Psalm 25:16-22 NKJV
16 Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,
For I am desolate and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart have enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses!
18 Look on my affliction and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.
19 Consider my enemies, for they are many;
And they hate me with cruel hatred.
20 Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
Out of all their troubles!
The final verses of this psalm teach us those things for which we are to pray. We ask God to turn Himself toward us, to look upon us in mercy and favor. In this life we are desolate and afflicted. Even when life is “going well,” we are still under the affliction and desolation that sin brings upon the world. Living in a sinful world with temptations and dangers to our faith, our troubles easily enlarge and occupy our hearts and thoughts.
We are also to pray for the forgiveness of sins. We all have sin in our flesh, and at times we act upon the sin in our flesh. We should sorrow over the sin in our flesh and the sins we commit and pray, “Look on my affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins” (18). We ask God to consider our enemies—the wicked world, the devil, and our own sinful flesh—and keep and deliver us from them, lest we fall into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. We pray for integrity and uprightness, that we may live holy lives in thought, word, and behavior. These preserve us from many sins by directing our thoughts toward pleasing God and helping neighbor instead of how to serve the sinful flesh. Finally, we pray that God would redeem Israel—the church—from all its troubles and deliver it from evil.
These petitions are many of the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. We pray that God would look upon us in mercy so that we hallow His name, that His kingdom come among us by the gospel, and that His good and gracious will be done among us. We pray for the forgiveness of sins, strength during temptation, and deliverance from evil for ourselves and all believers.
The saints of the Old and New Testaments pray for the same blessings because they have the same problems and spiritual enemies. For as much technological progress as humanity has made, we cannot progress spiritually without the Lord’s favor, forgiveness, and strength that He gives in the gospel. He teaches us to pray for them again and again, for they are what we truly need.
Let us pray: Look upon us with Your mercy, O Lord, forgive our sins, keep us from temptation, and deliver us from our enemies today, for in You we put our trust. Amen.