Psalm 25

Psalm 25 (Hebrew numbering; Psalm 24 in Greek numbering) of the  Book of Psalms, 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). 

Dating

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." 

Structure
The psalm is in three parts, In the first portion of the psalm, David:
 professes his desire towards God: 
 professes his dependence upon God 
 begs direction from God 
 professes God's infinite mercy

In the middle portion he addresses his own iniquities 

In the last part he pleads
 God's mercy: 
 his own misery, distress,  affliction and pain.  
 the iniquity of his enemies, and deliverance from them.   
 He pleads his own integrity,

Uses

Judaism
Verse 4 is recited responsively during the repetition of the Amidah on Rosh Hashanah. 
Verse 6 is the third verse of V'hu Rachum in Pesukei Dezimra part of the opening paragraph of the long Tachanun recited on Mondays and Thursdays, and part of the final paragraph of the regular Tachanun. 

Catholic Church
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. 

Protestant Christianity
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. 

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

Bibliography
 Commentaires sur les psaumes, d’Hilaire de Poitiers
Commentaries on the Psalms,  John Chrysostom
Discourse in the Psalms Saint Augustine
Commentaries for the Psalms, Thomas Aquinas 1273
Commentaries on the Psalms John Calvin 1557
A Godly and Fruitful Exposition on the Twenty-fifth Psalme, the second of the Penitentials; (in "A Sacred Septenarie.")  By ARCHIBALD SYMSON.  1638.  p74. 
The Preacher's Tripartie, in Three Books.  The First, to raise Devotion in Divine Meditations upon Psalm XXV.  By R. MOSSOM, Preacher of God's Word, late at St. Peter's, Paul's Wharf, London, 1657.  Folio. 
Six Sermons in "Expository Discourses," by the late Rev. WILLIAM RICHARDSON, Subchanter of York Cathedral.  1825. 

References

External links 

  in Hebrew and English - Mechon-mamre
  King James Bible - Wikisource

025
Category:Works attributed to David