Psalm 25:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.

NIV: Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths.

NASB: Make me know Your ways, Lord; Teach me Your paths.

CSB: Make your ways known to me, Lord; teach me your paths.

NLT: Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.

KJV: Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.

NKJV: Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths.

Life is a journey, not a single step. This is something David's words recognize with clarity. In this psalm he uses the word "way" four times and "path" twice.

Wisely, David does not lean on his own wisdom for direction in life. Rather, he asks the Lord for guidance. His prayer honors the counsel given in Proverbs 3:5–6. These verses state: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Making our own plans rather than seeking and following God's plans can lead to disaster. Proverbs 14:12 insists, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."

Similarly, the apostle James writes: "Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring…Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that'" (James 4:13–15).

Psalm 25:1–7 reveals David's trust in the Lord in a time of intense danger. He waits on the Lord to keep him from falling into disgrace at the hands of his foes. Parallel to this, Psalm 37:1–11 contains David's counsel about trusting the Lord and waiting on Him. He assures his readers that the Lord will destroy evildoers but reward the righteous. Psalm 40:1–5 also records the value David found in waiting on the Lord for deliverance from danger and distress.

This prayer of David uses the Hebrew alphabet as a pattern. This is an acrostic, where verses each begin with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The final verse, however, repeats the letter used in verse 16. David declares his trust in God and the value of the Lord's wisdom. Mixed into these praises of God's truth are multiple requests that David be forgiven of his sins. The psalm ends with David asking for rescue from his enemies, and for a similar redemption for the nation of Israel.

Psalm 25 finds David facing difficulty and seeking the Lord's guidance. Proverbs 3:5–6 offers a similar emphasis on divine guidance for those who seek the Lord's will. Deuteronomy 32 provides parallel teaching, as do Psalm 37:1–7 and Psalm 40.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.

Accessed 5/6/2024 1:05:29 PM