History of writing and meaning of the psalm
Great despair and sadness covered King David at the moment when he learned of the betrayal of his son Absalom. There are no open attacks yet, but the Jewish land is already filled with false rumors about the reign of God’s anointed. The righteous does not run to prove anything. He kneels before the throne of God in prayer.
In Psalm 25, David asks God to deliver him from the attacks of his enemies.
At the time of writing Psalm 25, King David could freely visit the tabernacle and bring gifts.
This fact once again emphasizes that the time of writing is not associated with persecution from Saul, when the psalmist was forced to constantly hide.
1 Judge me, O Lord, according to Your righteousness, for I live in kindness and, trusting in the Lord, I will not faint.
2 Tempt me, O Lord, test me, set my womb and my heart on fire!
3 Your mercy is before my eyes, and I have pleased You by keeping Your truth.
4 I have not sat in the council of vain men, neither will I go in with the wicked.
5 I have hated the congregation of the wicked, and will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands with the innocent, and will walk around your altar, O Lord;
7 Let me hear the song of Your glory and tell Your wonders.
8 Lord, I have loved the beauty of Your house and the holy place where Your glory dwells.
9 May you not destroy my soul with the wicked, or my life with men who shed blood!
10 Iniquity is in their hands, they are full of covetousness.
11 But I live in kindness; deliver me
12 Lord, have mercy on me! My feet are on the right path; I will bless You in the churches, Lord!
Text of Orthodox Psalm 25 in Russian with interpretation
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How often does it happen that we boldly ask God for something that, it would seem, we cannot live without, but after receiving what we asked for, we understand that we not only do not need it, but even do harm. To prevent this from happening, the holy fathers advise reading and listening to the 25th Psalm of King David so that the person praying does not harm himself and accepts His will with humility and obedience.
The text of the Christian Psalm 25 is a logical continuation of the previous Psalm, the 24th - it was written in the same way as a result of the persecution of David by his son Absalom and is, in fact, a prayer to God asking for protection from unrighteous filial wrath. As you know, Absalom fell into disgrace and was expelled from Israel because he organized the murder of his older half-brother, thus deciding to punish him for dishonoring his own sister. Despite the fact that the prophet David soon changed his anger to mercy, the relationship between father and son remained cold, and ultimately Absalom decided to take David’s place. The interpretation of the Christian psalm tells that David subsequently returned and took his place, and his son was put to shame.
Listen to the video of the Orthodox prayer Psalm 25 in Russian
Read the Orthodox text of the prayer Psalm 25 in Russian
Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and trusting in the Lord, I will not be shaken. Tempt me, O Lord, and try me; melt my inward parts and my heart, for Thy mercy is before my eyes, and I have walked in Thy truth; I have not sat with lying people, and I will not go with deceitful people; I have hated the gathering of evil-doers, and I will not sit with the wicked; I will wash my hands in innocence and walk around Your altar, O Lord, to proclaim with the voice of praise and tell all Your wonders. God! I have loved the habitation of Your house and the dwelling place of Your glory. Do not destroy my soul with sinners and my life with the bloodthirsty, who have crime in their hands, and whose right hand is full of bribery. But I walk in my integrity; deliver me, O Lord, and have mercy on me. My foot is on the straight path; in the meetings I will bless the Lord.
Psalter, text of Psalm 25 in Church Slavonic language
Judge me, Lord, for I have walked in kindness; and trusting in the Lord I will not faint. Tempt me, O Lord, and test me, kindle my belly and my heart. For thy darkness is before my eyes, and I am well pleased in thy truth. I do not ride with a vain crowd, and I do not go anywhere with lawbreakers. I hate the church of the wicked, and I will not sit with the wicked. I will wash my innocent hands and reclaim your altar, O Lord, so that I may hear the voice of your praise and tell me all your wonders. Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house and the dwelling place of your glory. May you not destroy my soul with the wicked and my life with the men of blood, whose hand of iniquity is filled with reward. I walk with my kindness; deliver me, O Lord, and have mercy on me. My foot is in the right; in the churches I will bless you, Lord.
