Turn to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted.
Parallel Translations
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Turn to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted.
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Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.
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Turn Thee unto me, and be gracious unto me; for I am solitary and afflicted.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Psalms 25:16 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 86:16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your servant.
- Daniel 9:17 “Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
- Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities under foot; and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
- Psalms 69:14-20 Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters. Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me. Answer me, Yahweh, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me. Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily! Draw near to my soul and redeem it. Ransom me because of my enemies. You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before you. Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none.
- Psalms 143:4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate.
- Psalms 60:1 God, you have rejected us. You have broken us down. You have been angry. Restore us, again.
- Psalms 88:15-18 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted. Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off. They came around me like water all day long. They completely engulfed me. You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness.
- Mark 15:33-35 When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 16. Have respect unto me. As the flesh is…
16. Have respect unto me. As the flesh is ever ready to suggest to our minds that God has forgotten us, when he ceases to manifest his power in aiding us, David here follows the order which nature dictates, in asking God to have respect unto him, as if he had altogether neglected him before. Now, it appears to me that the words might be explained thus: Have respect unto me, in order to pity me. He accounts it at once the cause and the source of his salvation to be regarded of God; and then he adds the effect of it: for as soon as God, of his own good pleasure, shall vouchsafe to regard us, his hand also will be ready to help us. Again, in order to excite the compassion of God, he sets forth his own misery, expressly stating that he is alone, that is to say, solitary; The Hebrew word here used is יחיד, yachid, unus, one, which is not infrequently put, as in this place, for a solitary and desolate person. David was now deserted, desolate, and destitute of all help. The word is used in the same sense in Psalm 22:20, and 35:17
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 25:16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy…
Psa 25:16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I [am] desolate and afflicted.
Ver. 16. Turn thee unto me] Heb. Face about towards me.
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And have mercy upon me] There being no such mercy as to have thy favour. This is a voluminous mercy.
For I am desolate and afflicted] As all creatures flag and hang the head when the sun is eclipsed. Misery is an object of mercy; as it was to the compassionate Samaritan.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Turn thee unto me; turn thy face and favour…
Turn thee unto me; turn thy face and favour to me, O thou who now hast turned thy back upon me, and forsaken me.
I am desolate; destitute of all other hopes and succours; persecuted by mine enemies, and forsaken by the most of my friends; as he was in Absalom’s rebellion.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me,....…
Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me,.... Or "look unto me", or "upon me" (f); which suggests that the Lord had turned himself, and hid his face from him; and expresses a desire that he would look upon him with a look of love and mercy, and arise to help and deliver him out of the hands of his enemies; he pleads no merits nor works of righteousness of his, but casts himself upon the mercy of God;
for I am desolate and afflicted; or "alone and poor" (g); not that he was quite alone, and had none with him; for though he was obliged to quit his palace, and the city of Jerusalem, yet he was accompanied by his servants, and a large number of his people; and could not be poor, in a literal sense, being king of Israel; yet he put no trust in men, nor in riches, but wholly depended on the Lord, as if he had none with him, nor anything to subsist with: and his case was indeed very deplorable, and called for pity and assistance; his own son was risen up against him, and the hearts of the men of Israel went after him; and he was obliged to flee from the city, and leave his house and family.
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(f) "respice ad me", Montanus, Musculus, Junius & Tremellius, &c. (g) "solitarius et pauper", Junius & Tremellius; "et miser", Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 16. Turn thee unto me] Probably the prayer…
Verse 16. Turn thee unto me] Probably the prayer of the poor captives in Babylon, which is continued through this and the remaining verses.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Turn thee unto me - Rather, the Hebrew means:…
Turn thee unto me - Rather, the Hebrew means: “look upon me.” The idea, however, is that the face of God was, as it were, turned in another direction, or that He was not attentive to him; and he prays that He would turn and behold him; that He would see him in his trouble.
And have mercy upon me - The psalmist seems to have felt that if God would look upon him he would pity him. He would see his case to be so sad that He would show him compassion - as, when we see an object of distress, “the eye affects the heart.”
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For I am desolate - The word here rendered “desolate” - יחיד yâchı̂yd - means properly “one alone, only;” and then, one who “is alone,” or who is solitary, forsaken, wretched. There is no deeper sadness that ever comes over the mind than the idea that we are alone in the world; that we do not have a friend; that no one cares for us; that no one is concerned about anything that might happen to us; that no one would care if we were to die; that no one would shed a tear over our grave.
And afflicted - In what way we do not know. David, however, was very often in circumstances when he could use this language. The other parts of the psalm show that the “affliction” to which he here refers was that which arose from the recollection of the sins of his early life, and from the designs and purposes of his enemies.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain A series of earnest appeals for aid because God…
A series of earnest appeals for aid because God had seemed to desert him (compare Psa 13:1; Psa 17:13, &c.), his sins oppressed him, his enemies had enlarged his troubles and were multiplied, increasing in hate and violence (Psa 9:8; Psa 18:48).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 16. Turn thee] Or, look: the opposite of ‘hiding…
16. Turn thee] Or, look: the opposite of ‘hiding the face’ (Psa_22:24). Cp. Psa_86:16; Psa_119:132.
have mercy upon me] Be gracious unto me. See Psa_4:1, note.
