1 Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.
9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.
11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
13 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
14 O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them.
15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.
17 Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.
Amid the dangers and threats of this world, the believer prays to God for His deliverance, comfort, and strength in the life of faith.
Some little boys are very proud of their fathers and love to speak of them in glowing terms to their friends. When a bully picks on the boy, he might point that out to his father who typically would have compassion and intervene on behalf of his son. In a similar sense, the psalmist boasts about God here. David hangs everything on his relationship with God. He is “on the right side” of God, and he wants to stay that way. If you are a member of the family of God, then you could not have a better Father. But your relationship with your Father is important. As you identify with the psalmist, you will experience a strong sense of security, knowing that the Creator of the Universe is on your side. This is very important, especially when the powerful forces of darkness reject God’s law and make no bones about taking His Name in vain and persecuting His people.
The psalmist feels a closeness to God such that he communicates directly and honestly to Him. He gladly confesses his own weaknesses and testifies to his reliance on God for protection and guidance down this dangerous journey we call “the Christian life.”
Verses 1–7. This is an individual testimony of faith and a cry for personal salvation. It is a “Me” psalm. The psalmist introduces himself with two descriptive words, both of which describe a believer in relationship with the true and living God. He is holy and needy. “Holy” does not mean sinless perfection; otherwise, why would David need God’s mercy and forgiveness (verses 3 and 5)? To be holy is to be set apart for a special relationship with God. In the Old Testament, this relationship was marked out by circumcision. This was an external indication of a relationship (like a wedding ring for a married couple). Circumcision did set David apart in a special way to God, but he still had the problem with his sins. That is why David still must cry out to God for mercy, deliverance, forgiveness, and joy.
It is interesting that David requests the gift of joy in verse 4. Effectively, the joy of God’s salvation (Ps. 51:12) is the bottom line metric for the life of true faith. It is the one thing that can be measured in the faces and lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. At the end of the day, at 11:59 and 59 seconds, if we have not experienced that joy, we have not yet internalized the grace of God in redemption.
This special relationship allows David to cry to God for His protection and deliverance in the day of trouble. Why would God cast away one who trusts in Him for salvation? What sort of God would do this, especially if He promises to save all those who trust in Him? Why would He break His promise? David is certain that Yahweh will hear and save him—the man who has called out to God for help twenty times a day for the last five thousand days.
David also prays this prayer on the basis of God’s character. If our God was stingy or disinterested, then we could hardly expect Him to act in salvation. But this is not the case at all for Yahweh, our God. He is kind and forgiving, pouring out His love on those who call on Him in faith (verse 5).
Verses 8–13. Now David takes a moment to speak of the mighty works of God in his own life and among the nations. God has delivered him from the depths of eternal death and hell (verse 13). Even those nations that have created other gods will one day bow the knee to the true and living God, Yahweh. As history plays out and the empires of men come and go, God will see to it that He is glorified in the nations of men. If there were some other competing god in the mix, Yahweh would have to share His glory with another, and His law would not be ultimate. But there is no other god. Therefore, the psalmist commits himself to Yahweh, the God of Israel. In verses 11 and 12, he makes four commitments for his daily walk with God: to receive the truth of God’s Word, to walk in that truth, to praise God with all his heart, and to glorify His name forever.
David also asks God for an undivided, steady heart that continually walks in the fear of God, living in the ever-abiding consciousness of God’s reality. To know that God is real and to affirm His true sovereignty, power, and righteousness is to fear Him. These things cannot be separated. The problem is that we do not live in this constant awareness of God’s true reality all the time. When we do not fear God, of course we will sin. James says that the double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, and this is because his basic worldview perceptions flip-flop constantly between the fear of God and the fear of something else. If we are constantly fluctuating from the fear of God to the fear of circumstances or the fear of men, we will not experience joy in trials and steady courage in the day of adversity.
Verses 14–17. Returning to the underlying theme of the psalm, David prays for deliverance from the hands of enemies who are bent on destroying his life. Life is dangerous, especially when we experience the battle between good and evil to some extent or another. How do you recognize those who are on the side of evil in this battle? David points out that these men have no interest in God. He doesn’t see these men standing in the worship of God and lifting up holy hands on Sabbath morning. He doesn’t see these men kneeling before God in their living rooms on Monday morning, worshiping God with their families. He doesn’t see these men taking an interest in the law of God or quoting chapter and verse in the halls of the legislatures. If these men oppose God, then God must and will oppose them (unless they repent).
In verse 15, David contrasts these violent men of malicious intent with God Himself, Who is abundant in love and mercy to those who cry out to Him in faith. Then David goes on to pray for God’s mercy and strength. Courage in the battles we wage will either come from faith in ourselves or faith in God. Even a great warrior and king like David would not dare to rely upon his own strength in the day of battle. David reveals his heart in the psalms, and it is clear that he lives by faith. He battles by faith, and we witness him continually crying out to God for His mercy and strength.
Finally, David prays for a visible sign of the goodness of God in the midst of conflict. He may be thinking of the plagues in Egypt, the hailstones that fell on the Amorites, or the halting of the sun that enabled Joshua to gain the edge in battle. Such demonstrations of God’s power frighten the enemies of God’s people. For a brief, terrifying moment, they realize they are up against the God who has sovereign control over everything, and they do not have an iota of a chance in this war against God and His people.
1. Verse 11 speaks of walking in truth. God’s Word must never be construed as mere propositions to which we give tacit assent. It is more than that. We walk in truth. For example, we believe that God is both triune and sovereign, and these should not be dry, sterile doctrines that sit in theology books to be pulled out from time to time for some theological debate with those who disagree. Rather, they should frame the way we live every moment of the day. Because God is sovereign, we should trust in His sovereign hand even when He leads us through the valley of the shadow of death! If we really believe that God is triune, this should keep us from absolutizing the individual on the one hand or the collective body on the other hand. We must live each moment by faith in God’s truth.
2. Secondly, this psalm impresses on us the importance of walking in the fear of God all day long. What strength this would give to us if we consistently lived in the rock-solid fear of the true and living God! When we fear God, we never fear the enemies working to destroy us.
We enter worship with a sharp sense of the reality of war. The battle lines are drawn in worship. Either men fear God or they will have no regard for Him. Either men have an interest in a right relationship with God, or they do not. It is a dangerous battle we fight, and we must regularly issue these cries for deliverance. As we sing these psalms, hear exhortations based upon them, and meditate on the Lord’s faithfulness, compassion, and strength, we gradually gain a renewed confidence in God and courage for the battle.
1. How does David try to persuade God to help him in this psalm?
2. What are the mighty works of God mentioned in this psalm?
3. What does David commit to do in verses 11 and 12?
4. Give several examples of visible signs of God’s goodness, in the history of the people of God, that put the enemy to shame.
5. Give several examples of Deliverance Psalms.
1. Where do we get courage for the battle? Do we have that undivided heart that lives in the fear of God?
2. How do we know that we are “on God’s side”