Psalm 25:1-11 – No Shame

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS 3 Jan 2016

TRANSLATION

1 Of David.
It is to You, Yahweh, I will lift up my soul.

2 My God, it is in You I have trusted.

Let me not be shamed;
let not my enemies triumph in relation to me.

3 Moreover, it is all those who wait on You that will not be shamed;
the vainly treacherous ones will be shamed.

4 Yahweh, cause me to know Your ways;
teach me Your paths;

5 Cause me to travel in your truth
and teach me,

because You are the God of my salvation;
It is for You that I have waited all this day.

6 Remember Your mercies, Yahweh, and Your lovingkindnesses,

because they are from eternity.

7 [As for the] sins of my youth and my transgressions, don’t remember [them];
according to Your lovingkindness remember Yourself for me, on account of Your goodness, Yahweh!

8 Goodness and righteousness characterize Yahweh, therefore

He instructs sinners in His way.

9 He causes the lowly ones to travel in His justice,

and he teaches lowly ones His way.

10 All Yahweh’s paths are lovingkindness and faithfulness

for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

11 On account of Your name, Yahweh, even pardon my iniquity,

for it is much...

INTRODUCTION

· On October 4 of last year, a man named Chris left home for a jog. After jogging for a little while around the area, he could see his home again in front of him, but this time he saw two men standing in front of the home, and both of the men had masks on.

o Now, let me pause and ask, “How you would feel if you were in his shoes?” Would you be scared? Worried about what those masked men were up to? Maybe wishing you had your cell phone on you so you could call 9-1-1? (Chris didn’t have his cell phone on him at the time.)

o Well, this encounter made the news – I actually saw a video of it yesterday. Would it surprise you to find out that Chris didn’t appear to look worried at all; he just kept jogging home as though nothing strange were happening. Part of the reason was that he knew that these two masked men were not able to bother him.

o What did Chris know that gave him that kind of confidence? Well, let me give you a little bit of information that will further orient you to what was going on. The man’s full name is Chris Davis, first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles. He had just hit a home run, his 47^th for the year, making him the home run leader in Major league baseball for the year 2015. That’s why it was on the news.

o Now, with that information, tell me does that change how you feel about Chris approaching the two men with the masks in front of home plate? Of course they were just the umpire and the catcher for the New York Yankees. Chris had just batted that ball somewhere high up in the stands, so there was no chance of the catcher tagging him out. As Chris crossed home plate, he just raised his hand to give his teammate a high-five.

o Having information that orients you to the big picture of what is going on makes all the difference in the world, doesn’t it?

· As we approach all the unknowns of the year 2016, wouldn’t you like to know the big picture so that you won’t be afraid of the things that are powerless to bother you?

· In Psalm 25, we see a picture of a king who was threatened by enemies, and yet, because this king understood the spiritual realities of God’s justice and the realities of the way that God develops relationships with human beings, this king was able to display a remarkable confidence about his future.

· This is a psalm of David. Let’s examine the spiritual truths that King David used to orient himself to life so that we too can be confident instead of fretful about our future!

· He begins by saying...

EXEGESIS

v1. It is to You, Yahweh, I will lift up my soul.

· The emphasis in the opening of this Psalm is the person to whom David offers his soul.

o It is not to vanity as per Psalm 24:4

o or to the pagan idols like Molech or Dagon,

o It is not to personal development or achievement.

o It is not to sports or games.

o It is not to God and country, or God and family.

o David is not up for grabs and he is not divided in his attention; he is committed to one God alone.

· That God is Yahweh/Jehovah/the LORD (spelled in all caps), the personal name for the one transcendent, personal God.

· You know, I was struck as I watched the recent Star Wars movie at the contrast between an impersonal “force” and a personal God. Even though “the force’s” quality of transcendence is a refreshing improvement over all the movies which deny the existence of anything supernatural, an impersonal “force” is not what we want; it can be manipulated, be used for good or evil, and it can only be “balanced,” never fixed. Yahweh, the personal God, on the other hand, is only good, and He is in the process of eradicating all evil. He can only be rebelled against or submitted to – never manipulated or abused. The supernatural must be approached personally.

· Now, the verb in v.1 “lift” is spelled in the Hebrew Imperfect tense, indicating what David will do from now into the future, whereas the verb that follows it in verse two (“trusted”) is spelled in the Hebrew Perfect tense, indicating what David has been doing from the past until now.

v2. My God, it is in You I have trusted. Let me not be shamed; let not my enemies triumph in relation to me.

