Psalter Devotional: Psalm 25

In Psalm 25, David pleads with God for help in keeping his ways and maintaining a right standing before the Most High: Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day (vv.4-5). And again Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way (vv.8-9). 


God’s promises of obedience are intrinsically linked to the ability of one to keep his testimonies and statues. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies (v.10). But the question is, how does one keep the covenant and testimonies in truth, if keeping the covenant is predicated upon mercy and truth, which we do not possess in ourselves (otherwise, why would David be petitioning the Lord in these verses for obedience)?


When we look closer, we find that repentance and obedience go hand in hand. It is not enough for David to ask for a heart of obedience; he must also ask God for forgiveness from sins: Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions (v.7a), and again For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great (v.11), and again Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins (v.18).


In verse 9, David declares that God guides the meek in judgment and teaches them his way. Who are the meek? The meek are those who know they are sinners and desire to be righteous. They know that the righteousness of God is something they cannot achieve on their own. This makes them desirous and lowly of heart, and hungry for God’s intervention. Only God can make me righteous, they say. Only God can cleanse me and atone for my sins! Thus when Jesus preached the Beatitudes, he said Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled (Matthew 5:5-6).


But now the meek sinner laments, how shall God give me his righteousness that I might keep his covenant? The answer is the One who spoke the Beatitudes himself. Christ gave himself a ransom that your sins might not cleave to you but be completely blotted out:


For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5:21).


Mercy flows to those who keep God’s covenant. But keeping the covenant requires God’s mercy in forgiving sins first. It is not good-works which go before mercy but rather mercy which goes before good-works, and not just good works, but keeping of the covenant. This covenant is not the Law, but the Law written upon our hearts by God, the New Covenant earned for us by the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. This work Jesus already performed fully and sufficiently for all who trust him and believe on His name. The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant (Psalm 25:14). 


Blessings,

B.S.Q.

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