Remember not the transgressions of my youth!

25:1 O Lord, I come before you in prayer. 2
25:2 My God, I trust in you.
Please do not let me be humiliated;
do not let my enemies triumphantly rejoice over me!
25:3 Certainly none who rely on you will be humiliated.
Those who deal in treachery will be thwarted 3 and humiliated.
25:4 Make me understand your ways, O Lord!
Teach me your paths! 4
25:5 Guide me into your truth 5 and teach me.
For you are the God who delivers me;
on you I rely all day long.
25:6 Remember 6 your compassionate and faithful deeds, O Lord,
for you have always acted in this manner. 7
25:7 Do not hold against me 8 the sins of my youth 9 or my rebellious acts!
Because you are faithful to me, extend to me your favor, O Lord! 10
25:8 The Lord is both kind and fair; 11
that is why he teaches sinners the right way to live. 12
25:9 May he show 13 the humble what is right! 14
May he teach 15 the humble his way!
25:10 The Lord always proves faithful and reliable 16
to those who follow the demands of his covenant. 17
25:11 For the sake of your reputation, 18 O Lord,
forgive my sin, because it is great. 19
25:12 The Lord shows his faithful followers
the way they should live. 20
25:13 They experience his favor; 21
their descendants 22 inherit the land. 23
25:14 The Lord’s loyal followers receive his guidance, 24
and he reveals his covenantal demands to them. 25
25:15 I continually look to the Lord for help, 26
for he will free my feet from the enemy’s net. 27
25:16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me,
for I am alone 28 and oppressed!
25:17 Deliver me from my distress; 29
rescue me from my suffering! 30
25:18 See my pain and suffering!
Forgive all my sins! 31
25:19 Watch my enemies, for they outnumber me;
they hate me and want to harm me. 32
25:20 Protect me 33 and deliver me!
Please do not let me be humiliated,
for I have taken shelter in you!
25:21 May integrity and godliness protect me,
for I rely on you!
25:22 O God, rescue 34 Israel
from all their distress! 35

Ever since we studied this for one of our final bible studies, it has been one of my favorite Psalms. Whenever I read this and Psalm 22, I can practically see the face of a broken man weeping for the Lord. God's Word really is a living, breathing being! Reading David's Psalms never makes me think of a king, almighty and powerful, but a poor man who is in awe of the clothes of majesty the Lord has blessed him with.

With the abundance of first person prepositions, it may seem that this is a pretty self-centered set of verses, but David realized the weight of his every decisions; the very sake of Israel depended so greatly on his subservience and obedience to the Lord (remember the plague that wiped out 70,000? Check out I Chronicles 21:14). He knew that focusing on the fact that God is longsuffering and merciful was key to forgiveness! That is why I cannot identify with people who want to explain 'bad' things that happen to 'good' people; if God ever had a desire to have anyone suffer, then His whole mercy character goes out the celestial window. Just like we always say, bad things happen for a reason, but we don't know God's sovereign plan. We don't even know our own errors (Psalm 19:12)!

But God 'shows His faithful followers the way they should live'. I've been blessed these past few weeks for God to show me more of how I may live by faith rather than sight. Part of it is really selective thinking, dwelling on what is true and worthwhile. Our hearts are kinda like our kidneys; they filter out all the toxic byproducts that we come across in this world. Just like we don't want Urea and ammonia to build up in our body, so too do we not want the lies of this world to clog our hearts from the pure work our Savior continues to do in us. I will keep praying for this body of Christ, and do it with the joy the Lord has given me!