Psalms 25:2

2. This verse should begin with the letter Beth in the word for in thee. It has been suggested that the first word O my God was disregarded in the alphabetic arrangement; but it is more probable that it originally belonged to the second line of the preceding verse (so codd. אBA of the LXX), which has now been lost or misplaced. Otherwise it must be omitted. Psa_25:2 then forms a proper distich:

In thee have I trusted, let me not be ashamed:

Let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Cp. Psa_25:20; Psa_22:5; Psa_31:1; Psa_31:17.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa 25:2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Ver. 2. O my God, I trust in thee] I pray in faith, which is as the fire, and my prayer as the flame that ariseth out of it. Faith is the foundation of prayer; and prayer is the fervency of faith. Now David knew that the hand of faith never knocketh at the gate of grace in vain.

Let me not be ashamed] Shame is the daughter of disappointment. This David deprecateth; Quaeque repulsa gravis. See Job 6:20.

Let not mine enemies triumph over me] By saying that I pray to no purpose, as Rabshakeh did, Isa 35:6. I say (saith Hezekiah) I have words of my lips, prayer; prayer? but alas, what is that more than empty words, an airy nothing? Counsel and strength are for the battle. Thus he.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_25:2

Let me not be put to shame.

Deliverance and guidance

Trust that was not vindicated by deliverance would cover the face with confusion. Hopes that breed not shame are the treasure of him whose hope is in Jehovah. Foes unnamed threaten; but the stress of the petitions in the first section of the Psalm is less on enemies than on sins. One cry for protection from the former is all that the Psalmist utters, and then his prayer swiftly turns to deeper needs. In the last section the petitions are more exclusively for deliverance from enemies. Needful as such escape is, it is less needful than the knowledge of Gods ways, and the man in extremest peril orders his desires rightly if he asks holiness first and safety second. The cry in Psa_25:2 rests upon the confidence nobly expressed in Psa_25:3, in which the verbs are not optatives, but futures, declaring a truth certain to be realised in the Psalmists experience, because it is true for all who, like him, wait on Jehovah. True prayer is the individuals sheltering himself under the broad folds of the mantle that covers all who pray. The double confidence as to the waiters on Jehovah and the treacherous without cause is the summary of human experience as read by faith. Sense has much to adduce in contradiction, but the dictum is nevertheless true; only, its truth does not always appear in the small are of the circle which lies between cradle and grave. The prayer for deliverance glides into that for guidance, since the latter is the deeper need, and the former will scarcely be answered unless the suppliants will docilely offers the latter. The soul lifted to Jehovah will long to know His will, and submit itself to His manifold teachings. Thy ways and Thy paths necessarily here mean the ways in which Jehovah desires that the Psalmist should go. In Thy truth is ambiguous, both as to the preposition and as to the noun. The clause may either mean Gods truth (i.e. faithfulness)

as His motive for answering the prayer, or His truth (i.e. the objective revelation)

as the path for men. Predominant usage inclines to the former signification of the noun, but the possibility still remains of regarding Gods faithfulness as the path in which the Psalmist desires to be led, i.e. to experience it. The cry for forgiveness strikes a deeper note of pathos, and, as asking a more wondrous blessing, grasps still more firmly the thought of what Jehovah is and always has been. The appeal is made to Thy compassions and loving kindnesses, as belonging to His nature, and to their past exercise as having been from of old. Emboldened thus, the Psalmist can look back on his own past, both on his outbursts of youthful passion and levity, which he calls failures, as missing the mark; and on the darker evils of later manhood, which he calls rebellions, and can trust that Jehovah will think upon him according to His mercy, and for the sake of His goodness or love. The vivid realisation of that Eternal Mercy, as the very mainspring of Gods actions, and as setting forth in many an ancient deed the eternal pattern of His dealings, enables a man to bear the thought of his own sins. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ver. 2. O my God. This title is more dear than the name Jehovah, which is used in the first sentence. Already the sweet singer has drawn nearer to his heavenly helper, for he makes bold to grasp him with the hand of assured possession, calling him, my God. Oh the more than celestial music of that word"My God!" It is to be observed that the psalmist does not deny expression to those gracious feelings with which God had favoured him; he does not fall into loathsome mock modesty, but finding in his soul a desire to seek the Lord he avows it; believing that he had a rightful interest in Jehovah he declares it, and knowing that he had confidence in his God he professes it; O my God, I trust in thee. Faith is the cable which binds our boat to the shore, and by pulling at it we draw ourselves to the land; faith unites us to God, and then draws us near to him. As long as the anchor of faith holds there is no fear in the worst tempest; if that should fail us there would be no hope left. We must see to it that our faith is sound and strong, for otherwise prayer cannot prevail with God. Woe to the warrior who throws away his shield; what defence can be found for him who finds no defence in his God? Let me not be ashamed. Let no my disappointed hopes make me feel ashamed of my former testimonies of thy faithfulness. Many were on the watch for this. The best of men have their enemies, and should pray against them that they may not see their wicked desires accomplished. Let not mine enemies triumph over me. Suffer no wicked mouth to make blasphemous mirth out of my distresses by asking, "Where is thy God?" There is a great jealousy in believers for the honour of God, and they cannot endure that unbelievers should taunt them with the failure of their expectations from the God of their salvation. All other trusts will end in disappointment and eternal shame, but our confidence shall never be confounded.