· In effect, he is saying, “Lord, for years I have been taking my soul – my self – and placing it under Your protection, trusting that You will preserve my physical life for an appropriate length of time and give me spiritual life for eternity. I’m going to keep on doing this for the rest of my life. Now, Biblical prophecy assures me that as I do this, You will fulfill your covenantal promises to do what I am trusting you to do, that is, to protect me from my enemies and preserve my life into eternity.”

· We must all do this because we cannot control the outcome with our enemies:

o Satan is more powerful than you,

o the world has a lot of people who can gang up on you and overpower you,

o and even your own sin nature is your own worst enemy sometimes.

· We have enemies at multiple levels. David mentions problems with political enemies in v. 2, 15, and 19, as well as problems with the enemy of sin in vs. 7, 11, and 18.

· All we can reasonably do in the face of enemies more powerful than us then is to stand against them in Christ and trust that the LORD will keep us from being destroyed by all these enemies.

· The danger that David faces is framed by the word “shame.”

o In David’s culture, just about everything about a person could be summed up in terms of honor or shame.

o The Hebrew word for “shame” (boosh) literally means “to grow pale” or perhaps “to blush.” What causes you to blush or causes the blood to drain from your face?

o Shame is the realization that you did something wrong. It is intensified when everyone who is important to you is also aware of the fact that you did something wrong.

§ Maybe it was a play on your sports team that you botched, causing your team to lose the game.

§ Maybe it is a relational blunder. One of my most embarrassing moments was in high school when I stopped at the home of a young lady to take her to the prom as my date. But I made a big mistake. Without realizing it, I greeted her by the wrong name – the name of another girl in our class. When her mom corrected me with the right name, it dawned on me that I had pretty much destroyed that date – I was so embarrassed, I just wanted to crawl into a hole!

§ Shame also comes from breaking the rules and getting held accountable for it, like when you get pulled over by the police for running a red light, and then everybody that stopped for that red light drives by slowly, looking at you and saying, “Tsk tsk” to themselves.

§ Shame also comes when you invest in something or put a lot of trust in something or someone, and that thing or person fails. Like maybe Obamacare. Or my uncle who worked as an accountant for Enron. Every time he says that he was an accountant for Enron, people kind-of gasp because Enron became infamous for its dishonest accounting and cheating people, so he has to explain that he wasn’t one of the dishonest accountants.

· Shame for a king in David’s time may have felt like the end of the world. But how do we deal with our fear of blowing it and being shamed?

· David is somehow conscious that this song he is composing is not just intended for his own private devotional life, but intended to be recorded in the Bible for all believers to use as a pattern for prayer. Notice how he widens the application of assurance from just himself in v.2 to “all who wait” patiently on the LORD in v.3.

v3. Moreover, it is all those who wait on You that will not be shamed; the vainly treacherous ones will be shamed.

· We deal with the fear of blowing it and being shamed by waiting on the LORD. What does it mean to “wait”?

o Waiting is a function of trust: I don’t wait for a telemarketer because I don’t trust that he has anything worth waiting for. If I pick up the phone and there is this pause before the caller starts talking, I know it’s a telemarketer, so I try to end the call before they start talking. I will wait for God, on the other hand, because I believe He has something worth waiting for! Our kids count down the days until Christmas, but what God offers is far better than Christmas! The destruction of our enemies, the feast in heaven, the destruction of death, and the removal of all our tears and sin will make life better than we can possibly imagine!

o Psalm 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good... 4 Delight thyself also in Jehovah; And He will give thee the desires of thy heart. 5 Commit thy way unto Jehovah; Trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass... 7 Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for Him: Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass... 9 For evil-doers shall be cut off; But those that wait for Jehovah, they shall inherit the land… 34 Wait for Jehovah, and keep His way...

o Compare this trust-filled patience on God’s initiative to make things right in the Psalms with the New Testament: Philippians 1:20 “…my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing shall I be put to shame, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death. (21) For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”^{^[1]}

· The emphasis of the Hebrew wording in v.3 here is the party who will end up with shame. It won’t be those who wait on the LORD, rather it will be the treacherous – those who commit treason and betray their creator, who are deceitful, unfaithful covenant-breakers (Jer. 3:8,11,20, Hosea 6:7, Mal 2:10-16).

o Some interpret the Hebrew word raycam as “without cause/without a reason” implying that there might be some reason to justify being unfaithful in a relationship (if the other party has broken the covenant first), but David’s enemies have no such reason.

o Other translators use it as a descriptor of all treachery – it is “empty/vain,” so the wicked will not find their treachery satisfying, and God will not let wicked get away with it for long.

o A third possible interpretation is that the nature of the treachery of these enemies has to do with “emptiness” – in other words, they have left an obligation unfulfilled.

