Unpacking Psalm 25

The Psalms are full of wisdom and encouragement. In this post, we’ll unpack Psalm 25 with the NKJV Spirit-Filled Life Bible. It comes with all kinds of helpful notes to make sure you don’t miss anything important while reading!

The following content is from the NKJV Spirit-Filled Life Bible, 3rd Edition.

You can start by reading all of Psalm 25 if you want!

The Overarching Purpose of Psalm 25

To You, O Lord,
I lift up my soul.
Psalm 25:1

Although not complete, this is an alphabetical (acrostic) psalm, with the first word of each verse beginning with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The opening and closing verses (1–3, 16–22) focus upon David’s pleas for deliverance; the center verses (4–15) are more relational, focusing upon David’s regard and desire for God’s teaching.

Kingdom Dynamics: The Discipline of Waiting

Kingdom Dynamics – Dozens of biblical themes are addressed in notes by Spirit-filled preachers, teachers, and writers, including many new contributors for this edition.

Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.
Psalms 25:4-5

Cultivating the knowledge of God requires the discipline of waiting upon Him. As used here, “wait” means to “bind together” through a process of intertwining, clearly suggesting the virtual envelopment of the soul with God. To wait upon the Lord is to foster a sensitivity both to His presence and His promptings, which quiets our hearts, focuses our minds through thanksgiving and praise, and allows Him to reveal any subtle attitudes or forgotten sins that would dull our sensitivity to His voice (Ps. 66:18). Accept the NT call to fasten the belt of your mind (1 Pet. 1:13), meditate on God’s Word, and respond with focused worship. Dedicate times alone with God for waiting and for interaction with Him.

Praying the Word

Praying the Word – Short, helpful prayers dispersed throughout the notes to encourage your relationship with God.

O Lord, show me Your ways and teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth, for You are the God of my salvation. I wait on You today.
Adapted from Psalm 25:4-5

Word Wealth

Word Wealth – More than 650 word studies (including over 100 new ones) shed light on key terms, drawing important meaning from the original Greek and Hebrew.

25:5 truth, ’emet; Strong’s #571:

Certainty, stability, truth, rightness, trustworthiness.

’Emet derives from the verb ’aman, meaning “to be firm, permanent, and established.” ’Emet conveys a sense of dependability, firmness, and reliability. Truth is therefore something upon which a person may confidently stake his life. David prayed that God’s truth would continually preserve him (40:11). Scripture speaks of “men of truth” (Ex. 18:21), the “law of truth” (Mal. 2:6), and especially the “true God [or God of truth]” (Jer. 10:10). Curiously, ’emet is spelled with the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet; thus the rabbis concluded that truth upholds the first and the last of God’s creation, and everything in between!

Kingdom Dynamics: Fear of the Lord

Who is the man that fears the Lord?
Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.
He himself shall dwell in prosperity,
And his descendants shall inherit the earth.
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.
My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.
Psalm 25:12-15

In every era, godly men and women have practiced the fear of the Lord. The Scriptures reveal several things about the fear of the Lord. It is “clean, enduring forever” (19:9). It can be learned (34:11). And it is the “beginning of wisdom” and the “beginning of knowledge” (111:10; Prov. 1:7).

This psalm reveals powerful promises to the one who fears the Lord:

1. guidance: “Him shall He teach in the way He chooses” (Ps. 25:12);
2. spiritual prosperity: “He himself shall dwell in prosperity” (v. 13);
3. future posterity: “His descendants shall inherit the earth” (v. 13);
4. divine confidant: “The secret of the LORD is with [them]” (v. 14);
5. covenant: “He will show them His covenant” (v. 14);
6. deliverance: “He shall pluck my feet out of the net” (v. 15).

Additional Notes on Psalm 25

25:12–14 Four benefits result when the man who has lost his way returns, out of fear (reverent respect), to the way of mercy and truth.

25:12 Or translated, “in the way that He should choose.”

25:14 God reveals His secret counsel in close friendships, as He did to Abraham who feared the LORD (Gen. 18:17–19), and as He did to the apostles (John 15:15).

25:15 Net is a common Hebrew symbol for dangers laid out by an enemy.

25:16 Desolate and afflicted are literally “alone and poor.”

25:18 David realizes that inward sins make the soul more susceptible to attacks from the enemy without.

25:22 King David’s problems are his kingdom’s problems as well; thus he pleads for Israel too. Redeem here means to deliver from physical bondage primarily, but verses such as these may have a spiritual application from the NT perspective.

Learn More About the Psalms (& the Rest of God’s Word!)

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