Psalm 25:7 Komentář

This psalm is full of devout affection to God, the out-goings of holy desires towards his favour and grace and the lively actings of faith in his promises. We may learn out of it, I. What it is to pray (Psa 25:1, Psa 25:15). II. What we must pray for, the pardon of sin (Psa 25:6, Psa 25:7, Psa 25:18), direction in the way of duty (Psa 25:4, Psa 25:5), the favour of God (Psa 25:16), deliverance out of our troubles (Psa 25:17, Psa 25:18), preservation from our enemies (Psa 25:20, Psa 25:21), and the salvation of the church of God (Psa 25:22). III. What we may plead in prayer, our confidence in God (Psa 25:2, Psa 25:3, Psa 25:5, Psa 25:20, Psa 25:21), our distress and the malice of our enemies (Psa 25:17, Psa 25:19), our sincerity (Psa 25:21). IV. What precious promises we have to encourage us in prayer, of guidance and instruction (Psa 25:8, Psa 25:9, Psa 25:12), the benefit of the covenant (Psa 25:10), and the pleasure of communion with God (Psa 25:13, Psa 25:14). It is easy to apply the several passages of this psalm to ourselves in the singing of it; for we have often troubles, and always sins, to complain of at the throne of grace. A psalm of David.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 25 A Psalm of David. This is the first of the psalms which is written in an alphabetical order, or in which the first word of every verse begins with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order, though it is not strictly and regularly observed; the reason of this manner of writing is not very obvious; the (r) Jews confess their ignorance of it; it may be to engage the attention to what is said, or to assist the memory in laying it up, and retaining it there. The occasion of the psalm seems to be the troubles David was in on account of an unnatural rebellion raised against him by some of his subjects, at the head of which was his own son Absalom; he speaks of himself as in a net, and in great affliction, distress, and trouble, by reason of his enemies, Psa 25:15; and as being brought to a sense of his former sins, for which he desires pardon, Psa 25:7. (r) Kimchi in loc.

Remember not the sins of my youth,.... Original sin, in which he was born, and the breakings forth of corrupt nature in infancy, he brought into the world with him, together with all the youthful lusts and vanities to which that age is addicted; and sometimes the sins of youth are in some persons remembered by God, and punished in old age; and if not, they are brought to remembrance through the dispensations of Providence: and the people of God are chastised for them then, and are ready to fear it is in a way of wrath; see Job 13:26; which the psalmist here deprecates; for this is not said in order to extenuate his sins, they being but youthful follies, imprudencies, and inadvertencies, sins committed through ignorance, when he had not the knowledge of things he now had; nor as if he had lived so holy a life, that there were no sins of his to be taken notice of but what he had committed in his younger days; but rather this is to be considered as a confession of his having sinned from his youth upwards unto that time, as in Jer 3:25; and therefore entreat, that God would not remember his sins, so as to correct him for them in wrath and hot displeasure; neither the sins he had formerly been guilty of, nor those of a later date; which he next mentions; nor my transgressions; his more notorious and glaring ones; such as murder and adultery, in the case of Uriah and Bathsheba, and which now stared him in the face; and on account of these, and as a chastening for them, this unnatural rebellion of his son's, which was now raised against him, was suffered to befall him, as had been foretold to him, Sa2 12:11; according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness' sake, O Lord; he pleads no merit nor goodness of his own, but casts himself upon the mercy, grace, and goodness of God; in which he was certainly right; and on that account prayed and hoped for deliverance from his present troubles, and for discoveries of the pardon of his sins unto him, which is what he means by remembering him.

"Remember not the offenses of my youth and of my ignorance" [Psalm 25:7]. The offenses of my presumptuous boldness and of my ignorance reserve not for vengeance, but let them be as if forgotten by You. "According to Your mercy, be mindful of me, O God." Be mindful indeed of me, not according to the anger of which I am worthy, but according to Your mercy which is worthy of You. "For Your goodness, O Lord." Not for my deservings, but for Your goodness, O Lord.

