Psalm 25:15 – Which Way to Look?

Here is my literal translation of this verse:

¹⁵My eyes [are] always toward YHVH, because He will bring out my feet from the net.

“…because He will bring out my feet from the net.” The “net” is of course the Hebrew equivalent of a snare. In order to catch birds, somehow they would set out a net. When the bird tried to take the bait, somehow its feet would get tangled in the net and thus it would be caught. That’s not exactly the way we think of “catching something in a net,” but the imagery certainly isn’t unfamiliar. I can certainly say for myself, I have no trouble conceiving the idea of my feet tangled in a net and being unable to escape. We all find our feet tangled in nets of perplexity, doubts, difficulties, dangers, even the threat of death itself. The “problem” proposed in this verse is finding ourselves in any of a seemingly million different ways entangled in some kind of “net” of trouble.

The question is what will we do? How do I deal with all these threats and fears and difficulties? Interestingly, David says emphatically that “He will bring out my feet from the net.” In Hebrew the “He” is emphatic, which is why I’ve underlined it. That is precisely the point we need to get fixed in our minds, that “He will bring out my feet from the net.” Only the Lord can rescue me. I may have plenty to do, steps to take, phone calls to make, etc., but I must realize that, still, it will be Him Who delivers me, or I’ll not be delivered at all. When I follow my own devices, I may escape some current danger only to land in something worse. It’s the old cliché, “Out of the frying pan into the fire!”

That is where the first half of the verse comes in: “My eyes are always toward the Lord, …” Calvin said, “It is rather our nature when in distress to devise for ourselves various methods of deliverance and salvation … We must learn to be contented with God alone.” Barnes noted, “[Ours is] a religion of dependence on God, for man’s only hope is in Him.” Thus we are admonished in Hebrews 12:1,2: “Let us run with endurance the race that is marked out for us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.” It is one of the exercises of Christian maturity to strive to keep our eyes on the Lord, by faith to believe that even while I do my duties, He remains the Master of my fate. I must cultivate this “look” of faith, of confidence, of trust and admiration, of wonder, humility, obedience, reverence, and last but not least, of affection.

Eve “saw that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye …” when she should have seen that the Lord is good, that His beauty is matchless. She “looked” the wrong way and with Adam plunged the entire Creation into the misery of sin. So for us. We fall in part because of the “lust of the eyes.” Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matt 6:22,23). Our eyes are “bad” when we’re “seeing” the wrong things, valuing that which is temporal. The eye is “good” when, while fully cognizant of the present, it looks by faith beyond this world and sees the God Who’s over it all, strives to value the things He values.

The key is that, even in distress, I cannot let go my grip on Him. Even in my distress, I must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him, that the surest route to deliverance is the path of duty and love before Him, that I must “do right ‘till the stars fall,” that I must at all times and in all ways love God and love people, that I must never let love and faithfulness leave me. God’s way is the right way. Any other path will lead only to the Dungeon of Despair. And I must keep up this belief, though the deliverance seem long in coming, though the pain grows worse, not better. I must keep on saying, as this Psalm began, “Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul …”

I was reading the other day and someone remarked, “When the Lord gives us a bitter cup to drink …” In my mind, I instantly foresaw the conclusion, “He will deliver us from it.” However, I was surprised to see that wasn’t the following phrase. Instead it said, “He will give us the strength to drink it.” (!)  “When the Lord gives us a bitter cup to drink, He will give us the strength to drink it.” I realized that is actually far more encouraging. I would love to be delivered today from all my troubles. But I’ve lived long enough to know first of all it’s not going to happen and second, even if it did, a whole new host of problems would rush in to fill the vacuum. It’s far more important to know, in this world, that the Lord will give me the strength to keep on, to help me keep my eyes on Him.

Even as I suffer, even as I fear, may He remain the “apple of my eye.” May I struggle even believing that “He will bring out my feet from the net.” He’ll do it His way, in His time, and my task is simply to keep on striving to follow Him, to keep “looking” to Him.

Lord help us. We love You. Help us love You.