Psalm 25:15-22 – “The Unfinished Business of Faith”

Here is my literal translation of these verses:

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

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.

I think the Lord has taught me something through these verses. It’s one of those things that I could say, “I already knew that.” But then again, did I?

In this world, faith is an inherently unfinished business.

I have truly enjoyed every line of this Psalm, this string of pearls, this series of heavenly cordials. As is often the case with the Psalms, this one so perfectly expresses the deepest thoughts of my heart. In my own life, like David, I feel nearly overwhelmed by the sense that my feet are “in a net,” that “the troubles of my heart are enlarged,” that I know too well what it means to feel “alone and afflicted,” that I need the Lord to “lift off all my sins,” that “my enemies are many, and they hate me violently.” My soul knows all of this far too well.

On the other hand, I enjoy every statement of faith David expresses. I do want to “lift up my soul to the Lord.” I do want Him to “look on me and be gracious to me.” I do believe that He is “good and upright” and that “all His ways are love and faithfulness,” that “only He will bring out my feet from the net.” Only He can “lift off all my sins.” I believe all of these things, and, as I ponder them, I find His comfort, His refuge.

But as I read these last eight verses and studied them, I found myself deeply frustrated. The verses themselves acutely increase my awareness of my afflictions and I find I feel them even more deeply. On the other hand, the verses remind me of the victory of faith, of how good God really is, of how much it is true that He alone is the God of my deliverance. They drag me down to hell, as it were, and lift me up to Heaven. But … and here is where I found myself frustrated: having dwelt a few moments in the secret place of God, I emerge to find all the problems still there. The sea is not calmed. The leprosy is not gone. My dead are still dead.

Having faced the troubles of my heart, having sincerely expressed my faith, having begged the Lord to deliver me, nothing has changed. I go out today to live in the same world, to suffer the same pain.

My soul didn’t like that. So I would study the next verse, hoping for some kind of deliverance. But nothing changed. So I would study the next verse, hoping for some kind of deliverance. But nothing changed. Finally I studied verse 22 and the Psalm is over. But nothing changed. The sea is still raging. I still fear we’ll all drown. My evil doubting heart wants to say, “Lord, don’t You care that we’re all going to drown?”

Then it occurred to me that, in this world, faith is an inherently unfinished business.

Some won great battles and received their dead back to life. But others wandered about in goatskins and sheepskins, destitute, afflicted. They all trusted the same Lord. They all felt the same pain. They all cried out to Him in their distresses. Sometimes He granted their requests and sometimes He didn’t. Pain goes on … and faith goes on.

I think way down deep in my heart I want faith to be a finished business. I have longed for years to hear Him say to my storm, “Peace, be still,” and there be suddenly a great calm. I know He can do it. He’s done it before. But so far He hasn’t. Instead, He calls me to come out and walk with Him on the raging waves of the storm. The winds howl, the waves crash, the boat heaves and rocks, and there He stands with His gentle loving eyes, beckoning me to step out and join Him. Me and Him. Walking on the storm. My heart is telling me right now, that is the greatest victory of all, the greatest deliverance of all, to walk with Him on the storm. The storm will end. There will be a great calm. But until then, His love will be my refuge.

Whether the storm rages or not, whether today or tomorrow He grants me relief, may my heart never leave His side. May I never look away from the warmth of His gaze.

In this world, faith is inherently an unfinished business.

Faith must go on.