Psalm 25

Psalm 25 (Hebrew numbering; Psalm 24 in Greek numbering) of the Book of Psalms, one of the psalms of David, has the form of an acrostic Hebrew poem. It is the second of the seven so-called Penitential Psalms.

This psalm has a strong formal relationship to Psalm 34. Both are alphabetic acrostics, with missing each time the verse Waw, which was added a verse to Pe a prayer of deliverance of Israel. As an Acrostic the verses in the psalm are arranged according to the Hebrew alphabet, with the exception of the letters Bet, Waw and Qoph which together according to Jewish interpreters made reference to the word gehinom (hell).

In the International Critical Commentary, Charles and Emilie Briggs date this Psalm to "the Persian period prior to Nehemiah," that is, between about 539 and 445 BCE.

Nineteenth-century Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon claims "it is evidently a composition of David's later days, for he mentions the sins of his youth, and from its painful references to the craft and cruelty of his many foes, it will not be too speculative a theory to refer it to the period when Absalom was heading the great rebellion against him."

The psalm is in three parts, In the first portion of the psalm, David:

In the middle portion he addresses his own iniquities

In the last part he pleads

This psalm is characterized by confidence of David the penitent king. That is why, from the sixth century, the Church begins the first Sunday of Advent with the first verses sung of it, namely the Introit in Old Roman and Gregorian, pending the Nativité.

A survey of organists in the Dutch Reformed denomination (from May 2000 to May 2001) revealed that Psalm 25 is the third most sung Psalm in Reformed worship services. Only Psalm 119 and Psalm 89 sung more frequently.

Czech composer Antonín Dvořák set verses 16-18 and 20 to music in his Biblical Songs (1894).

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