Psalm 25
Psalm to David | Psalm of David. |
| 1 Judge me, O Lord, that I have walked in kindness, and trusted in the Lord, and have not fainted. | 1 Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in goodness, and trusting in the Lord, I will not faint. |
| 2 Tempt me, O Lord, and try me, kindle my bowels and my heart. | 2 Test me, O Lord, and try me, melt my bowels and my heart. |
| 3 For Thy mercy is before my eyes, and I am well pleased in Thy truth. | 3 For Your mercy is before my eyes, and I have been well pleased with You in Your truth. |
| 4 I did not ride with a vain company, nor with the transgressors. | 4 I have not sat in the council of vanity, neither will I go with the transgressors, |
| 5 I hate the church of the wicked, and will not sit with the wicked. | 5 I have hated the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked. |
| 6 I will wash my innocent hands, and will build up your altar, O Lord. | 6 I will wash my hands among the innocent and will circumambulate Your altar, O Lord. |
| 7 Let me hear the voice of Your praise, and tell me all Your wonders. | 7 that I may hear the voice of Your praise and tell me of all Your wonders. |
| 8 Lord, I have loved the beauty of Your house and the dwelling place of Your glory. | 8 Lord, I have loved the splendor of Your house and the dwelling place of Your glory. |
| 9 Let me not destroy my soul with the wicked, or my belly with the blood of men. | 9 Do not destroy my soul with the wicked, nor my life with the bloodthirsty, |
| 10 In the hand of iniquity, their right hand is filled with reward. | 10 who have iniquity in their hands, their right hand is full of unrighteous reward. |
| 11 But I have walked through my kindness, deliver me, O Lord, and have mercy on me. | 11 But I walked in my goodness; deliver me, O Lord, and have mercy on me. |
| 12 My foot is in righteousness: in the churches I will bless Thee, O Lord. | 12 My foot is on the straight path; in the meetings I will bless You, O Lord. |
Judge me, Lord, that I walked in kindness, and trusted in the Lord, and I will not faint. Tempt me, O Lord, and test me, kindle my bowels and my heart. For Thy mercy is before my eyes, and I am well pleased in Thy truth. I do not ride with a vain crowd, and I do not go anywhere with lawbreakers. I hate the church of the wicked, and I will not sit with the wicked. I will wash my innocent hands, and I will build Your altar, O Lord. Let me hear the voice of Your praise and tell me all Your wonders. Lord, I have loved the beauty of Your house and the dwelling place of Your glory. May you not destroy my soul with the wicked, and do not destroy my belly with the men of blood. In the hand of iniquity, their right hand is filled with reward. But I have walked through my kindness, deliver me, O Lord, and have mercy on me. My foot is in the right: in the churches I will bless You, Lord.
25:1Psalm of David. Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and trusting in the Lord, I will not be shaken.
To judge is not to condemn, but to sort out David’s entire life path. David was confident that he walked in integrity with God. This means that all the mistakes he made were accidental, unreasonable, and ignorant. For if a person deliberately violates God’s principles, he can no longer consider himself blameless.
25:
2 Tempt me, O Lord, and try me;
melt my insides and my heart, The righteous does not hide from trials, but wants to be tested for “strength”, for he is interested in becoming better. Therefore, I am glad if they show him what to improve by looking into his insides - from above.
Anyone who asks God to test him acts wisely, for it is impossible to maintain integrity in temptations if there are no temptations, if everything is easy and excellent. If Adam had not had to choose between Eve and God, then people could still live happily in paradise. That is why Peter said that they should not reject the fiery temptation, but should patiently go through their course, being tempered like steel.
25:
3 For Your mercy is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.
He who is confident in his righteousness will not be afraid to speak to the Lord about right actions. David was uncomfortable with the company of those who did not honor God. And if someone enjoys spending time in such communities, does he honor God? Big question.
