Psalm 25:16-21 - March 18, 2009

Ps 25:16-21 "Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. 18 Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19 See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20 Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you. 21 May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you." NIV

Psalm 25 is a very emotional journey of David’s heart reaching for consolation and comfort from the presence of the Lord. It is a powerful mix of conversation with God, reflection on the ways of God, the benefits of following Him, and a heart cry of pain and desperation. David is longing for God to turn to Him with grace. Have you ever felt as if God wasn’t looking your way? Even David expresses this same sense of distance between his pain and God’s grace; so he is crying out for the knowledge of God’s nearness. As we turn our attention to these last verses, it sheds a unique light onto the previous verses.
As David reveals the depths of his pain and the struggles he is facing in his emotions, it becomes more apparent that his previous reflections have been to a large degree intended to comfort his own heart by remembering the character and ways of the Lord.
Consider the emotional nature of David’s self description: lonely and afflicted, a troubled heart, anguish, affliction, and distress. If there is one word that expresses the root of what David is feeling it might be pressure! David is feeling the pressure that is seemingly surrounding him on all sides, and these pressures are seeking to overwhelm his focus on the goodness of God. At its heart this passage is a cry for freedom and a declaration of hope. David is wrestling with the conflict in his own heart, and he is fighting by holding on to the remembrance of who God is and has been to him.
The psalmist is committed to holding onto his integrity and uprightness in the midst of the pressure, and it is his confidence in the fact that God honors those who walk uprightly that is strengthening him in this time of testing.
This psalm is a tremendous reminder that the Lord is a shelter for those who please Him in the way that they live their lives. When pressure touches our lives, one of the primary areas that is placed in the path of temptation to compromise is our character and integrity. Often times there is more than one choice available to resolve the issues that we are facing, but in many instances at least one of those choices presents itself as an easier path, but one that requires compromise of our values or principles. Consider Satan’s offer to Christ as he said, “worship me and I will give you all of these things.” Satan offered Christ the same reward that was to be his through obedience to the Father but his offer bypassed the trial of the cross. We are often offered short cuts to relief, but too often they also come at the expense of compromise. As David considers the enemies who are seeking to destroy him, he holds firmly to his decision to find refuge in the knowledge of God’s goodness to those who hope in Him and hold to His ways no matter what the cost.