Psalm 25

1 To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;

2 in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.

3 No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse.

4 Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;

5 guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.

6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O LORD.

8 Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

9 He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.

10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

11 For the sake of your name, O LORD,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ?
He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.

13 He will spend his days in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.

14 The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.

15 My eyes are ever on the LORD,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.

16 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.

22 Redeem Israel, O God,
from all their troubles!

The verses that speak to me most are verses 6 to 7.

Verse 6 is like the plea of the psalmist to God to show him His love and mercy. And that this love and mercy had never changed since the whole of creation. We know that God's love for us is everlasting. He is always faithful, and we are the ones who can sometimes be faithless.

Verse 7 is like another plea. It's the psalmist's prayer to God to forgive him of his past sins and rebellious ways. He hoped that God would lessen his afflictions and sufferings. Perhaps he has sinned big-time against God.


Somehow, the Holy Spirit just reminded me that even while I wasn't a Christian, I can still sin against God. And it's really by God's grace that all these sins have been forgiven. At the cross, the price of every past sin, present sin and future sin has been paid for by the blood of Jesus.

Sins of my youth (before I receive Christ)
1. In my anger, I had used many many vulgarities at my recruits when I was a Basic Military Training (BMT) instructor. Often, I scolded them for no good reasons.

2. I took my family for granted and was often rude and impatient to them. I would lose my temper easily, and couldn't get along well with my sister and father.

3. I even watched pornographic stuff, ranging from R(A) to triple X. These images have been stuck with me for really quite some time, even though I have stopped sinning in this area many years ago.

Dear God, remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD.

Things to ponder
1. What are some sins that you have committed, before you believe in Jesus or before you were serious about God? Name 2 and elaborate a few sentences each (they can be sins that you are still struggling with even now).
2. Pray and ask God to forgive you of your past sins and rebellious ways. And pray a prayer receiving God's forgiveness because of what Jesus had done at the cross.

Click here for Pastor YC's reflection on Psalm 25