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Psalm 25 - My hope is in you

Psalm 25

My hope is in you

Introduction
Psalm 25 is a lament psalm, written by David.

Summary
The whole passage speaks of the things God does for David, and the things David asks of God to do. Strangely David seems to switch between these two styles of writing every few lines. 

To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul, in you I trust, O my God
(Sidenote: the American official motto is "In God We Trust")
David opens this passage with this declaration of his faith - that he trusts God - that he trusts that all these things will happen because God has promised it.

No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame
Here comes a rather tricky statement - where this statement is made in Psalms, we later read about the apostles of Jesus, even Jesus himself - put to death in humiliating situations - on the cross, public stoning... etc. So what does this statement really mean?
We cannot be tied to the world's definition of shame - that we should consider shame the same way the world does - that death on a cross is shame. For death on the cross is of the moment - and He was rewarded with eternal glory. Similarly for us, if we are put to shame for Christ's sake - why should we? How can we be ashamed of God's greatest gift for us? Although sometimes we struggle with sharing the gospel to our friends - afraid of the rejection, afraid of the answers - "How can you believe something so crazy?" and so on... These are all just momentary shame - and shame because of our sinful condition. To be ashamed of the gospel is the thing which is truly crazy - why would we be ashamed of the absolute truth, and God's saving grace, no less?

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths
David asks this of God, for God is his Savior, and he puts his hope in God all day long.
It is an expression of the desire for David to walk in God's paths of righteousness, to do what pleases God.

Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, not the sins of my youth
Here is David's next plea of God - that he be remembered in God's mercy and love; not the sins of his youth. Interestingly, this is the same plea we should be making all the time.
Our youth, being the time before we come to know Christ truly - the time when we openly sin against God, the time when we have no regard for Him. This is the sinful-est time.
Following which, we come to know Christ, coming to maturity. We should then strive to walk the paths of God - living righteously without sin - not that we do not sin at all, but that we try not to.
But any sin committed is sin nonetheless, and God being a holy God cannot tolerate it, thus the plea - that God remembers us by His great mercy and love in Christ Jesus, who died to wash away the sins of our youth.
Pray for God to remember us - by the blood of His Son - his great mercy and love, and not the sins of our youth.

He instructs sinners in his ways
Probably the most beautiful statement of this paragraph, which talks about God teaching and guiding those who decide to keep the demands of His covenant. The utter rejection of God has not been reversely rejected by God, but instead, He instructs us and guides us, forgiving us - and makes His covenant known to us - allowing for us to be released from the snare of sin.

Because my hope is in you
This is David's concluding statement in his final list of last pleas - for God to be gracious, to take away his sins, to rescue him from his enemies. Most importantly he states the most important thing to God - Hope. Having a hope in God means so much more than saying "I believe in Jesus Christ".

It says:
"I believe in the person, works and words of Jesus Christ my LORD and Savior, that He not only came and died on the cross to set me free from sin, but also rose from the dead, and will return once more to judge, righting every wrong, rewarding the righteous and condemning the wicked."

To me, this is hope - in not only His first coming to save, but also His second coming to judge.
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