The sob of a great sorrow sounds throughout this psalm. The circumstances of its writing were those of desolation, affliction, distress, travail, as the latter part especially shows. Yet the main content is one full of help to all who are in sorrow. It is far more than a wail saddening all who read it. It is the voice of hope and confidence, and tells of succour and of strength.
It has three movements in it. The first (vv. Psa 25:1-7), and the last (vv. Psa 25:16-22) are prayers uttered out of great need. The central (vv. Psa 25:8-15) is contemplation and declaration of the goodness of God. Thus structurally the psalm is beautiful. Its central glory is a revelation of God's goodness and patience (vv. Psa 25:8-10). Then a sob at the heart of everything (v. Psa 25:11). Immediately an account of the blessedness of the man who trusts. The opening verses contain the prayer of a distressed soul, whose thought of God is revealed in the central portion. The closing verses are the earnest cry of that soul to such a God, and in such confidence the details of the experience of suffering are named.