Introduction:
Psalm 25 is an acrostic or alphabetic Psalm, beginning with each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Psalm 25 is unusual in that three letters are left out and three repeated by the poetic license inspired by the Holy Spirit. Reasons for an acrostic include the giving of structure, the display of artistry, and the help of memorizing. It is also a symbolic way of conveying completeness, as in saying, “I have covered this topic from A to Z.”
The psalm was composed by King David. He mentions sins committed in his youth (v.7), making this a psalm written later in his life. In fact, because of the similarities to psalms written at the end of his life (such as 31, 37, 70, 71), it is reasonable to assume that Psalm 25 was written retrospectively in his old age. It has the hallmarks of a seasoned believer in God facing the trials and storms of life.
I want to use Psalm 25 to construct a spiritual “trouble kit,” a series of actions to work through, perhaps multiple times, in order to walk yourself through the pain and grief of any kind of suffering. The whole Psalm is a prayer, but I will save prayer as the first and last items in the “trouble kit.”
There are nine items in this “trouble kit,” each with questions for meditation to walk you through it.