25:
4,5 I have not sat with lying people, neither will I go with deceitful people;
5 I have hated the congregation of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked; David understands that bad communities inevitably corrupt good morals and tries to distance himself from everyone who could sow in him thoughts that lead away from God and His ways. Since David lived among God's people, it is worth noting that being a member of God's people does not automatically make one person a good member of the community. What matters is what our communication with him encourages,
whether to fulfill God's commandments or to violate them, whether communication with him increases our moral standards and the desire to walk in integrity - or, conversely, decreases.
25:
6,7 I will wash my hands in innocence and walk around your altar, O Lord, 7 to proclaim with the voice of praise and tell all your wonders.
In order to tell someone about the holiness of God and His great deeds, you must first of all try to have unstained hands yourself. Although it is clear that even if we ourselves often act wrongly, we have no right to teach someone to do the same wrong.
25:
8-10 Lord!
I have loved the habitation of Your house and the dwelling place of Your glory. 9 Do not destroy my soul with sinners, or my life with the bloodthirsty, 10 in whose hands is wickedness, and whose right hand is full of bribery. David hoped that he could not deserve the same fate as the wicked, for he loved the House of God and His worship.
But he who loves the abode of God cannot act like an atheist, whose hands thirst for blood, the reward of unrighteousness and crime.
David did not thirst, but sometimes he acted badly. The Apostle Paul explained this contradiction in the sinful nature of the descendants of Adam: There is a DESIRE FOR GOOD, but doing it is often a problem (Rom. 7:18)
25:11
But I walk in my integrity
; deliver me and have mercy on me. David was sure that his integrity would not pass by the Almighty.
25:12
My foot is on the straight [path]
; in the meetings I will bless the Lord. As we see, praising God in a gathering of people is also part of worshiping Him. This text is for all who do not recognize the need to seek the assembly of God’s people on earth and to worship God in His assemblies.
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The twenty-second psalm is very widely used in the West, where it is sometimes read instead of the “Our Father” and is used as a strong protection against all sorts of troubles and enemies, dark forces and influences. This psalm is very powerful and has so many uses and different rituals for its use. I will describe some of them.
If Psalm 22 is read seven times a day for seven days, then this opens the doors of prosperity and monetary abundance to a person. It's better to read at dawn. Anyone who completes this weekly ritual will soon begin to get out of material problems, he will begin to have money and his business will begin to grow. Don’t forget, when you read a psalm, no one should disturb you and you should look towards the east. If a person wants to fulfill his desire, then let him go to the temple and put three candles there, to those icons where he is drawn. After this, you need to read Psalm 22 three times and after each reading, say your desire, for example: “Lord, grant me to buy a two-room apartment, with all the amenities by Your mercy.” Do this three times, not necessarily every day, but for 10 days. Then your goal will be achieved very quickly. If any person has nightmares in his sleep, he is subjected to psychic attacks, hexes and in every possible way he is attacked with black magic, then the protection of the 22nd Psalm will be simply irreplaceable. Read the psalm on coarse salt 3 times and sprinkle it under the bed, and also try it a little yourself. Be sure to read the psalm three times while lying in bed. This psalm will cover you with an invisible veil from all witchcraft attacks and bad influences. There is an ancient Kabbalistic instruction that if anyone wants to live in prosperity and abundance, let him read this psalm before washing his hands before meals. The famous Kabbalist Arizal (Rabbi Yitzchak Luria Ashkenazi) explains the connection between Psalm 22 and the meal as follows. The psalm contains 57 words in Hebrew, and the word “sustenance” in gematria carries the numerical value of 57. There are 227 letters in the psalm, which corresponds to the numerical value of the word “blessing”. And in Kabbalah, words and number correspondences have a very strong spiritual connection. Therefore, if you read this psalm before washing your hands before eating, then each time a person receives a blessing for food and prosperity. And such a famous and famous Kabbalist as Arizal knew a lot about such matters. Psalm 22 The Lord is my Shepherd; I will lack for nothing: He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters, He strengthens my soul, He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff - they calm me. Thou hast prepared a table before me in the sight of my enemies; anointed my head with oil; my cup is overflowing. Thus, may Thy goodness and mercy accompany me all the days of my life, and I will abide in the house of the Lord many days.
