Deliverance and Forgiveness

Psalms 25:1-22 A Psalm of David.

1 To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in You;
Let me not be ashamed;
Let not my enemies triumph over me.
3 Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;
Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

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

6 Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,
For they are from of old.
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;
According to Your mercy remember me,
For Your goodness' sake, O LORD.

8 Good and upright is the LORD;
Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
9 The humble He guides in justice,
And the humble He teaches His way.

10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For Your name's sake, O LORD,
Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

12 Who is the man that fears the LORD?
Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.
13 He himself shall dwell in prosperity,
And his descendants shall inherit the earth.
14 The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.

15 My eyes are ever toward the LORD,
For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,
For I am desolate and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart have enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses!
18 Look on my affliction and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.

19 Consider my enemies, for they are many;
And they hate me with cruel hatred.
20 Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.

21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all their troubles!

This plea for forgiveness and deliverance from sin’s consequences are Davids prayer and ours who are in Christ Jesus.  To God we lift up our lives in supplication with faith in His answer.  Because we wait on His answers to our despair in prayer, we can be patient in knowing that He will vindicate us in due time.  Even though our adversaries deal deceitfully with us for no reason of our actions against them, we can await His victory over them, in this life or in eternity.  This is a certain hope and our prayer in times of trouble as the psalmist reminds us in these first few verses.  Our continuing prayer without ceasing should therefore be that the Lord guides us into all truth (John 16:13) by His word and Spirit, teaching and leading us (2 Timothy 3:16-17).  Because He is the God who saves us, we can patiently wait all day for His work in these things for us as king David did.  We remind God of His ever-faithful dealings of mercy and grace towards us as we pray, more to remind ourselves because God knows it all even before we speak or pray inaudibly, and asking forgiveness for our past sins as we go on and away from them.  Since the Lord is good and righteous, we can humbly be taught by Him to do justly and love mercy (Micah 6:8) as we learn from Him.  All the paths He leads us through in life are true and mercifully right!  He forgives us all confessed sin as we keep His word and trust His mercy.  Our sin is great, but His grace and mercy are infinitely greater.  To really fear the Lord then is to be taught by Gd in His way and according to His timetable, not forcing it to our own.  The secret to godly living then is to fear Him and trust His new covenant of Christ with us by His work!  This is true prosperity, not of worldly wealth, but of heavenly possessions.  By so keeping the eyes of the heart set on Him, we find mercy and grace to help in time of need.  Therefore, we can confidently pray for help in His great mercy as David demonstrated in verses 15 to 18.  He will deliver from the afflictions of the enemy and forgive our sins.  We trust in the Lord and find reward in our salvation.  There is no shame in our Lord, only in our own sin (1 Peter 4:15-16), which can be confessed and covered in forgiveness.  Our righteousness in Christ and integrity in our response of obedience keep us.  God redeems His people out of all trouble.  This we pray for as David gave us the example, for deliverance and forgiveness (1 John 1:9).