1Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Give ear to my supplications!
In Your faithfulness answer
me,
And in Your righteousness.
2Do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no one
living is righteous.
3For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life to the
ground;
He has made me dwell in
darkness,
Like those who have long been
dead.
4Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;
My heart within me is
distressed.
5I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your works;
I muse on the work of Your
hands.
6I spread out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You like a
thirsty land.
Selah
7Answer me speedily,
O Lord; My spirit
fails!
Do not hide Your face from me,
Lest I be like those who go
down into the pit.
8Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in
which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.
9Deliver me, O Lord, from my
enemies;
In You I take shelter.
10Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of
uprightness.
11Revive me, O Lord, for Your
name’s sake!
For Your righteousness’ sake
bring my soul out of trouble.
12In Your mercy cut off my enemies,
And destroy all those who
afflict my soul;
For I am Your servant.
Commentary
Vs.
1 “Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Give ear to my supplications!
In Your faithfulness answer
me,
And in Your righteousness.”
In praying to our Lord, David asks that He hear and answer him because of His faithfulness and His Righteousness. Our prayers and supplications then should follow the same, because as we will see, our own righteousness or faithfulness is no grounds for our God to answer us.
Vs. 2 “Do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no one
living is righteous.”
David then is acutely aware of his own sins and failings, for if our God wanted too, He could quickly deny us if His heeding us was solely based on us. Indeed, David is so humbled by his own self awareness, that he even asks our God not to enter into judgment with him, for as he say’s “In Your sight no living is righteous.” Even the blameless Job had to find that out before our God would heed him.
Vs. 3 “For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life to the
ground;
He has made me dwell in
darkness,
Like those who have long been
dead.”
Having first taking the seat of the humble sinner, David now presents his just cause to our Lord God. For it is the enemy who has persecuted David, who has crushed his life to the ground, who has caused him to dwell in darkness like those who have been long dead. The enemy here though is not named, for David knows that God knows who his enemy is. And in this one could say ultimately Satan or the devil is the culprit behind it all. For he is always the one behind troubles and chaos in this world as he works through them by his sway and influence over them so as to persecute and wrong us. The Apostle Paul knew this when he wrote: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Eph. 6:12
Vs. 4 “Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;
My heart within me is
distressed.”
Because of the ongoing and fierce opposition David faced, his spirit became overwhelmed within him, and his heart was in a state of distress because of them. David though is not alone in his sense of isolation and helplessness, for many a righteous man and women has gone through the same while standing up for what is right in the sight of God. Nonetheless we know that God is always with the generation of the righteous, and as he brought David of his troubles, so He will bring you out of yours.
Vs. 5 “I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your works;
I muse on the work of Your
hands.”
To console himself, David now looks to the past, and he remembers the days of old, how God did amazing things in and through him, and not just for himself, but His nation and His people, whom He has upheld through the ages. Indeed, when we get our eyes off ourselves and onto the Lord our God than our spirits heaviness begins to lift as we also remember, meditate and muse on all the work of His hands. Never forget then to recall what God has done for you, and countless others down through the ages. Which is why quality Christian literature can be a healthy part of one’s spiritual diet.
Vs. 6 “I spread out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You like a
thirsty land.
Selah”
Spreading out our hands to the Lord is our gesture of our opening our hearts to Him, for our souls long for Him, just like the parched land longs for the refreshing showers from heaven, so we long for Him to quench our spiritual thirst, because nothing else will satisfy us. Only His Spirit strongly within us is what keeps us and enables us to remain, "firm in the faith" as Scott Krippayne's song says.
Vs. 7 “Answer me speedily,
O Lord; My spirit
fails!
Do not hide Your face from me,
Lest I be like those who go
down into the pit.”
David now pleads with the Lord to answer him speedily, for he feels that this burden is too heavy for him to bear any longer. For he fears that if our God does not soon answer him, he will be like those who go done to the pit (i.e. the grave) literally he feels like he will be swallowed up by his circumstances.
Vs. 8 “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in
which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.”
David then is looking for some heavenly encouragement, (which is something that we can give to each other), for he needs to hear God’s lovingkindness towards him in the morning, for he trusts in Him, but he also needs our Lord's answers as to which way he should he go. For David wants to do want is right in the sight of God, therefore he wants to know the way he should walk while in this most difficult time, for not everything is clear and straightforward to him at that time, or to us all the time, for life always brings us ambiguities and dilemmas that we have to work out in our own lives as well. And in this the Lord Jesus Christ is the Master (see John 8:1-11), follow Him and His Word given us all in the N.T. and you will do well.
Vs. 9 “Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies;
In You I take shelter.”
Once again David’s prayer returns to asking for the Lord’s deliverance from his enemies, for it is the Lord whom he (and we) take shelter. And know this that making prayers and supplications multiple times to our Lord is not bothersome to Him, it is often the first step to our finding a reprieve from them.
Vs. 10 “Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of
uprightness.”
David’s prayer now becomes even more focused on wanting the Lord our God to teach him His will. For He is our God and it is by His Spirit that He instructs us, (gives us discernment and illuminates His Word for us), for His Spirit is good, and by Him our God will lead us in the land of uprightness.
Vs. 11 “Revive me, O Lord, for Your name’s sake!
For Your righteousness’ sake
bring my soul out of trouble.”
David’s now prays for the Lord’s revival of his person, that the Lord do this for His Names sake, not David’s name or reputation, but for the Lord’s, so that all will see Him and acknowledge Him as he works to mightily save and restore David. Again, for the Lord’s righteousness’s sake, David asks that our Lord bring his soul out of trouble. For it is the Lord alone who is righteous, and yet mankind can only see this when He in faithfulness saves and redeems sinful men and women like David, like us.
Vs. 12 “In Your mercy cut off my enemies,
And destroy all those who
afflict my soul;
For I am Your servant.”
In closing David asks the Lord in His mercy to cut off his enemies and to destroy all those who afflict his soul, for he is the Lord’s servant, and they have set themselves against Him/him (the Lord’s anointed). Therefore, David knows that God’s justice will find them (consider Jeremiah 20:10-13), yet until then let us who are God's people of the New Covenant always remember Matthew 5:43-48 lest we forget the Gospel.
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
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