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desolate] Solitary; without other friend or helper.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me.…
Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me. The approach of peril is regarded as a sign that God has "turned away his face." He is besought, therefore, to turn towards one who needs his aid. For I am desolate and afflicted (comp. vers. 17, 18). The affliction evidently comes from enemies, either foreign or domestic (vers. 2, 19); but its nature is not further indicated.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 16. His own eyes were fixed upon God,…
Ver. 16. His own eyes were fixed upon God, but he feared that the Lord had averted his face from him in anger. Oftentimes unbelief suggests that God has turned his back upon us. If we know that we turn to God we need not fear that he will turn from us, but may boldly cry, Turn thee unto me. The ground of quarrel is always in ourselves, and when that is removed there is nothing to prevent our full enjoyment of communion with God. Have mercy upon me. Saints still must stand upon the footing of mercy; notwithstanding all their experience they cannot get beyond the publican's prayer, "Have mercy upon me." For I am desolate and afflicted. He was lonely and bowed down. Jesus was in the days of his flesh in just such a condition; none could enter into the secret depths of his sorrows, he trod the winepress alone, and hence he is able to succour in the fullest sense those who tread the solitary path.
"Christ leads me through no darker rooms
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Than he went through before; He that into God's kingdom comes,
Must enter by this door."
None.
Ver. 16. A desolate soul seeking heavenly company, and an afflicted spirit crying for divine mercy. Our God the balm of all our wounds.
Ver. 16-18. David is a petitioner as well as a sufferer; and those sorrows will never injure us that bring us near to God. Three things he prays for:
1. Deliverance. This we are called to desire, consistently with resignation to the divine will.
2. Notice. A kind look from God is desirable at any time in any circumstances; but in affliction and pain, it is like life from the dead.
3. Pardon. Trials are apt to revive a sense of guilt. William Jay.
Psalms 25:17*
Ver. 16-18. David is a petitioner as well as a sufferer; and those sorrows will never injure us that bring us near to God. Three things he prays for:
1. Deliverance. This we are called to desire, consistently with resignation to the divine will.
2. Notice. A kind look from God is desirable at any time in any circumstances; but in affliction and pain, it is like life from the dead.
3. Pardon. Trials are apt to revive a sense of guilt. William Jay.
Ver. 16-18. David is a petitioner as well as a sufferer; and those sorrows will never injure us that bring us near to God. Three things he prays for:
1. Deliverance. This we are called to desire, consistently with resignation to the divine will.
2. Notice. A kind look from God is desirable at any time in any circumstances; but in affliction and pain, it is like life from the dead.
3. Pardon. Trials are apt to revive a sense of guilt. William Jay.
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon me;…
Psa_25:16-18
Turn Thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.
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A sufferers prayer
How tender is this language, and how instructive too. David was a sufferer as well as a king. But he is a petitioner also, He prays for--
I. Deliverance.
II. A kind look from God is desirable at any time, but in affliction and pain it is like life from the dead. Therefore he says, Look upon mine affliction and pain.
III. Pardon. Forgive all my sins. This was his meaning; let it be ours. (W. Jay.)
The cry of the afflicted
Look at Loch Lomond. A hundred feet of water, deep and dark and deadly; the waves that slumber yonder at the foot of the Ben will drown you. Yes, but when God sent out His frost, when from the caves of the north there crept the congealing influence, lo! the waves slumbered and slept, and you walked and skimmed on your ringing steels across the congealed billows. The same lake, but so transformed that you could skim across its surface. Some of you know what it is to be almost overwhelmed with the billows of trouble. They roll over you again and again, and recede but to Come on with redoubled power, until at last you cry out, Lord, save me, or I perish. Then there comes a great calm, and you just skim across the billows of your daily toil, because Christ your Saviour has told the troubles and difficulties and monotony to sleep. Oh, what a glorious thing the grace of Christ is! (John Robertson.)
Davids prayer
I wonder if they are able to say of us in the time of sorrow and bereavement and trouble, Behold, he prayeth. Those travellers, as they pass, are suddenly arrested by a sound that is strange to them, and they ask what it is. It is David at his prayers. Ah, he is all right! Pray on, David; do not be ashamed of your voice--let it sound out. It is nobler thus to pray, than with loud, uplifted voice to give the command to thine armies to fall in to the front: and Davids voice had done that for many a day. A ringing, clarion peal the warrior had given in his time: Fall in to the front. They loved to ear it in Israel. When the king spake, it reminded them of the old days when the right arm of the young warrior did valiant things for Jehovah; and they liked to hear his voice rise above the din of battle: but it is nobler, kinglier, and far more grand to hear the old king with his quavering voice lifted up in prayer.
A godly mans appeal
I. On behalf of self.
1. For deliverance from suffering (Psa_25:16). The road to heaven, says an old writer, is soaked with the tears and blood of the saints.
2. For forgiveness (Psa_25:18). He traced his sufferings to his sins. Sin is the gall in the cup of life; the root of the pestiferous tree of all natural evil. From suffering we infer sin. He believed that his sins had to do with God. Wrong in any form or department of life is sin against Him. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned. He knew that Gods forgiveness was necessary to his deliverance.
3. For preservation of life, of confidence, of character (Psa_25:21).
II. On behalf of society (Psa_25:22). There is nothing selfish in genuine piety. The man who prays and struggles only for his own salvation is utterly destitute of genuine religion. His creed may be correct, and all his religious observances, but he has not the root of the matter in him. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.