§ This word raycam shows up several times in the Old Testament law to describe the obligation of a master or benefactor not to send a laborer or a needy person away “empty”-handed (e.g. Gen. 31:42, Deut. 15:13).

§ Could David perhaps have been thinking of how Nabal had rebuffed him when he had asked for some food in exchange for protecting Nabal’s herds of sheep? Nabal had tried to shame David, but, in the end, shame came upon Nabal, when he died of a heart attack and his own wife called him a fool and went over to David!

· The Shame that the covenant-breakers will face ultimately refers to eternal punishment in the lake of fire (Matt. 18:8, Matt. 25:46, Luke 16:24-26, 2 Thess. 1:9, Rev. 14:11 & 20:10), realizing that they chose the losing side and that they did the kind of things that make the God of the universe furious at them, and for the rest of eternity, anyone who cares to look at them in hell can see for themselves what a fool they were and what their end was.

· Now, in case you feel that eternal, conscious torment is too harsh for God, let me suggest that C.S. Lewis was probably on to something in his book, The Great Divorce, (and John Milton before him in Paradise Lost) when they made their characters in hell so resolute in their rebellion against God that despite their torment they didn’t want to leave hell because the only way to enjoy heaven is to submit to God, but to willingly submit to God was unthinkable to them. Their hatred for God is so great that they willingly chose to remain in hell rather than to willingly submit to God in any shape, form, or fashion.

· Since waiting on the LORD for salvation is the way to avoid shame, David turns to ask God in the next two verses to help him do just that:

v4. Yahweh, cause me to know Your ways; teach me Your paths;
v5. Cause me to travel in your truth and teach me, because You are the God of my salvation; It is for You that I have waited all this day.

· The picture I get is that David has been praying all day long about this challenge presented to him by a particular set of enemies, and this Psalm was composed toward the end of the day as his mind cleared and he began to get oriented to the spiritual realities of God’s sovereignty in this problem he faced.

o Like when you realize, “Oh, the masked men are the umpire and the catcher and the ball is still in the stands. It’s all right.”

o David remembers that his security is found in God, and so he asks God to keep revealing truth to him and to keep guiding him in what he should do to walk in a covenantal relationship of trust and devotion to the one true God.

· How does God teach us his paths? Through the Spirit and the Word.

o Opening our hearts to God to be taught His ways through reading or listening to the Bible is one of the primary ways we “wait on the LORD” and “trust” Him.

o Then again, there is the personal interaction we have with the Son of God (who is “the way, the truth, and the life” - John 14:6) through His Spirit which, as 1 John 2:27 says, “teaches us everything.”

· The Hebrew word “lead/guide/lit. “cause to be on a road” is the root of the Hebrew word for the “way” (derek). This “way” or “path” belongs to the Lord, it is travelled by those who are “patiently waiting” for Him to “instruct” them and “teach” His way to them, and He Himself “guides/leads” them along this way.

· “The one way of righteousness [mentioned later in v. 8]... is actually composed of many moments of decision and faithfulness” yielding the plural “ways” in v.4. (Gerald Wilson)

· James Montgomery Boice, in his commentary on this verse noted, “[A]lthough it is true that God will not let us down, abandon us, or disappoint us, this blessed truth of perseverance is not something that merely works itself out automatically or mechanically. Rather, it is something that requires responsible learning, obedience, faithfulness, trust, and deep reverence on our part.”

· P.C. Craigie, in his commentary wrote, “[I]n Psalm 25... the prayer is that of a person who has made the choice [presented in Psalm 1] and is walking the road of the righteous, but... the right road is not an easy one on which to walk. It is lined with enemies who would like nothing better than to put the walker to shame; and the traveler on the road is also plagues with internal doubts, as he calls to mind previous wanderings from the path and former sins... [I]t is a road too difficult to walk without the companionship and friendship of God.”

· So David prays...

v6. Remember Your mercies, Yahweh, and Your lovingkindnesses, because they are from eternity.

· Racham (“tender mercies”) and chesed (relationship-based kindnesses motivated by love) are plural. I think this emphasizes the abundance of these characteristics within God.

