Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
Psalm 25:22 closes David’s personal prayer by widening it to all Israel. Throughout the psalm he has asked for guidance, forgiveness, deliverance, preservation, and mercy for himself (vv.4-7,11,16-21). He has confessed his sins, feared the LORD, waited upon Him, and pleaded against enemies. But David does not end with himself. His own troubles remind him of the needs of God’s people generally, and his last request gathers them all into one petition: “Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.”
“Redeem Israel.” The verse itself names what Israel is to be redeemed out of: his troubles. When David used this word, he meant God’s rescue of His people from distress and danger. He swore by the LORD who had redeemed his soul out of all adversity and out of all distress (II Samuel 4:9; I Kings 1:29), and he praised God for Israel, the nation God went to redeem for a people to Himself out of Egypt (II Samuel 7:23). A later psalm rehearses the same mercy: “And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy” (Psalm 106:10). David’s own troubles were of this kind: “Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred” (v.19).
David does not confuse this request with his prayers for pardon. For his sins he asked God to forgive: “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great” (v.11). In one verse he set the two side by side: “Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins” (v.18). Affliction is to be looked upon and relieved; sins are to be forgiven. Verse 22 asks God for the first, and David asks it on behalf of the whole nation.
“Israel.” David names the nation God had set him over. The LORD had said to him, “Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel” (II Samuel 5:2). The pronoun in the verse is singular, “his troubles,” for David speaks of the whole nation as one man, Israel. The king who was himself “desolate and afflicted” (v.16) did not forget the flock committed to his care.
The name also turns David’s private burden into concern for all God’s people. He has spent much of the psalm saying “me,” “my,” and “mine,” but he ends with “Israel.” A godly man should not pray as though his own needs were the whole kingdom of God. Paul later commanded, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:4). Personal trouble should enlarge sympathy for other saints rather than narrow the heart around itself.
“O God.” David directs the petition to the only One able to perform it. Israel cannot finally redeem Israel. Kings, armies, alliances, wealth, and human wisdom may serve as instruments, but deliverance belongs to God. “Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah” (Psalm 3:8). David therefore does not end by calling Israel to greater self-confidence. He calls upon God.
This keeps redemption gracious. David has confessed both personal sin and dependence upon mercy. He does not present Israel as a people whom God must redeem because they have earned deliverance. He asks God. The whole prayer rests upon divine goodness: “Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way” (v.8). The Redeemer is good; the people redeemed are needy.
“Out of all his troubles.” The request is comprehensive. Israel’s troubles are many in kind and number, but none lies outside God’s power. David does not ask relief from one carefully selected problem while assuming the rest are too difficult. Earlier he prayed, “The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses” (v.17). What David asks personally, he now asks for Israel collectively.
This does not promise that every trouble disappears immediately. David himself had to wait: “Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net” (v.15). Deliverance may be delayed, gradual, or accomplished in a form different from what the sufferer expected. God may overthrow an enemy, open an escape, strengthen His servant to endure, or carry him through the trial until His purpose is complete. No trouble is greater than God, and no combination of troubles exhausts His ability.
God answered Israel’s cry for redemption in Jesus Christ. Zacharias, filled with the Holy Ghost, prophesied at the birth of John: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:68-69). He declared God’s purpose in it: “That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us” (Luke 1:71). The Son of David came to do for His people what David asked of God for Israel.
God still hears His people when they cry to Him out of trouble. “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17). “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). David did not pray in vain for Israel, and the saints do not pray in vain for one another.
Do not let prayer end with yourself. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18). Carry the troubles of God’s people before Him, wait upon the Redeemer patiently, and trust Him to bring His people through every trouble He appoints.
Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
Psalm 25:22 closes David’s personal prayer by widening it to all Israel. Throughout the psalm he has asked for guidance, forgiveness, deliverance, preservation, and mercy for himself (vv.4-7,11,16-21). He has confessed his sins, feared the LORD, waited upon Him, and pleaded against enemies. But David does not end with himself. His own troubles remind him of the needs of God’s people generally, and his last request gathers them all into one petition: “Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.”
“Redeem Israel.” The verse itself names what Israel is to be redeemed out of: his troubles. When David used this word, he meant God’s rescue of His people from distress and danger. He swore by the LORD who had redeemed his soul out of all adversity and out of all distress (II Samuel 4:9; I Kings 1:29), and he praised God for Israel, the nation God went to redeem for a people to Himself out of Egypt (II Samuel 7:23). A later psalm rehearses the same mercy: “And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy” (Psalm 106:10). David’s own troubles were of this kind: “Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred” (v.19).
David does not confuse this request with his prayers for pardon. For his sins he asked God to forgive: “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great” (v.11). In one verse he set the two side by side: “Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins” (v.18). Affliction is to be looked upon and relieved; sins are to be forgiven. Verse 22 asks God for the first, and David asks it on behalf of the whole nation.
“Israel.” David names the nation God had set him over. The LORD had said to him, “Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel” (II Samuel 5:2). The pronoun in the verse is singular, “his troubles,” for David speaks of the whole nation as one man, Israel. The king who was himself “desolate and afflicted” (v.16) did not forget the flock committed to his care.
The name also turns David’s private burden into concern for all God’s people. He has spent much of the psalm saying “me,” “my,” and “mine,” but he ends with “Israel.” A godly man should not pray as though his own needs were the whole kingdom of God. Paul later commanded, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Philippians 2:4). Personal trouble should enlarge sympathy for other saints rather than narrow the heart around itself.
“O God.” David directs the petition to the only One able to perform it. Israel cannot finally redeem Israel. Kings, armies, alliances, wealth, and human wisdom may serve as instruments, but deliverance belongs to God. “Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah” (Psalm 3:8). David therefore does not end by calling Israel to greater self-confidence. He calls upon God.
This keeps redemption gracious. David has confessed both personal sin and dependence upon mercy. He does not present Israel as a people whom God must redeem because they have earned deliverance. He asks God. The whole prayer rests upon divine goodness: “Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way” (v.8). The Redeemer is good; the people redeemed are needy.
“Out of all his troubles.” The request is comprehensive. Israel’s troubles are many in kind and number, but none lies outside God’s power. David does not ask relief from one carefully selected problem while assuming the rest are too difficult. Earlier he prayed, “The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses” (v.17). What David asks personally, he now asks for Israel collectively.
This does not promise that every trouble disappears immediately. David himself had to wait: “Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net” (v.15). Deliverance may be delayed, gradual, or accomplished in a form different from what the sufferer expected. God may overthrow an enemy, open an escape, strengthen His servant to endure, or carry him through the trial until His purpose is complete. No trouble is greater than God, and no combination of troubles exhausts His ability.
God answered Israel’s cry for redemption in Jesus Christ. Zacharias, filled with the Holy Ghost, prophesied at the birth of John: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:68-69). He declared God’s purpose in it: “That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us” (Luke 1:71). The Son of David came to do for His people what David asked of God for Israel.
God still hears His people when they cry to Him out of trouble. “The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17). “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 34:19). David did not pray in vain for Israel, and the saints do not pray in vain for one another.
Do not let prayer end with yourself. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” (Ephesians 6:18). Carry the troubles of God’s people before Him, wait upon the Redeemer patiently, and trust Him to bring His people through every trouble He appoints.