not want that. Therefore, he asks the LORD to make him know His ways ( ). He wants to learn the lessons that the LORD wants to teach him through the difficulties. He is not asking for the good or best way, but for “Your ways”, which are the ways of the LORD. They are the ways the LORD has chosen for him in which the LORD Himself walks and in which He causes the righteous to walk (cf. ). In doing so, he surrenders his life to the loving care of God. Then he asks God to teach him His paths. By this he means that God teaches him how to walk His paths, how to behave in them, so that his life is to the glory of God. To that connects his next question to God to lead him in His truth and teach him ( ). Leading in the truth can be compared to a shepherd leading the sheep. The shepherd goes ahead. A person goes in the ways of the Lord only when he walks in them and does so in accordance with the truth of God’s Word. Knowing the ways of the LORD intellectually is not a true knowing if one does not also walk in them. We see David taking the place of a pupil. Every sincere believer will take that place. In we see that David, and with him every God-fearing believer, has an earnest desire to do God’s will. He asks God for “Your ways”, “Your paths”, “Your truth”. The LORD’s “ways” and “paths” do not refer to doctrines or principles, but to the way of life, that it is as He shows them (cf. ). The “truth” describes how we are to walk in the ways of the Lord (cf. ). The God-fearing has this desire because he knows God as the God of his salvation. He knows Him this way because he has come to know Him this way time and again. Every previous salvation he owes to Him. Therefore, even now he waits for Him “all the day”. He looks forward to Him continually, day and night, to His help that will bring relief (cf. ). David has prayed in the preceding verses for guidance because of the danger of treachery. He knows that he is liable to do so. This awareness leads him to pray for himself. One who knows his own weakness and sins knows that he is no better than his enemies. But he also knows – and his enemies have no knowledge of this – God’s compassion and lovingkindnesses ( ). He asks God to remember that. God doesn’t need reminding, of course, but we do, and it’s good to show that, as David does here. Compassion is a feature of God that He shows to someone who is in misery and trouble. He makes the afflicted feel that He is with him in his misery. When we think of lovingkindnesses we may think of God’s love toward His covenant, of the blessings He grants on the basis of His covenant. It is His mind, which longs to help people in distress. Compassion has more to do with the distress of man. Lovingkindnesses emphasizes more God’s mind. These are not features that God only acquired the moment their expression was requested. They “have been from of old”, for He is eternal, but have become visible to people in distress. After asking God in to think of some of His features, he asks in for God not to remember the sins of his youth or his transgressions (cf. ; ). Instead, he asks God once again to remember His lovingkindnesses – that is, His covenant faithfulness – and to do so for the sake of His goodness which is a feature of God. The sins of his youth sometimes come to his mind again. The same goes for offenses he committed later in life. He is worried about them at the time he writes this. Prophetically, by ”youth” is meant the earlier history of the people of God. The “old age” ( ) is the history of the remnant at the end of time, just before the coming of the Lord Jesus. David’s request to God not to think of the sins of his youth shows that he had no knowledge of the forgiveness of sins on the basis of a once for all accomplished work of Christ on the cross. Nor could he yet, for Christ had yet to come. We, New Testament believers, know that the work has been accomplished and the forgiveness is certain. Although David does not know this forgiveness, he does trust in God’s grace to forgive. We can learn much from the mind David shows here. Every believer will at times think back with shame on the sins of his youth (cf. ). In youth, in the time when we have little experience of life and the passions are sometimes not controlled, certain sins are easily committed. It is short-sighted if we have forgotten the cleansing of past sins ( ). The point is not that we should be burdened with past sins again and again. We may know that they are forgiven if we have confessed them uprightly. Still, we will need to be reminded again and again of what we used to be in order to be thankful for what we have now received in Christ and have become in Him. David is deeply impressed with his own sinfulness and iniquity, but also with the fact that the LORD is “good and upright” ( ). It brings to mind what John writes about the Lord Jesus in his Gospel, that He is “full of grace and truth” ( ). Now that the goodness of the LORD has been mentioned, David begins to give a testimony about Who God is. From now on, David speaks of the LORD in the third person singular (except for ). First He is called “good”, and then “upright”. ‘Upright’ means ‘right’, ‘just’. God is never just one or the other. With Him, both features are perfectly in balance. That is, His goodness is never at the expense of right, of His righteousness. “Therefore”, says David, “He instructs sinners on the way”. He is speaking here in the plural, sinners. We are not talking about people who love sin, but people who, like him, have fallen into sin and repented of it. They have been taught about “the way” to return to Him in order to continue on the way with Him. It is the way of confession, making sin known to Him with repentance. He then forgives and the believer can continue his way with Him, for which He also teaches. God is a God Who gives ‘aftercare’. Sinners who have come to repentance, either for the first time or have sinned after they have become believers, have become “humble” ( ). They accept humiliation without resistance. They have learned to humble themselves under the powerful hand of God. To do this, they have come into a mind or humility – they are twice called “humble”, which underscores that mind – in which God can lead them “in justice”. To lead in justice means that God determines how they are to walk. He is the Judge and His law is the only law that matters. Because they have the right mind, He can teach them His way. In it is about “Your ways”, which are the ways of God. In it is about “the way”, that is the way of restoring the sinner to fellowship with God. When that fellowship is restored, it is again possible to speak, as here in , of “His way”, that is, the way of God. Once again, in , the “paths of the LORD” are spoken of. This time it is said in general terms. It refers to “all” the paths. It is all the paths that He Himself treads to lead each of His own. He does this through His “lovingkindness and truth”. In His lovingkindness He brings them back when they have gone astray and in His truth He fulfills the promises He has made toward them. Here again, lovingkindness is the covenant love of God. The paths of the LORD are characterized by His covenant love and His faithfulness toward those who keep His covenant and His commandments. Thus, it is about the LORD’s faithfulness toward His covenant and man’s obedience toward the commandments of His covenant. All who “keep His covenant and His testimonies” follow Him on that path. They appreciate His covenant that He has made with them and observe its conditions. These conditions are the testimonies or commandments. They show that they are the true people of God by adhering to what He has said. In doing so, they show that they believe in its truth. In this way He guides them safely through the world of dangers toward His final goal.