· Furthermore, mercy and love have always characterized God from eternity past (olem, not merely from the “old” days, which would be a different Hebrew root – zcn, but since “forever.”).

· The two characteristics of David’s youth in the next verse stand in stark contrast:

v7. [As for the] sins of my youth and my transgressions, don’t remember [them]; according to Your lovingkindness remember Yourself for me, on account of Your goodness, Yahweh!

· The Hebrew literally reads “Remember toward me yourself.” It appears to me that the “yourself” is the object of the verb “remember,” and that the prepositional phrase “to/for me” indicates that David will be the beneficiary of God’s remembrance of God’s attributes and of God’s remembrance of Christ Himself rather than remembering David’s sins.

· In other words, “Don’t remember what characterizes me (namely ‘sin’ & ‘transgression’); rather remember what characterizes You (namely ‘goodness’).”

· It is on the basis of God’s mercy and lovingkindness that God can forgive sinners; it is also on the basis of God’s goodness and righteousness that God can justify sinners and teach sinners the right way to live. David is therefore not being disrespectful in commanding God to teach Him His ways in v.4, David is merely egging God on to do the very thing he knows God loves to do.

v8. Goodness and righteousness characterize Yahweh, therefore He instructs sinners in His way.
v9. He causes the lowly ones to travel in His justice, and He teaches lowly ones His way.

· Mishpat has a definite article in the Hebrew of verse 9; it is not just any man’s sense of justice, It is THE justice, God’s justice, just as the “way” is “HIS way.”

· This is a picture of justification and sanctification – our entry into the way of righteousness as well as the journey of travelling along the way.

· But both are reserved for the humble.

o Remember what we read recently in 1 Peter 5:5? “God arrays Himself against the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.”

o Remember in the parable of the two men in the temple, it was the man who humbled himself, acknowledged that he was a sinner unworthy of God’s love, and who prayed, “O God, might there be a propitiation for me?” who went out justified and walking in the way of the Lord. The proud Pharisee was neither made right with God nor did God guide him in His way.

· In order to be delivered from shame, we need not only to be humble before God but also obedient:

v10. All Yahweh’s paths are lovingkindness and faithfulness for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

· Like our English word “true,” the Hebrew word “emet” can mean both “true” as in “not telling lies” as well as “true” as in “never abandoning a friend.” God’s ways are “accurate” as well as “faithful.” In v.5, all the English versions translated this word “true” because it was in the context of God instructing man, giving him true information. Here in v. 10, the ESV and NIV switch to translate the word “faithful” to match the love which God shows us by never leaving or forsaking us (Heb. 13:5).

· God guides, teaches, and instructs sinners who are willing to humble themselves and follow Him subjectively through His Spirit and objectively through the Bible.

· “Keeping/guarding” the covenant is another way of expressing walking in the way of the Lord. God has testified to mankind through the prophets and apostles who wrote the scriptures. He has borne witness – even using oaths (Gen. 26:3, Ps. 132:11, Heb. 6:17) – as to what is true and what is false, what is good and what is evil, and what He will do to bless those who are made right with Him and what He will do to punish those who rebel against Him and his truth and his righteousness to walk in their own ways.

· I like what Gerald Wilson said in his commentary on this Psalm, “This idea of a ‘covenant for sinners’ is born out by the Old Testament narratives of... Abraham, Jacob, David, Gideon, and Samson... all ‘sinners’ who nonetheless found themselves bound graciously into a covenant relationship with Yahweh. Abraham with his constant confusion of self-interest and divine promise; Jacob’s numerous attempts to manipulate and control the gift of divine blessing; David and his abuse of kingly power for personal gain and gratification; Gideon’s creation of... idols to lead the people astray; Samson’s self-destructive pursuit of love in the arms of the enemy – none of these sinners could undermine God’s purpose to establish and flesh out a relationship of salvation with His people. God relentlessly pursues these and other sinners. He instructs them in His ways... and makes His covenant known to them... When we come to the New Testament... Jesus brings much the same message in His earthly ministry. When confronted by the Pharisees over His association with ‘tax collectors and sinners’ Jesus replied pointedly, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’ (Mark 2:17).”

· Now we come to the crux of the chiastic structure of Psalm 25. This is the most important line in the poem; all the other lines point to it. It’s a prayer for forgiveness of sin:

v11. On account of Your name, Yahweh, even pardon my iniquity, for it is much.

