Chapter Twenty-Four

Each verse of this psalm begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which is why it is called an acrostic. This method of writing was quite common not only among the Hebrews but also among the peoples of the East in general, representing one form of artistic composition of speech, which facilitated its memorization.

The psalm was written during the persecutions by Absalom, which is indicated by the duality of its content: on one hand, David calls his enemies lawbreakers, unjustly persecuting him (Ps 24:3), on the other – he asks God for forgiveness of his sin, which he considers very great (Ps 24:7). Other parts of the psalm, depicting David as solitary, abandoned (Ps 24:16), with only a small number of faithful servants (Ps 24:19) and in the face of great, threatening danger (Ps 24:1), correspond to his situation under Absalom, during his flight from Jerusalem.

Save me, O Lord, from my enemies and teach me to follow righteousness (1–6). You are merciful, forgive my sins and instruct me (7–10). Cleanse and save me from surrounding enemies and heavy sufferings, for I hope only in You (11–21).

Psalm 24:3. May all not be put to shame who hope in You: may those who act lawlessly be put to shame for nothing. “Those who act lawlessly for nothing” – those attacking me without grounds, without cause from my side.

Psalm 24:4. Show me, O Lord, Your ways and teach me Your paths. Psalm 24:5. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God of my salvation; I hope in You all the day. “Ways” and “paths” – these are the Divine commandments. David asks God to teach him both these commandments and His “truth,” that is, justice, law. By this teaching is understood not merely the external assimilation of these commandments, not simply the study of the written Mosaic law, which was not difficult for David to do, but the development within himself of the inner strength of unwavering adherence to the precepts of the law, from which, as David says later, he has turned aside. – “I hope in You all the day” – I spend all my life in hope in You, that is, amid all sufferings I seek and await help only from You.

Psalm 24:6. Remember Your mercies, O Lord, and Your compassions, for they are from everlasting. Psalm 24:7. Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Lord! “Mercies” and “compassions,” for the most part, mean – the first word – the external expressions of divine love for man in the sending of material blessings, and “compassions” – spiritual ones, for example, spiritual peace from the consciousness of God’s nearness, purity and loftiness of views, and so forth. – “The sins of my youth... and my transgressions” – sin with Bathsheba. David acknowledges his guilt and the illegality of this act, but calls it not an intentional and conscious violation of the Divine commandment, but a fruit of infatuation (“youth”), an unconscious one. This sin was the result of the temporary dominance over David of carnal inclination, by that impulse to which a young age is given over, when the ability for a strict evaluation of one’s actions and thoughts has not yet developed, but when man is guided more by the realm of feelings, directing the will, and therefore often his deeds are not directed as they would be if illuminated by reason. Depending on what lies at the foundation of the latter – elevated motivations, or base ones – his actions are correspondingly either deeds of heroism, self-sacrifice, or, conversely, gross egotism and base passions. Such an impulse, which darkened in David the consciousness and evaluation of his deed, was his act with Uriah and Bathsheba. David’s clarification of the inner, psychological side of his sin was not, however, an attempt at self-justification and a desire to remain unpunished, but such a profound consciousness of his fall and his guilt before God, that he asks Him for mercy only on the basis of God’s extraordinary condescension toward man, His unusual mercy and compassion toward the unworthy, which God often showed toward the Hebrews (6).

Psalm 24:8. Good and righteous is the Lord; therefore He instructs sinners in the way. Psalm 24:9. He guides the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His ways. Psalm 24:10. All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth toward those who keep His covenant and His testimonies. “He instructs sinners in the way.” The Law represents the directives with which human activity must accord if it aims at his spiritual perfection and his drawing near to God. Yet man often departs from this lofty calling and directs his energies toward satisfying base and debased inclinations. In such cases, the Lord grants him admonitions that expose the error of the path he has chosen. These admonitions may be general, inherent and present in every person, or particular, given not to all and not always. By the former is meant the moral feeling in man which approves or condemns his deeds—the voice of conscience; by the latter are meant special admonitions given by God to man for his correction, as, for example, concerning David—the rebuke delivered through the prophet Nathan. All this the Lord does out of love for man, with the aim of easing his standing “at judgment” before “God,” and thereby delivering him from the heavy responsibility before Him for his conduct. “All the ways of the Lord”—all God’s actions; “those who keep His covenant and His testimonies”—those who yearn for union with Him and for closeness with Him; that is, the Lord always helps man in his striving toward Him through special actions and admonitions. David here understands the rebuke through the prophet Nathan, which opened David’s eyes to his deed and moved him to repentance and greater spiritual vigilance over himself.

Psalm 24:11. For Your name’s sake, Lord, forgive my transgression, for it is great. Cleansing for the sake of God’s great name points to the height of David’s reverence before Him. God is all-perfect; in Him there is and cannot be any deficiency; accordingly, His worshippers should also be people of high moral purity; those unworthy, as it were, diminish the greatness of His name. This is the same as we see in ordinary life: the higher the position of a person, the more worthy should be his appearance; an insignificant person, as it were, defiles and degrades his own calling. David calls his sin grievous (“for it is great”) and himself a great sinner before God, degrading Him through his worship in the case that he does not take care of his own cleansing.

Psalm 24:12. Who is the person who fears the Lord? He will show him the way which to choose. Psalm 24:13. His soul will dwell in good, and his seed will inherit the land. Psalm 24:14. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and His covenant He reveals to them. Here is a paraphrase of the main thought of Deuteronomy, according to which the one faithful to God will enjoy both spiritual blessings and external material ones. — “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and His covenant He reveals to them,” that is, the Lord becomes so close to those who revere Him that He communicates to them all that is hidden from others. Here one must understand the direct action of God upon man through the communication of revelation to him and internal guidance of him.

Psalm 24:18. Look upon my suffering and my weakness and forgive all my sins. “Look upon my suffering” — behold my humiliation and “forgive all my sins” — that which caused these calamities. David connects his transgression with Bathsheba to the present afflictions.

Psalm 24:20. Guard my soul and deliver me, that I may not be ashamed that I put my trust in You. “That I may not be ashamed that I put my trust in You” — save me from enemies, so that my faith in protection from You might not be mocked by enemies. My destruction could be interpreted by enemies as an indication of Your powerlessness to save those who believe in You; by granting protection do not allow Your great name to be insulted.

Psalm 24:21. Let integrity and uprightness guard me, for I hope in You. After my sin is forgiven and I am cleansed, “let integrity and uprightness guard me,” let me never deviate from the truth and never fall into sin.

Psalm 24:22. Deliver, God, Israel from all his sorrows. This verse represents a liturgical addition, perhaps appearing during the Babylonian captivity, when the Jews in the position of the oppressed and repentant David could see the image of their own sufferings in captivity and pray for deliverance from them with the words of their sincerely repenting pious ancestor. In divine service this psalm is part of the 3rd hour, supplementing the content of the XVI psalm with sincere and earnest prayer to God for spiritual cleansing of the one praying (Ps 24:1) for worthy presence at the celebration of the liturgy.