Ver. 2-3. When David had prayed, O my God, I trust in thee; let me not be ashamed! In the next verse, as if conscious to himself that his prayers were too restrictive, narrow, and niggardly, he enlargeth the bounds thereof, and builds them on a broader bottom, "Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed." Thus it is that charity in the midst of our religious devotions must have rehoboth (room enough to expatiate in). Our petitions must not be pent or confined to our own private good, but extended to the benefit of all God's servants, in what condition soever. Thomas Fuller.

Ver. 2. The soul at anchor, and the two rocks from which it would be delivered.

Psalms 25:3*

Ver. 2-3. See Psalms on "Ps 25:2" for further information.

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25:2 Enemies would rejoice by singing a victory song.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That thou wilt take away mine enemies, which are thy rods.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

not be ashamed--by disappointment of hopes of relief.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. I trust in thee] I depend upon thy infinite goodness and mercy for my support and salvation.

Let me not be ashamed] Hide my iniquity, and forgive my guilt.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. O my God! I have put my trust in thee. By this verse we learn, (what will appear more clearly afterwards,) that David had to do with men; but as he was persuaded that his enemies were, as it were, the scourges of God, he with good reason asks that God would restrain them by his power, lest they should become more insolent, and continue, to exceed all bounds. By the word trust he confirms what he had just said of the lifting up of his soul to God; for the term is employed either as descriptive of the way in which the souls of the faithful are lifted up, or else faith and hope are added as the cause of such an effect, namely, the lifting up of the soul. And, indeed, these are the wings by which our souls, rising above this world, are lifted up to God. David, then, was carried upward to God with the whole desire of his heart, because, trusting to his promises, he thereby hoped for sure salvation. When he asks that God would not suffer him to be put to shame, he offers up a prayer which is taken from the ordinary doctrine of Scripture, namely, that they who trust in God shall never be ashamed. The reason which is added, and which he here pleads, to induce God to have pity upon him, ought also to be noticed. It is this, that he might not be exposed to the derision of his enemies, whose pride is no less hurtful to the feelings of the godly than it is displeasing to God.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

O my God, I trust in thee,.... He claims his interest in God, and expresses his faith and confidence in him, in the midst of all his troubles; See Gill on Psa 7:1;

let me not be ashamed; meaning of his trust in God, by being disappointed of the help, deliverance, and salvation from him, which he trusted in him for; and the believer, as he has no reason to be ashamed of God, the object of his trust; so neither of the act of his hope or trust in him; nor shall he; for hope makes not ashamed; see Psa 119:116, Rom 5:5;

let not mine enemies triumph over me; either his temporal enemies, his subjects that were risen up against him; or his spiritual enemies, Satan, and the men of the world, who rejoice and triumph when the saints are forsaken by God; and they are ready to say, as David's enemies did of him, there is no help or salvation for him in God, Psa 3:2; and when they fall into their hands, or fall by them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

O my God, I trust in thee - This is the first thought - a feeling that he had true confidence in God, and that in all the duties of life, in all his trials, and in all his hopes for the future, his reliance was on God alone.

Let me not be ashamed - That is, let me never be so forsaken by thee as to have occasion for shame that I have thus trusted in thee. The prayer is not that he might never be ashamed to avow and confess his trust in God, but that he might “find” God to be such a helper and friend that he might never be ashamed on account of the trust which he had put in Him, as if it had been a false reliance; that he might not be disappointed, and made to feel that he had done a foolish thing in confiding in One who was not able to help him. See the word explained in the notes at Job 6:20. Compare Isa 30:5; Jer 8:9; Jer 14:3-4.

Let not mine enemies triumph over me - This explains what the psalmist meant by his prayer that he might not be “ashamed,” or put to shame. He prayed that he might not be vanquished by his foes, and that it might not appear that he had trusted in a Being who was unable to defend him. Applied now to us, the prayer would imply a desire that we may not be so overcome by our spiritual foes as to bring dishonor on ourselves and on the cause which we profess to love; that we may not be held up to the world as those who are unable to maintain the warfare of faith, and exposed to scorn as those who are unfaithful to their trust; that we may not be so forsaken, so left to trial without consolation, so given over to sadness, melancholy, or despair, as to leave the world to say that reliance on God is vain, and that there is no advantage in being his friends.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ashamed, i.e. disappointed of my hope, which will be reproachful to me, not without reflection upon thee, of whose power and faithfulness I have made my boast.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. My God—The pronoun indicates a still nearer approach—the “Abba, Father,” of the Old Testament. Rom_8:15.

Ashamed—The word radically signifies to be pale, to change colour, and denotes that state of mind which arises from disappointment, the sudden cutting off of hope. It is opposed to the word triumph, exult, in next line. In Psa_25:3 the psalmist shows that this prayer is not selfish, but grounded in righteousness. Shame and pale-facedness belong to the wicked; exultation and leaping for joy to the righteous.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

O my God, I trust in thee. (comp. Psa_7:1 Psa_11:1 Psa 31:I, Psa_31:6, etc.) Let me not be ashamed; i.e. do not disappoint my trust, and thereby bring me to shame. (comp. Job_6:20) Let not mine enemies triumph over me. It does not appear whether the "enemies" intended are domestic or foreign foes. Either would triumph were David disappointed of a confident expectation.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ashamed - Disappointed of my hope.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

2. My God, in thee have I trusted, let me not be ashamed; let not my enemies triumph over me, or more exactly, with respect to me. As the future verb of the preceding verse implies a fixed determination to confide in God hereafter, so the preterite in this verse indicates that such trust has been exercised already. The present is included under both forms.—Ashamed, disappointed, defeated in my plans and expectations. See above, on Psa 22:6 (5).—The last clause shews that suffering from enemies was in the Psalmist's mind throughout.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

trust

(See Scofield "Psa 2:12").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.