· Note that David does not say, “Forgive my iniquity because I couldn’t help it.” He doesn’t say, “Forgive my iniquity because my sins are rather petty compared to my predecessor King Saul.” He does not say, “Forgive my iniquity, God, because I’ve done so much for you – see the millions of dollars worth of building materials I have gathered to build Your temple!” Instead he says, “My offenses against You are too great for me to fix” – and by “great” he didn’t mean “good;” he meant his iniquity was so huge it couldn’t be ignored,

· “therefore,” David says, “pardon me on the basis of Your character” as “the God of my salvation” Who provides both justice and mercy – truth and lovingkindness – in His covenant and in His personal relationship with us.

· In Hebrew, a person’s name includes their reputation. We have already seen what characterizes the reputation of the LORD in verses 6-8: Mercy, lovingkindness, Goodness, and truth.

· Only the mountain of God’s righteousness and goodness and mercy and love which Jesus, the Son of God, brought into this world is big enough to bulldoze away the formidable heap of offenses we pile up against God and all the shame that results from it. Jesus did it by getting on the cross, enduring the shame, and letting God the Father punish Him for every sin we will ever commit.

CONCLUSION

As we face a new year and all the uncertainties and challenges that come with it, remember that God knows the way through the wilderness. He has the power to keep you safe. If you have that perspective, then you can smile at all your foes – all those masked men – and humbly and obediently keep lifting your soul to Jesus, trusting Jesus, waiting on Him, knowing that He will teach you the way and lead you in truth and forgive you of your sin because of His justice and mercy and lovingkindness and goodness and righteousness. It’ll be o.k. You won’t be put to shame!

