Psalm 25:1-3 To you, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.… I. DAVID WAS AT THIS TIME IN A STATE OF GREAT TROUBLE. This is the children's path; it is the path most of God's family walk in. It is not an uncommon path. The Master trod the path before them, and told His people to expect tribulation. In this Psalm we see affliction in every variety. David traces his afflictions up to his sins (ver. 18). All sin is the cause of suffering. If no sin, no suffering. If no body there would be no shadow. There may have been some searching out of peculiar sins. Times of affliction are usually times of deep searching of heart. II. DAVID WAS AT THIS TIME DEPRESSED. The very expression "lift up" implies a previous casting down. Ver. 16, he says, "I am desolate and afflicted." The believer, compared with the unbeliever, is a strong man; he must needs be strong. But the strongest is not always strong. All borrowed strength is of necessity strength that fluctuates. Creature strength is dependent strength, and therefore it is but comparative weakness. Faith's wing does not always soar aloft; love does not always burn brightly. Unbelief always weakens. David looked to his troubles and was depressed. In our afflictions there are two especial dangers — that of despising them, as if they came fortuitously; and the danger of being encumbered and weighed down by them, looking at the circumstances, and not at the God of the circumstances. III. DAVID BETAKES HIMSELF TO HIS REMEDY. The believer has but one remedy. The world talks of its many remedies, but all are ineffective. A general view of God, in the power of faith and by the power of the Holy Ghost, lifts up the soul. Nothing so lifts us up against soul trouble as when we are enabled to say, "O my God, I trust in Thee." Is there anything above God's promises? Yes, God Himself is above His promises, and the very substance of them. Our trust is in Him. (J. H. Evans, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: {A Psalm of David.} Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. |
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