Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Psalms 25:11 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 11. 11For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 25:11: The reason or consequence in “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity” supports the surrounding claim in “Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgiveness.”
An alphabet of lifting, waiting, and pardon
This verse is one part of that explanation in Psalms 25:1–22. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Psalms 25:1–22
Read Psalms 25:11 with 25:1–22. Read alone, “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 25:1–22, the individual voice carries the movement “Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgiveness” as part of “Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgiveness.” Its acrostic-lament form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 25:1–22 opens Psalm 25 with “Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul” and establishes the individual voice and “Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgiveness” movement before later lines develop or answer it. Within that relationship, Psalm 25:11 supplies a reason or consequence through “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity” and must be read with the claim it supports.
Follow the Context
- Identify the individual voice, address, and parallel lines in Psalms 25:1–22; do not make every “I”, “we,” king, enemy, or worshiper interchangeable.
- Within Psalms 25:1–22, the individual voice carries the movement “Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgiveness” as part of “Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgiveness.” Its acrostic-lament form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
- This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The incomplete acrostic shapes patient prayer; enemies, guilt, and guidance remain distinct rather than one simplistic cause of suffering.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Psalms 25:11 does not allow “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity” to become an independent promise, command, accusation, doctrine, or authorization. This verse supplies a reason or consequence through “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity” and must be read with the claim it supports. The complete movement is “Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgiveness.” This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The incomplete acrostic shapes patient prayer; enemies, guilt, and guidance remain distinct rather than one simplistic cause of suffering.
What Remains True
Book I gives Psalm 25:11 a larger home, while “Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgiveness” supplies its immediate one. Psalm 25:11 supplies a reason or consequence through “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity” and must be read with the claim it supports. Therefore, Confession seeks mercy and changed life while preserving truth, consequences, restitution, safeguarding, and the dignity of people harmed. The local movement is “Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgiveness.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The incomplete acrostic shapes patient prayer; enemies, guilt, and guidance remain distinct rather than one simplistic cause of suffering.
How It Can Shape Life
- The practice should match “Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgiveness” rather than an isolated slogan. Psalm 25:11 supplies a reason or consequence through “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity” and must be read with the claim it supports. Therefore, Let “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity” prompt specific confession and changed conduct, including restitution and safeguarding where harm has been done.
Teach It Back
Starting from the verse role—Psalm 25:11 supplies a reason or consequence through “For thy name’s sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity” and must be read with the claim it supports.—walk through the parallel lines of Psalms 25:1–22. State what remains true, how it shapes life, what remains uncertain, and why the poem does not authorize this use: This reading does not authorize the following misuse: The incomplete acrostic shapes patient prayer; enemies, guilt, and guidance remain distinct rather than one simplistic cause of suffering.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Psalms 25:1–22 — Alphabetic prayer for guidance and forgivenessSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The incomplete acrostic shapes patient prayer; enemies, guilt, and guidance remain distinct rather than one simplistic cause of suffering.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 25:1–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 25:1–22
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 25:1–22.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 25 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 25:1–22
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: individual and communal lament, from lament to praise, and Bible in the World; applied to Psalms 25:1–22
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 25 for Psalms 25:1–22
Open NETS Psalms ↗