Psalm 25 · a question people ask
"God, redeem Israel out of all his troubles" (25:22). Why does a prayer of "me" and "my" end with Israel?
The psalm doesn't say. What it shows is this. The psalm's other prayers are the psalmist's for himself: "Show me your ways, LORD" (25:4), "Turn to me, and have mercy on me" (25:16). The last verse is the only one in the psalm that names Israel. It comes after the verse that begins with tav, the alphabet's last letter (25:21), and it begins with pe (the first section of these notes sets out the letters). Its troubles is the Hebrew word of "The troubles of my heart are enlarged" (25:17): the psalmist asks about his own troubles in 25:17, and Israel's in 25:22. Psalm 130 ends with almost the same Hebrew words: "He will redeem Israel from all their sins" (Psalm 130:8). The psalm gives no reason for its last verse, and these notes don't give one.
The verses
“Show me your ways, LORD. Teach me your paths.”
“Turn to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh bring me out of my distresses.”
“Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. God, redeem Israel out of all his troubles.”
“He will redeem Israel from all their sins.”