By “youthful sin” he refers to the people’s sins in Egypt, where they committed idolatry, remember. So now, he is saying, remember not those sins but your lovingkindness, by which even then you were kind to them in their ignorance and had mercy on them of your own accord even without being asked; and so now, too, exercise such care and lovingkindness for your own sake.

In those expressions what he was asking for was this: According to your great mercy, remember me; remember not my sin but me in loving fashion.

"The sins." Here he explains why he is in need of mercy; as if to say, here I ask for mercy, because I have sins which, so to speak, are worthy of mercy. And he sets forth three things that pertain to the forgiveness of sin. First, he presents the kind of sin, and it is twofold: one of transgression, and another of omission. And these, namely sins of omission, are called "delicts," as being lighter and in some way more worthy of pardon, because it is difficult for a person to guard himself completely from delict; and therefore he says, "delicts": Gal. 6: "If a man is overtaken in any delict, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one in a spirit of gentleness." Second, from the side of the sinner: because the more a person is endowed with reason and is in a greater state, the graver the sin is in him. And therefore sins committed in youth are less imputed than those committed in old age: Is. 65: "The sinner of a hundred years shall be accursed." And therefore he says, "the sins of my youth." Literally, for those committed in youth, he prays, as it is said in Gen. 8: "The inclinations of man's spirit are prone to evil," that is, to sin, "from his youth": Eccl. 11: "Youth and pleasure are vain." Or, "of youth," that is, of original sin, because man is born a child of wrath. And as long as a man is young, he is in his father's house; so as long as a man is a sinner, he is in the house of the Devil, which house is ruinous: Job 1: "A wind came from the desert region and struck the four corners of the house and crushed all the children," etc. Or, "of youth," that is, sins committed from pride. The young are naturally proud and presumptuous. Third, from the motive for sinning; because sins committed through ignorance are lesser; hence he says, "and do not remember my ignorances": 1 Tim. 1: "I obtained mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief": Ps. 78: "Do not remember our former iniquities, but remember your mercy." Next, the reason for the petition is presented. He does not ask that his sins be forgiven on account of his own merits, because mercy has no merit. And therefore he alleges two things from God's side, namely mercy and goodness, which are in God as in a subject, but differ in concept. In God, goodness is considered, namely the communication of goods in creatures, because the good is diffusive of itself. But mercy denotes a special outpouring of goodness to remove misery; and therefore, "according to your mercy, remember me, you," not my sins: Dan. 9: "Not in our justifications do we lay our prayers before your face, but in your abundant compassions": Ps. 78: "Let your mercies quickly go before us, for we have been made exceedingly poor." Not only on account of mercy by which you spare the wretched should you remember, but on account of your goodness, by which you make all things good; and this goodness is God himself, because he is the very being of goodness.

The general tone of this Psalm is that of prayer for help from enemies. Distress, however, exciting a sense of sin, humble confession, supplication for pardon, preservation from sin, and divine guidance, are prominent topics. (Psa. 25:1-22) lift up my soul-- (Psa 24:4; Psa 86:4), set my affections (compare Col 3:2).

May Jahve not remember the faults of his youth (חטּאות), into which lust and thoughtlessness have precipitated him, nor the transgressions (פּשׁעים), by which even in maturer and more thoughtful years he has turned the grace of God into licentiousness and broken off his fellowship with Him (פּשׁע בּ, of defection); but may He, on the contrary, turn His remembrance to him (זכר ל as in Psa 136:23) in accordance with His grace or loving-kindness, which אתּה challenges as being the form of self-attestation most closely corresponding to the nature of God. Memor esto quidem mei, observes Augustine, non secundum iram, qua ego dignus sum, sed secundum misericordiam tuam, quae te digna est. For God is טּוב, which is really equivalent to saying, He is ἀγάπη. The next distich shows that טוּב is intended here of God's goodness, and not, as e.g., in Neh 9:35, of His abundance of possessions.