Psalm Friday

Psalm Friday

Lift up your Soul
Psalm 25

* Pray. Ask God to give you an open heart and mind to learn new truths from His Word. Read Psalm 25 through three times. Record any thoughts or questions you have in your journal. If a verse stands out to you, write it on an index card and begin committing it to memory.

In this twenty-fifth Psalm of David, we find David kneeling with his hands and voice lifted up to God. There are no indications of the occasion on which this Psalm was composed. It is probably one of those Psalms that were composed in David’s leisure moments, with no outward existing cause - designed to express the feelings of the faithfulness, goodness, and perfection of God.

Psalm 25 is the first of a class of psalms which are known as “alphabetical,” in which the first word of each verse begins with one of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The thought behind the reasoning for this format of writing was so that the readers would have an easier time memorizing these beautiful words.

“To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.”
Psalm 25:1, NKJV

In my study of Psalm 25, I came across Charles H. Spurgeon’s commentary on verse 1. Today I leave you with his words on this beautiful first verse of Psalm 25.

“See how the holy soul flies to its God like a dove to its cote. When the storm-winds are out, the Lord's vessels put about and make for their well-remembered harbour of refuge. What a mercy that the Lord will condescend to hear our cries in time of trouble, although we may have almost forgotten him in our hours of fancied prosperity. “Unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul.” It is but mockery to uplift the hands and the eyes unless we also bring our souls into our devotions. True prayer may be described as the soul rising from earth to have fellowship with heaven; it is taking a journey upon Jacob's ladder, leaving our cares and fears at the foot, and meeting with a covenant God at the top. Very often the soul cannot rise, she has lost her wings, and is heavy and earth-bound; more like a burrowing mole than a soaring eagle. At such dull seasons we must not give over prayer, but must, by God's assistance, exert all our power to lift up our hearts. Let faith be the lever and grace be the arm, and the dead lump will yet be stirred. But what a lift it has sometimes proved! With all our tugging and straining we have been utterly defeated, until the heavenly loadstone of our Saviour's love has displayed its omnipotent attractions, and then our hearts have gone up to our Beloved like mounting flames of fire.”

How comforting it is to know that no matter how far I have roamed away from the God of the universe, He is still willing to incline His ear to me. May our souls rise today, from earth to heaven, in order to experience intimate fellowship with God our Father. May we climb Jacob’s ladder, leaving all our worries behind, and embrace our loving God. May the power of the Holy Spirit so fill our souls that we soar on the wings of eagles. May our faith lift us and His grace sustain us. May the Lord Almighty set a flame burning within our hearts.