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?

In the text

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.”
Psalm 25:4 · World English Bible
“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.”
Psalm 25:16-17 · World English Bible
“Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. God, redeem Israel out of all his troubles.”
Psalm 25:21-22 · World English Bible
“He will redeem Israel from all their sins.”
Psalm 130:8 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 25

Psalm 25: Teach me your paths

"To you, LORD, I lift up my soul" (25:1) and "Forgive all my sins" (25:18) are one Hebrew verb, nasa: lift, carry, take. And in Hebrew, after the title, the psalm's verses begin with the alphabet's letters in order, aleph to tav, with three left out; then comes one verse more: "God, redeem Israel out of all his troubles" (25:22).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions