PSALM 25
When we come to the Bible, The Word of God, The Scriptures, we come face to face with the Author Himself. Listen to the writer of Hebrews chapter 4:12-13; “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thought and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from His sight; but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
In A. B. Simpson’s devotional that you can read online at www.cmalliance.org he shares this about the Word of God:
Days of Heaven on Earth
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
“The literal translation of that phrase in Hebrews is, “all things are stripped and stunned.” Such is the force of the Greek words. The figure is that of an athlete in the Coliseum who has fought his best in the arena, and has at length fallen at the feet of his adversary, disarmed and broken down in helplessness. There he lies, unable to strike a blow or lift his arm. He is stripped and stunned, disarmed and disabled, and there is nothing left for him but to lie at the feet of his adversary and appeal to him for mercy.
“Now this is the position to which God wants to bring us, where we shall cease our struggles and our attempts at self-defense or self-improvement and throw ourselves helplessly upon the mercy of God. This is the sinner’s only hope, and when he thus lies at the feet of mercy, Jesus is ready to lift him up and give him that free salvation which is waiting for all.
“This, too, is the greatest need of the Christian who seeks a deeper and higher life-to come to a full realization of his nothingness and helplessness and to lie down, stripped and stunned, at the feet of Jesus.”
Is this where you are today? Are you and I stripped and stunned at the feet of Jesus because of what life has thrown at you or a decision you made that was not at all the best or that which would have pleased God? Have you come to the point of seeing your own nothingness and helplessness? So with this Psalm and by the strength of the Holy Spirit let us lie down at the feet of Jesus.
David’s Trust in God is inspirational, not only in this Psalm but throughout the over 70 that he authored. This first point establishes all of the rest of the song. If you don’t much about the Psalms you probably are not alone, yet we should get to know the Psalms better. A good place to begin is by having a good study Bible. There are many good ones out there; but you must find one and get after it.
This as we can see at the top of the passage is that it is a Psalm of David, which simply means that David wrote it. In the ESV Study Bible some of the introductory notes tell this about the Psalms: “The book of Psalms…It is a collection of 150 poems that express a wide variety of emotions, including: love and adoration toward God, sorrow over sin, dependence on God in desperate circumstances, the battle of fear and trust, walking with God even when the way seems dark, thankfulness for God’s care, devotion to the word of God, and confidence in the eventual triumph of God’s purposes in the world” (ESV Study Bible, Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL, 2008, p. 935).
Basically the Psalms is a prayer book, a song book, an outright naked expression of the heart, the human heart is laid bare here in the Psalms.
- S. Plumer writes in his introduction to his commentary on the Psalms these following words: “The Psalms are wonderful. They have been read, repeated, changed, sung, studied, wept over, rejoiced in, expounded, loved and praised by God’s people for thousands of years” (Studies in the Book of Psalms, W. S. Plumer, 2016, p.5).
And when you don’t know what to pray this is the book that most Christians turn to and I would suspect so do the Jewish people. John Stumbo, President of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination has said “when you’re facing confusing times the first action item ought to be, ‘Stay in the Scriptures.’” When we face catastrophic situations in our lives we can do many things but two that stand out: we can turn from God or turn to God. The best is that we turn to God and we can do that by camping out in the Psalms.
Maybe you’re on a precipice of a decision or a situation of great peril/danger or on the edge of a big life decision what should you do? I would strongly suggest that you turn to Scripture, especially the Psalms.
Hear with your heart what King David wrote and sung in verse one: “LORD, I turn to You” (HCSB). Or from the ESV; “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.” Two different ways to say the same thing.
When should you “turn to Him?” When you’re at a crossroads in life, when you’re confused, when you’ve suffered heart break, when you receive bad news; how about when you’re having a great day and you know the Lord is present and active in life or at least you’re aware of it.
Psalm 24 David is full of praise to God. It seems strategically placed by God to emphasize who He is and how He works.
Do not run over 25:1 too quickly for it is rich with meaning.
What did David mean by writing this? Maybe he felt stripped and stunned by the presence of God or something he read about God and it made David turn to God or lift up his soul.
Other places in Scripture that this phrase shows up: Deuteronomy 24:15; Proverbs 19:18; Jeremiah 22:27; 44:14; Hosea 4:8 in these you begin to get what David is attempting to communicate. In Psalm 86:4 we see the same phrase as well as 143:8 and Lamentations 3:41.
And to do this often or all the time the person would stand with their hands upraised before God. Plumer lets us know a little more detail about the actual posture of the person before God. “From this posture is probably derived the form of expression here; I will not merely lift up my hands and my eyes; I will also lift up my soul, my heart to thee; I will address my sincere prayers and make known my hearty desires, expecting an answer in peace” (p. 330).
This is a Hebrew way of saying: “I direct my desire.” It is undistracted – laser focused.
In this world of great confusion, the best and safest place to put your trust is not in government by men, but trust in the One who created you and loves you with an everlasting love! Turn your soul over to Him and watch Him change you.