Psalm 25, a prayer-psalm written by David is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The Hebrew alphabet has twenty-two letters and does not have case (upper and lower). Therefore, this poetic prayer has twenty-two verses.
The prayer begins by beseeching the Lord, “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.” Praying and meditation should be an important ritual in my life. Jesus often went to empty quiet places to pray. (Luke 5:16) Many prayers are in the Bible including Jesus’ prayer for his disciples and prayer on the Mount of Olives before Judas betrayed him to the high priest.
Jesus gave some wise advice about my prayer life, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matthew 6:5-8)
David asks to not be put to shame nor let his enemies triumph over him. People, to gain an advantage over others try to get others to shame their enemies. David is requesting relief from the slander of his enemies. Jesus was often publicly and in secret slandered. He told me that if they slandered him, they would slander me. Lord quiet their voices. Soften their treacherous lies. Those who are treacherous without excuse please put to shame.
