The Ways of the Lord are Loving and Faithful for Who?

“All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.”
(Psa 25:10 NIV)

I think translating the Bible has so much of an impact that Christians should follow the idea that Muslims have toward translation, and call every translation an “Interpretation” of the Bible.

All of Psalm 25 is about God showing mercy to sinners, forgiving sin for HIS sake, and people putting their full hope in HIM. So why in the world would there be this one statement about us keeping “the demands of his covenant” smack dab in the middle of all that?

I know, all I have is a Hebrew dictionary and the Holy Spirit, I don’t have many manuscripts, a knowledge of ancient languages, or any letters after my name, but you gotta check this out.

keep: Naw-tsar, to guard, to protect, maintain, obey, conceal, besiege, hide, observe, watch

covenant: a compact made by passing between pieces of cut flesh, confederacy, covenant, league

demands: testimony, witness

So what if instead of keeping the demands of His covenant, what if we

guarded and watched the witness of his covenant.

the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who look to his promise.

so much other stuff in Psalm 25 talks about the weak sinner-man looking to God for salvation, hope, deliverance, I think this last sentence fits better.

If your bias is to highlight obedience to the Bible, you may use the NIV, if your bias is to highlight this context of utterly relying on God for everything, you can add this interpretation to the NIV.