Psalm 25 – “Structural Thoughts on the Psalm as a Whole”

Having studied through the entire Psalm, here is my literal translation. I’ve inserted some lines to break up what I think are the major sections and also indented to indicate what I think is the logical progression. YHVH is the four letters for the Lord’s name “Yahveh” or “Jehovah,” the great “I Am.” Words in [ …] do not appear in the Hebrew but I have inserted them in an attempt to make sense in English. I also underline pronouns which are emphatic in Hebrew. My intent is to translate as close to the Hebrew as I can, for study purposes, not necessarily to make it readable. Here we go:

Psalm 25

¹[Given] to David: To You, YHVH, I lift up my soul.

²My God, I trust [recklessly] in You. Let me not be ashamed. Do not let my enemies triumph over me.

³Also, do NOT let ones waiting for/hoping in You be ashamed. Let be ashamed ones dealing unfaithfully without cause.

⁴Cause me to know Your ways, YHVH. Train me [in] Your paths.

⁵Cause me to travel in Your truth.  Train me because You [are] the God of my deliverance. On You I wait/hope all the day.

⁶Remember Your mercies YHVH and Your loving-kindnesses because they [are] from [the] ages.

⁷Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellions. According to Your loving-kindness may You remember me, in answer to Your goodness, YHVH.

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⁸Good and upright [is] YHVH, therefore He will teach/shoot sinners in the way.

⁹He will cause humble ones to travel in discernment, And He will train humble ones [in] His way.

¹⁰All the paths of YHVH [are] love and faithfulness to ones keeping His covenant and His testimonies/warnings.

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¹¹In answer to Your name YHVH, even forgive my perversion because it [is] great.

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¹²Who is this, the man fearing YHVH? He will teach/shoot him [in] the way he should choose.

¹³His soul shall lodge in good, and his seed shall possess [the] land.

¹⁴The confidential conversation of YHVH [is given] to ones fearing Him, and to cause them to know [His] covenant.

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

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¹⁶Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I [am] alone and afflicted.

¹⁷The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Bring me out from my distresses.

¹⁸See my affliction and my misery and lift off all my sins.

¹⁹See my enemies for they are many and [with] violent hatred they hate me.

²⁰Guard my soul and deliver me. Do not let me be ashamed because I take refuge in You.

²¹May integrity and uprightness guard me because I wait for/hope in You.

²²Ransom, O God, Israel out of all his distresses.

First of all, some thoughts about the structure of the Psalm: It is an Acrostic as noted by everyone, although it departs in a few places from a perfect acrostic order. Verse 5 would be the vav but instead starts with aleph-vav. Verse 18 should start with Pe but instead both vv 18 & 19 start with resh. Verse 22 starts with a Pe which is not acrostic at all. However, verses 1 (first),11 (middle), and 22(end) would spell aleph. Some scholars suggest that these deviations from the perfect acrostic order should be attributed to the text having been corrupted down through the years. Personally, I rather think the deviations are deliberate and intended to provide emphasis.

What do I mean? I’m not sure why v5 starts with aleph-vav rather than just vav. However, it is interesting that, as one would read down through the Psalm in Hebrew (or listen to it recited), it would be notable that suddenly verse 18 has a Resh, not a Pe, which would cause one then to notice that the next verse also starts with Resh – two in a row, only to come to the “end” of the acrostic in verse 21, then suddenly to hear the missing Pe. It is as if David is saying, “I never intended to leave out the Pe. It was coming. I just wanted you to think about verses 18&19.”

We could do the same thing in English. Our “poetry” is written specifically so that there is a notable “rhythm” and the ends of the lines rhyme. One way to make a line stand out (for emphasis) would be to break that rhythm or have a line that suddenly doesn’t rhyme at all. It would have the same effect – the perfect order is very pleasant to our ears but it can also be hypnotic, to where we aren’t really “listening” to the words, just enjoying the flow. To break the flow would definitely cause us to “wake up” and say, “Hey! That isn’t right!”, only to “get their drift” when we see they’ve made a significant point. I guess I’m suggesting that the departure from a perfect order might be very deliberate and intended for emphasis, not a result of transmission errors.

The other thing, as far as order is that it seems clear to me that the Psalm can be broken up (as indicated by my lines and indentions) as verses 1-7 (General Requests), vv 8-10 (Statements of faith about YHVH), v11 (the middle verse and a Request), then vv12-15 would correspond to verses 8-10, only now they’re statements about the “one fearing the Lord,” then verses 16-22 would correspond to vv 1-7, only now they are very specific and personal requests. It strikes me that this order is very logical. As I noted in my study, faith is the fuel that keeps altar-fire of prayer burning. So it makes perfect sense that this “prayer” is a mixture of requests and statements of faith (which would support those requests). It is also logical that the first “round” of requests are more general, while the latter get very specific and personal. It also strikes me as logical that the first round of faith statements concern the character of God Himself, while the second concern the believer living under that God.

The Hebrew words included in the Psalm are most colorful. All three major words for “sin” appear, along with a wide assortment of words for “affliction.” The name YHVH appears ten times. Verse 7 and 11 notably repeat the phrase “In answer to Your goodness (v7)/name (v11), YHVH.” Also the words for “way” or “path” appear six times.

This all probably sounds quite tedious but as I sit back and look at the Psalm as a whole, I feel like I understand it better, seeing this structure. I think I will plan to write one more post (when I’m able) summarizing my thoughts as I look at it as a whole.