‏ Psalms 25:9-10

Prayer for Guidance

David is in the presence of God. He has prayed with regard to his enemies. But there is a greater danger than being overcome by his enemies. That danger is that he himself will wander away from the ways of God. If the LORD does not guide him, he will become like his enemies and also act treacherously. He does not want that. Therefore, he asks the LORD to make him know His ways (Psa 25:4). He wants to learn the lessons that the LORD wants to teach him through the difficulties.

He is not asking for the good or best way, but for “Your ways”, which are the ways of the LORD. They are the ways the LORD has chosen for him in which the LORD Himself walks and in which He causes the righteous to walk (cf. Eph 2:10). In doing so, he surrenders his life to the loving care of God. Then he asks God to teach him His paths. By this he means that God teaches him how to walk His paths, how to behave in them, so that his life is to the glory of God.

To that connects his next question to God to lead him in His truth and teach him (Psa 25:5). Leading in the truth can be compared to a shepherd leading the sheep. The shepherd goes ahead. A person goes in the ways of the Lord only when he walks in them and does so in accordance with the truth of God’s Word. Knowing the ways of the LORD intellectually is not a true knowing if one does not also walk in them. We see David taking the place of a pupil. Every sincere believer will take that place.

In Psa 25:4-5 we see that David, and with him every God-fearing believer, has an earnest desire to do God’s will. He asks God for “Your ways”, “Your paths”, “Your truth”. The LORD’s “ways” and “paths” do not refer to doctrines or principles, but to the way of life, that it is as He shows them (cf. Psa 32:8). The “truth” describes how we are to walk in the ways of the Lord (cf. Psa 26:3).

The God-fearing has this desire because he knows God as the God of his salvation. He knows Him this way because he has come to know Him this way time and again. Every previous salvation he owes to Him. Therefore, even now he waits for Him “all the day”. He looks forward to Him continually, day and night, to His help that will bring relief (cf. Psa 25:4).

David has prayed in the preceding verses for guidance because of the danger of treachery. He knows that he is liable to do so. This awareness leads him to pray for himself. One who knows his own weakness and sins knows that he is no better than his enemies. But he also knows – and his enemies have no knowledge of this – God’s compassion and lovingkindnesses (Psa 25:6). He asks God to remember that. God doesn’t need reminding, of course, but we do, and it’s good to show that, as David does here.

Compassion is a feature of God that He shows to someone who is in misery and trouble. He makes the afflicted feel that He is with him in his misery. When we think of lovingkindnesses we may think of God’s love toward His covenant, of the blessings He grants on the basis of His covenant.

