Psalms 25:1--27:14 
ContextBy David.
25:1 O Lord, I come before you in prayer. 2
25:2 My God, I trust in you.
Please do not let me be humiliated;
do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me!
25:3 Certainly none who rely on you will be humiliated.
Those who deal in treachery will be thwarted 3 and humiliated.
25:4 Make me understand your ways, O Lord!
Teach me your paths! 4
25:5 Guide me into your truth 5 and teach me.
For you are the God who delivers me;
on you I rely all day long.
25:6 Remember 6 your compassionate and faithful deeds, O Lord,
for you have always acted in this manner. 7
25:7 Do not hold against me 8 the sins of my youth 9 or my rebellious acts!
Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord! 10
25:8 The Lord is both kind and fair; 11
that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live. 12
25:9 May he show 13 the humble what is right! 14
May he teach 15 the humble his way!
25:10 The Lord always proves faithful and reliable 16
to those who follow the demands of his covenant. 17
25:11 For the sake of your reputation, 18 O Lord,
forgive my sin, because it is great. 19
25:12 The Lord shows his faithful followers
the way they should live. 20
25:13 They experience his favor; 21
their descendants 22 inherit the land. 23
25:14 The Lord’s loyal followers receive his guidance, 24
and he reveals his covenantal demands to them. 25
25:15 I continually look to the Lord for help, 26
for he will free my feet from the enemy’s net. 27
25:16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me,
for I am alone 28 and oppressed!
25:17 Deliver me from my distress; 29
rescue me from my suffering! 30
25:18 See my pain and suffering!
Forgive all my sins! 31
25:19 Watch my enemies, for they outnumber me;
they hate me and want to harm me. 32
25:20 Protect me 33 and deliver me!
Please do not let me be humiliated,
for I have taken shelter in you!
25:21 May integrity and godliness protect me,
for I rely on you!
from all their distress! 35
By David.
26:1 Vindicate me, O Lord,
for I have integrity, 37
and I trust in the Lord without wavering.
26:2 Examine me, O Lord, and test me!
Evaluate my inner thoughts and motives! 38
26:3 For I am ever aware of your faithfulness, 39
and your loyalty continually motivates me. 40
26:4 I do not associate 41 with deceitful men,
or consort 42 with those who are dishonest. 43
26:5 I hate the mob 44 of evil men,
and do not associate 45 with the wicked.
26:6 I maintain a pure lifestyle, 46
so I can appear before your altar, 47 O Lord,
and to tell about all your amazing deeds. 49
26:8 O Lord, I love the temple where you live, 50
the place where your splendor is revealed. 51
26:9 Do not sweep me away 52 with sinners,
or execute me along with violent people, 53
26:10 who are always ready to do wrong 54
or offer a bribe. 55
26:11 But I have integrity! 56
Rescue me 57 and have mercy on me!
and among the worshipers I will praise the Lord.
By David.
27:1 The Lord delivers and vindicates me! 60
I fear no one! 61
The Lord protects my life!
I am afraid of no one! 62
27:2 When evil men attack me 63
to devour my flesh, 64
when my adversaries and enemies attack me, 65
they stumble and fall. 66
27:3 Even when an army is deployed against me,
I do not fear. 67
Even when war is imminent, 68
I remain confident. 69
27:4 I have asked the Lord for one thing –
this is what I desire!
I want to live 70 in the Lord’s house 71 all the days of my life,
so I can gaze at the splendor 72 of the Lord
and contemplate in his temple.
27:5 He will surely 73 give me shelter 74 in the day of danger; 75
he will hide me in his home; 76
he will place me 77 on an inaccessible rocky summit. 78
27:6 Now I will triumph
over my enemies who surround me! 79
I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy! 80
I will sing praises to the Lord!
27:7 Hear me, 81 O Lord, when I cry out!
Have mercy on me and answer me!
27:8 My heart tells me to pray to you, 82
and I do pray to you, O Lord. 83
Do not push your servant away in anger!
You are my deliverer! 85
Do not forsake or abandon me,
O God who vindicates me!
27:10 Even if my father and mother abandoned me, 86
the Lord would take me in. 87
27:11 Teach me how you want me to live; 88
lead me along a level path 89 because of those who wait to ambush me! 90
27:12 Do not turn me over to my enemies, 91
for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me. 92
27:13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience
the Lord’s favor in the land of the living? 93
Be strong and confident! 95
Rely on the Lord!
