Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 25. This is a lament in which individual members of the worshiping assembly ask God for help in their various troubles. While it expresses faith in God's kindness toward the faithful, it does not end in the confident way of most laments (vv. 16-22). The psalm also includes penitential elements, where the worshipers confess their sins and pray for forgiveness (vv. 6-7, 11, 18). As the notes will show, there are echoes of Pentateuch promises here, showing that the godly in Israel were to view the Sinai covenant as a gracious one. As the ESV footnote explains, this psalm is acrostic, each verse beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is the first psalm that is a consistent acrostic (cf. note on Psalm 9). Like other acrostics attributed to David (Psalms 9-10; 25; 34; 37; 145), this does not perfectly follow the acrostic pattern: the verse beginning with w is missing (it should be between 25:5-6); v. 18 begins with the letter r (as does v. 19), while q is expected; and v. 22 begins with p, as does v. 16. The acrostic pattern makes it harder for the poem to have a clear flow of thought, but the notes will show that the poet nevertheless provided one.

25:1-3 Expression of Trust. The psalm opens by expressing confidence in the Lord; the request of v. 2 is reaffirmed as assurance in v. 3.