It is His mind, which longs to help people in distress. Compassion has more to do with the distress of man. Lovingkindnesses emphasizes more God’s mind. These are not features that God only acquired the moment their expression was requested. They “have been from of old”, for He is eternal, but have become visible to people in distress.

After asking God in Psa 25:6 to think of some of His features, he asks in Psa 25:7 for God not to remember the sins of his youth or his transgressions (cf. Psa 119:9; Job 13:26). Instead, he asks God once again to remember His lovingkindnesses – that is, His covenant faithfulness – and to do so for the sake of His goodness which is a feature of God. The sins of his youth sometimes come to his mind again. The same goes for offenses he committed later in life. He is worried about them at the time he writes this.

Prophetically, by ”youth” is meant the earlier history of the people of God. The “old age” (Psa 71:9 ; 18) is the history of the remnant at the end of time, just before the coming of the Lord Jesus.

David’s request to God not to think of the sins of his youth shows that he had no knowledge of the forgiveness of sins on the basis of a once for all accomplished work of Christ on the cross. Nor could he yet, for Christ had yet to come. We, New Testament believers, know that the work has been accomplished and the forgiveness is certain. Although David does not know this forgiveness, he does trust in God’s grace to forgive.

We can learn much from the mind David shows here. Every believer will at times think back with shame on the sins of his youth (cf. Rom 6:21). In youth, in the time when we have little experience of life and the passions are sometimes not controlled, certain sins are easily committed. It is short-sighted if we have forgotten the cleansing of past sins (2Pet 1:9).

The point is not that we should be burdened with past sins again and again. We may know that they are forgiven if we have confessed them uprightly. Still, we will need to be reminded again and again of what we used to be in order to be thankful for what we have now received in Christ and have become in Him.

David is deeply impressed with his own sinfulness and iniquity, but also with the fact that the LORD is “good and upright” (Psa 25:8). It brings to mind what John writes about the Lord Jesus in his Gospel, that He is “full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).

Now that the goodness of the LORD has been mentioned, David begins to give a testimony about Who God is. From now on, David speaks of the LORD in the third person singular (except for Psa 25:11). First He is called “good”, and then “upright”. ‘Upright’ means ‘right’, ‘just’. God is never just one or the other. With Him, both features are perfectly in balance. That is, His goodness is never at the expense of right, of His righteousness. “Therefore”, says David, “He instructs sinners on the way”.

He is speaking here in the plural, sinners. We are not talking about people who love sin, but people who, like him, have fallen into sin and repented of it. They have been taught about “the way” to return to Him in order to continue on the way with Him. It is the way of confession, making sin known to Him with repentance. He then forgives and the believer can continue his way with Him, for which He also teaches. God is a God Who gives ‘aftercare’.

Sinners who have come to repentance, either for the first time or have sinned after they have become believers, have become “humble” (Psa 25:9). They accept humiliation without resistance. They have learned to humble themselves under the powerful hand of God.

To do this, they have come into a mind or humility – they are twice called “humble”, which underscores that mind – in which God can lead them “in justice”. To lead in justice means that God determines how they are to walk. He is the Judge and His law is the only law that matters. Because they have the right mind, He can teach them His way.

In Psa 25:4 it is about “Your ways”, which are the ways of God. In Psa 25:8 it is about “the way”, that is the way of restoring the sinner to fellowship with God. When that fellowship is restored, it is again possible to speak, as here in Psa 25:9, of “His way”, that is, the way of God.

Once again, in Psa 25:10, the “paths of the LORD” are spoken of. This time it is said in general terms. It refers to “all” the paths. It is all the paths that He Himself treads to lead each of His own. He does this through His “lovingkindness and truth”. In His lovingkindness He brings them back when they have gone astray and in His truth He fulfills the promises He has made toward them.

Here again, lovingkindness is the covenant love of God. The paths of the LORD are characterized by His covenant love and His faithfulness toward those who keep His covenant and His commandments. Thus, it is about the LORD’s faithfulness toward His covenant and man’s obedience toward the commandments of His covenant.

All who “keep His covenant and His testimonies” follow Him on that path. They appreciate His covenant that He has made with them and observe its conditions. These conditions are the testimonies or commandments. They show that they are the true people of God by adhering to what He has said. In doing so, they show that they believe in its truth. In this way He guides them safely through the world of dangers toward His final goal.