1 sn Psalm 25. The psalmist asks for divine protection, guidance and forgiveness as he affirms his loyalty to and trust in the Lord. This psalm is an acrostic; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, except for v. 18, which, like v. 19, begins with ר (resh) instead of the expected ק (qof). The final verse, which begins with פ (pe), stands outside the acrostic scheme.
2 tn Heb “to you, O
3 tn Heb “those who deal in treachery in vain.” The adverb רֵיקָם (reqam, “in vain”) probably refers to the failure (or futility) of their efforts. Another option is to understand it as meaning “without cause” (cf. NIV “without excuse”; NRSV “wantonly treacherous”).
4 sn Teach me your paths. In this context the
5 sn The
6 tn That is, “remember” with the intention of repeating.
7 tn Heb “for from antiquity [are] they.”
8 tn Heb “do not remember,” with the intention of punishing.
9 sn That is, the sins characteristic of youths, who lack moral discretion and wisdom.
10 tn Heb “according to your faithfulness, remember me, you, for the sake of your goodness, O
11 tn Heb “good and just.”
12 tn Heb “teaches sinners in the way.”
13 tn The prefixed verbal form is jussive; the psalmist expresses his prayer.
14 tn Heb “may he guide the humble into justice.” The Hebrew term עֲנָוִים (’anavim, “humble”) usually refers to the oppressed, but in this context, where the psalmist confesses his sin and asks for moral guidance, it apparently refers to sinners who humble themselves before God and seek deliverance from their sinful condition.
15 tn The prefixed verbal form is interpreted as a jussive (it stands parallel to the jussive form, “may he guide”).
16 tn Heb “all the paths of the
17 tn Heb “to the ones who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”
18 tn Heb “name.” By forgiving the sinful psalmist, the
19 sn Forgive my sin, because it is great. The psalmist readily admits his desperate need for forgiveness.
20 tn Heb “Who is this man, the one who fears the
21 tn Heb “his life in goodness dwells.” The singular is representative (see v. 14).
22 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
23 tn Or “earth.”
24 tn Heb “the advice of the
25 tn Heb “and his covenant, to make them know.”
26 tn Heb “my eyes continually [are] toward the
27 tn Heb “for he will bring out from a net my feet.” The hostility of the psalmist’s enemies is probably in view (see v. 19).
28 tn That is, helpless and vulnerable.
29 tc Heb “the distresses of my heart, they make wide.” The text makes little if any sense as it stands, unless this is an otherwise unattested intransitive use of the Hiphil of רָחַב (rakhav, “be wide”). It is preferable to emend the form הִרְחִיבוּ (hirkhivu; Hiphil perfect third plural “they make wide”) to הַרְחֵיב (harkhev; Hiphil imperative masculine singular “make wide”). (The final vav [ו] can be joined to the following word and taken as a conjunction.) In this case one can translate, “[in/from] the distresses of my heart, make wide [a place for me],” that is, “deliver me from the distress I am experiencing.” For the expression “make wide [a place for me],” see Ps 4:1.
30 tn Heb “from my distresses lead me out.”
31 tn Heb “lift up all my sins.”
32 tn Heb “see my enemies for they are numerous, and [with] violent hatred they hate me.”
33 tn Or “my life.”
34 tn Or “redeem.”
35 tn Heb “his distresses.”
sn O God, rescue Israel from all their distress. It is possible that the psalmist speaks on behalf of the nation throughout this entire psalm. Another option is that v. 22 is a later addition to the psalm which applies an original individual lament to the covenant community. If so, it may reflect an exilic setting.
36 sn Psalm 26. The author invites the Lord to test his integrity, asserts his innocence and declares his loyalty to God.
37 tn Heb “for I in my integrity walk.”
38 tn Heb “evaluate my kidneys and my heart.” The kidneys and heart were viewed as the seat of one’s volition, conscience, and moral character.
39 tn Heb “for your faithfulness [is] before my eyes.”
40 tn Heb “and I walk about in your loyalty.”
sn The psalmist’s awareness of the Lord’s faithfulness and…loyalty toward him motivates him to remain loyal to the Lord and to maintain his moral purity.
41 tn Heb “sit.”
42 tn Heb “go.” The psalmist uses the imperfect form of the verb to emphasize that he does not make a practice of associating with such people.
43 tn Heb “[those who] conceal themselves.”
44 tn Heb “assembly, company.”