COMPARISON of Psalm 25:1-11 texts and versions

Masoretic	NAW	LXX (Ps. 24)	KJV	NKJV	ESV	NASB	NIV
1 לְדָוִד ^{^[1]}אֵלֶיךָ יְהוָה נַפְשִׁי אֶשָּׂא:	1 Of David. It is to You, Yahweh, I will lift up my soul.	1 [Ψαλμὸς] τῷ Δαυιδ. Πρὸς σέ, κύριε, ἦρα τὴν ψυχήν μου, ὁ θεός μου.	1 A Psalm of David. Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.	1 [A Psalm] of David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.	1 Of David. To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.	1 A Psalm of David. To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul.	1 Of David. To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
2 אֱלֹהַי בְּךָ בָטַחְתִּי אַל-אֵבוֹשָׁה אַל-יַעַלְצוּ אֹיְבַי לִי:	2 My God, it is in You I have trusted. Let me not be shamed; let not my enemies triumph concerning me.	2 ἐπὶ σοὶ πέποιθα· μὴ καταισχυνθείην, μηδὲ καταγελασάτωσάν μου οἱ ἐχθροί μου.	2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.	2 O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me.	2 O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.	2 O my God, in You I trust, [Do] not let me be ashamed; [Do] not let my enemies exult over me.	2 in you I trust, O my God. [Do] not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
3 גַּם כָּל-קוֶֹיךָ לֹא יֵבֹשׁוּ יֵבֹשׁוּ הַבּוֹגְדִים רֵיקָם:	3 Moreover, it is all those who wait on You that will not be shamed; the vainly treacherous ones will be shamed.	3 καὶ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ὑπομένοντές σε οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῶσιν· αἰσχυνθήτωσαν πάντες οἱ ἀνομοῦντες διὰ κενῆς.	3 Yea, ~~let~~ none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.	3 Indeed, ~~let~~ no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.	3 Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.	3 Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed; Those who deal treacherously without cause will be ashamed.	3 X No one who~~se hope is~~ in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.
4 דְּרָכֶיךָ יְהוָה הוֹדִיעֵנִי ^{^[2]}אֹרְחוֹתֶיךָ לַמְּדֵנִי:	4 Yahweh, cause me to know Your ways; teach me Your paths;	4 τὰς ὁδούς σου, κύριε, γνώρισόν μοι [καὶ] τὰς τρίβους σου δίδαξόν με.	4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.	4 Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths.	4 Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths.	4 Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths.	4 Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;
5 הַדְרִיכֵנִי בַאֲמִתֶּךָ ^{^[3]}וְלַמְּדֵנִי כִּי-אַתָּה אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׁעִי אוֹתְךָ קִוִּיתִי כָּל-הַיּוֹם:	5 Cause me to travel^{^[4]} in your truth and teach me, because You are the God of my salvation; It is for You that I have waited all this^{^[5]} day.	5 ὁδήγησόν με ἐπὶ τὴν^{^[6]} ἀλήθειάν σου καὶ δίδαξόν με, ὅτι σὺ εἶ [ὁ] θεὸς [ὁ] ~~σωτήρ~~ μου, [καὶ] σὲ ὑπέμεινα ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν.	5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.	5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.	5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day [long].	5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.	5 guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God X my ~~Savior^{^[7]}~~, and my hope is in you all X day [long].
6 זְכֹר-רַחֲמֶיךָ ^{^[8]}יְהוָה וַחֲסָדֶיךָ כִּי מֵעוֹלָם הֵמָּה:	6 Remember Your mercies, Yahweh, and Your lovingkindnesses, because they are from eternity.	6 μνήσθητι τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν σου, κύριε, καὶ τὰ ἐλέη σου, ὅτι ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνός εἰσιν.	6 Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.	6 Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old.	6 Remember your mercyX, O LORD, and your steadfast loveX, for they have been from of old.	6 Remember, O LORD, Your compassionX and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old.	6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercyX & loveX, for they are from of old.
7 חַטֹּאות נְעוּרַי וּפְשָׁעַי אַל-תִּזְכֹּר כְּחַסְדְּךָ זְכָר-לִי-אַתָּה לְמַעַן טוּבְךָ יְהוָה:	7 [As for the] sins of my youth & my transgresssions, don’t remember [them]; according to Your lovingkindness remember Yourself^{^[9]} for me, on account of Your goodness, Yahweh!	7 ἁμαρτίας νεότητός μου καὶ ~~ἀγνοίας~~ μου μὴ μνησθῇς· κατὰ τὸ ἔλεός σου μνήσθητί μου σὺ ἕνεκα τῆς χρηστότητός σου, κύριε.	7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy ~~mercy~~ remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.	7 Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your ~~mercy~~ remember me, For Your goodness' sake, O LORD.	7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!	7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness' sake, O LORD.	7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my ~~rebellious ways~~; according to your love remember me, for X youX ~~are~~ good, O LORD.
8 טוֹב-וְיָשָׁר יְהוָה עַל-כֵּן יוֹרֶה חַטָּאִים בַּדָּרֶךְ:	8 Goodness & righteousness characterize Yahweh, therefore He directs^{^[10]} sinners in His way.	8 χρηστὸς καὶ εὐθὴς ὁ κύριος· διὰ τοῦτο νομοθετήσει ἁμαρτάνοντας ἐν X ὁδῷ.	8 Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.	8 Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.	8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.	8 Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way.	8 Good & upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his way[s].
9 יַדְרֵךְ עֲנָוִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט וִילַמֵּד עֲנָוִים דַּרְכּוֹ:	9 He causes the lowly ones to travel in His^{^[11]} justice, and he teaches lowly ones His way.	9 ὁδηγήσει πραεῖς ἐν X κρίσει, διδάξει πραεῖς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ.	9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.	9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.	9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.	9 He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way.	9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches ~~them~~ his way.
10 כָּל-אָרְחוֹת יְהוָה חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת לְנֹצְרֵי בְרִיתוֹ וְעֵדֹתָיו:	10 All Yahweh’s paths are lovingkindness and faithfulness^{^[12]} for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies^{^[13]}.	10 πᾶσαι αἱ ὁδοὶ κυρίου ἔλεος καὶ ἀλήθεια τοῖς ~~ἐκζητοῦσιν~~ τὴν διαθήκην αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ μαρτύρια αὐτοῦ.	10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.	10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.	10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.	10 All the paths of the LORD are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.	10 All the ~~ways~~ of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep ~~the demands of~~ his covenant X X X.
11 לְמַעַן-שִׁמְךָ יְהוָה וְסָלַחְתָּ לַעֲוֹנִי כִּי רַב-הוּא:	11 On account of Your name^{^[14]}, Yahweh, even pardon my iniquity, for it is much.	11 ἕνεκα τοῦ ὀνόματός σου, κύριε, καὶ ἱλάσῃ τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ μου· πολλὴ γάρ ἐστιν.	11 For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.	11 For Your name's sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.	11 For your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.	11 For Your name's sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.	11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

^{^[1]} cf. Psalm 130:5 I wait for Jehovah, my soul doth wait, And in his word do I hope. 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord More than watchmen wait for the morning... 7 O Israel, hope in Jehovah; For with Jehovah there is lovingkindness, And with him is plenteous redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

and Isaiah 41:10-11 “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame* and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.”