Psa 25:11 | KingComments | STEP | Again and again David is reminded of sins. This does not make him despair, but longing to know more of God’s grace. The greater the awareness of sin, the greater is also the awareness of the greatness of God’s grace. Also, he who is forgiven much, loves much ( ). It brings David into God’s presence as a supplicant. While give a testimony about the LORD – third person singular – here the psalmist gets personal and speaks to the LORD – second person singular. In God’s presence he prays for pardon. He has done the same in different words in . He concludes that prayer by asking not to remember the sins of his youth or his transgressions “for Your goodness’ sake”. He begins his prayer here with a more comprehensive version of those words. He now asks for the LORD to pardon him “for Your name’s sake, O LORD”. Goodness makes us think of a feature of God; His Name reminds us of the glory of His Person. His Name is dishonored when things go badly with His people. David knows that he cannot claim pardon on that basis, but he mentions the holiness of the Name of the LORD as a reason to ask for pardon. The Name of the LORD encompasses more than just His goodness. The Name represents all that He is. David addresses the LORD in this way for the pardon of his iniquity “for it is great”. That means that no one but God can take it away. And so it is, for the iniquity may be great, the pardon of God is greater ( ; ).

‏ Psalms 25:11

Prayer for Pardon

Again and again David is reminded of sins. This does not make him despair, but longing to know more of God’s grace. The greater the awareness of sin, the greater is also the awareness of the greatness of God’s grace. Also, he who is forgiven much, loves much (Lk 7:47).

It brings David into God’s presence as a supplicant. While Psa 25:8-15 give a testimony about the LORD – third person singular – here the psalmist gets personal and speaks to the LORD – second person singular.

In God’s presence he prays for pardon. He has done the same in different words in Psa 25:7. He concludes that prayer by asking not to remember the sins of his youth or his transgressions “for Your goodness’ sake”. He begins his prayer here with a more comprehensive version of those words. He now asks for the LORD to pardon him “for Your name’s sake, O LORD”.

Goodness makes us think of a feature of God; His Name reminds us of the glory of His Person. His Name is dishonored when things go badly with His people. David knows that he cannot claim pardon on that basis, but he mentions the holiness of the Name of the LORD as a reason to ask for pardon.

The Name of the LORD encompasses more than just His goodness. The Name represents all that He is. David addresses the LORD in this way for the pardon of his iniquity “for it is great”. That means that no one but God can take it away. And so it is, for the iniquity may be great, the pardon of God is greater (Psa 103:3 ; 10-12; Mic 7:18-19).