45 tn Heb “sit.” The psalmist uses the imperfect form of the verb to emphasize that he does not make a practice of associating with such people.
46 tn Heb “I wash my hands in innocence.” The psalmist uses an image from cultic ritual to picture his moral lifestyle. The imperfect verbal emphasizes that this is his habit.
47 tn Heb “so I can go around your altar” (probably in ritual procession). Following the imperfect of the preceding line, the cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.
48 tn Heb “to cause to be heard the sound of thanksgiving.”
49 tn The two infinitival forms (both with prefixed preposition -לְ, lamed) give the purpose for his appearance at the altar.
50 tn Heb “the dwelling of your house.”
51 tn Heb “the place of the abode of your splendor.”
52 tn Heb “do not gather up my life with.”
53 tn Heb “or with men of bloodshed my life.” The verb is supplied; it is understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).
54 tn Heb “who [have] in their hands evil.”
55 tn Heb “and their right hand is full of a bribe.”
56 tn Heb “and I in my integrity walk.” The psalmist uses the imperfect verbal form to emphasize this is his practice. The construction at the beginning of the verse (conjunction + pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist and the sinners mentioned in vv. 9-10.
57 tn Or “redeem me.”
58 tn Heb “my foot stands in a level place.”
59 sn Psalm 27. The author is confident of the Lord’s protection and asks the Lord to vindicate him.
60 tn Heb “the
61 tn Heb “Whom shall I fear?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
62 tn Heb “Of whom shall I be afraid?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “No one!”
63 tn Heb “draw near to me.”
64 sn To devour my flesh. The psalmist compares his enemies to dangerous, hungry predators (see 2 Kgs 9:36; Ezek 39:17).
65 tn Heb “my adversaries and my enemies against me.” The verb “draw near” (that is, “attack”) is understood by ellipsis; see the previous line.
66 tn The Hebrew verbal forms are perfects. The translation assumes the psalmist is generalizing here, but another option is to take this as a report of past experience, “when evil men attacked me…they stumbled and fell.”
67 tn Heb “my heart does not fear.”
68 tn Heb “if war rises up against me.”
69 tn Heb “in this [i.e., “during this situation”] I am trusting.”
70 tn Heb “my living.”
71 sn The
72 tn Or “beauty.”
73 tn Or “for he will.” The translation assumes the כִּי (ki) is asseverative here, rather than causal.
74 tn Heb “he will hide me in his hut.”
75 tn Or “trouble.”
76 tn Heb “tent.”
77 tn The three imperfect verb forms in v. 5 anticipate a positive response to the prayer offered in vv. 7-12.
78 tn Heb “on a rocky summit he lifts me up.” The
79 tn Heb “and now my head will be lifted up over my enemies all around me.”
sn In vv. 1-3 the psalmist generalizes, but here we discover that he is facing a crisis and is under attack from enemies (see vv. 11-12).
80 tn Heb “I will sacrifice in his tent sacrifices of a shout for joy” (that is, “sacrifices accompanied by a joyful shout”).
81 tn Heb “my voice.”
82 tc Heb “concerning you my heart says, ‘Seek my face.’” The verb form “seek” is plural, but this makes no sense here, for the psalmist is addressed. The verb should be emended to a singular form. The first person pronominal suffix on “face” also makes little sense, unless it is the voice of the
83 tn Heb “your face, O
84 tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
85 tn Or “[source of] help.”
86 tn Or “though my father and mother have abandoned me.”
87 tn Heb “gather me in”; or “receive me.”
88 tn Heb “teach me your way.” The
89 sn The level path refers to God’s moral principles (see the parallel line), which, if followed, will keep the psalmist blameless before his accusers (see v. 12).
90 tn Heb “because of those who watch me [with evil intent].” See also Pss 5:8; 54:5; 56:2.
91 tn Heb “do not give me over to the desire of my enemies.”
92 tn Heb “for they have risen up against me, lying witnesses and a testifier of violence.” The form יָפֵחַ (yafeakh) is traditionally understood as a verb meaning “snort, breathe out”: “for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty” (KJV; cf. BDB 422 s.v.). A better option is to take the form as a noun meaning “a witness” (or “testifier”). See Prov 6:19; 12:17; 14:5, 25; 19:5, 9, and Hab 2:3.
93 tn In the Hebrew text the sentence is incomplete: “If I had not believed [I would] see the goodness of the
94 tn Or “wait.”
95 tn Heb “be strong and let your heart be confident.”
