1. There are
two sorts of prayer—those expressed in words, and the unuttered longings which
abide as silent meditations. Words are not the essence but the garments of
prayer. Moses at the Red Sea cried to God, though he said nothing. Yet the use
of language may prevent distraction of mind, assist the powers of the soul, and
excite devotion. David uses both modes of prayer, and craves for the one a
hearing, and for the other a consideration: if I have asked what is right, give
it to me; if I have omitted to ask what I most needed, fill up the vacancy in
my prayer; consider it as presented through my all-glorious Mediator,
then regard it in thy wisdom, judge my sincerity and the true state of my
needs, and answer me in due time for thy mercies’ sake! There may be prevailing
intercession where there are no words, and words where there is no true
supplication. Let us cultivate the spirit of prayer which is even better
than the habit of prayer. We should begin to pray before we kneel down,
and we should not cease when we rise up.
2. The voice of my cry.
Weeping (compare Psalm 6:8) has a voice—a melting, plaintive tone, an
ear-piercing shrillness, which reaches the very heart of God: and crying has a
voice—a soul-moving eloquence; coming from our heart it reaches God’s
heart. Sometimes we cannot put our prayers into words: they are nothing but a cry:
but the Lord can comprehend the meaning. To a loving father his children’s
cries are music, and have a magic influence his heart cannot resist. My
King, and my God: These little pronouns, “my King, and my
God,” are the pith and marrow of the plea. Here is a grand argument why God
should answer prayer—because he is our King and our God. We are
not aliens to him: he is the King of our country. He is our God by covenant, by
promise, by oath, by blood. For unto thee will I pray. Here David
expresses his declaration that he will seek God, and God alone. God is to be
the only object of worship, the only resource of our soul in times of need. Will
I. David makes a resolution that as long as he lived he would pray, even
though the answer might not come.
3. My voice shalt thou hear. This is not so much a prayer as a resolution: “My voice
shalt thou hear; I will not be dumb, I will cry to thee, for the
fire that dwells within compels me to pray.” We can sooner die than live
without prayer. In the morning. This is the fittest time for
conversation with God. An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening.
Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night. I direct my
prayer unto thee. In the figure of an archer, I will put my prayer upon the
bow, I will direct it towards heaven, and then when I have shot my arrow I will
look up to see where it has gone. But the Hebrew has a still fuller meaning
than this. The word for direct is used for laying in order the wood and
the pieces of the victim on the altar, and it is used also for putting the
shewbread on the table. “I will arrange my prayer before thee, I will lay it
out on the altar just as the priest lays out the morning sacrifice”; I will
call up all my powers and bid them stand in their proper places, that I may
pray with all my might, and pray acceptably. And will look up. The
Hebrew might better be translated, “ ‘I will look out’ for the answer; after
I have prayed, I will expect that the blessing will come.” It is a word that
is used in another place of those who watched for the morning.
Do we not miss very much of the sweetness and efficacy of
prayer by lack of careful meditation before it and of hopeful expectation after
it? We too often rush into the presence of God without forethought or humility.
We should be careful to keep the stream of meditation always running, for this
is the water to drive the mill of prayer. Prayer without preparation is hawking
with a blind falcon. Prayer is the work of the Holy Spirit, but he works by
means. The Holy Spirit is the author of prayer, but he employs the thoughts of
a fervent soul as the gold with which to fashion the vessel. Let not our
prayers and praises be the flashes of a hot and hasty brain, but the steady
burning of a well-kindled fire.
Furthermore, we forget to watch for the result of our
prayers. We sow the seed and are too ideal to seek a harvest. Let holy
preparation link hands with patient expectation, and we shall have far larger
answers to our prayers.
4–6. And now
the psalmist having expressed his resolution to pray, you hear him putting up
his prayer. He is pleading against his cruel and wicked enemies. He uses a most
mighty argument. He begs of God to put them away from him because they were
displeasing to God himself. “Thou hatest evil: Lord, I beseech thee,
deliver me from it.” Let us learn the solemn truth of the hatred which
a righteous God must bear towards sin.
4. He has no
pleasure in wickedness, however wittily, grandly, and proudly it may array
itself. Men may bow before successful villainy, and forget the wickedness of
the battle in the gaudiness of the triumph, but the Lord of Holiness is not as
we are: neither shall evil dwell with thee. Neither on earth nor in
heaven shall evil share the mansion of God. Christ will not live in the parlor
of our hearts if we entertain the devil in the cellar of our thoughts.
5. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight. Sinners are fools written large. A little sin is a great
folly, and the greatest of all folly is great sin. Such sinful fools as these
must be banished from the court of heaven. Earthly kings used to have fools in
their trains, but the only wise God will have no fools in his palace above. Thou
hatest all workers of iniquity. It is not a little dislike, but a thorough
hatred which God bears to workers of iniquity. To be hated by God is an awful
thing. Let us be very faithful in warning the wicked around us, for it will be
a terrible thing for them to fall into the hands of an angry God!
6. Thou shalt destroy, them that speak leasing. Evil speakers must be punished as well as evil workers. A
man may lie without danger of the law of man, but he will not escape the law of
God. The Lord will abhor the
bloody and deceitful man. Bloody men will be made drunk with their own
blood, and those who began by deceiving others will end by being deceived
themselves. How forcible is the word abhor! Does it not show us how powerful
and deep-seated is the hatred of the Lord against the workers of iniquity?
7. With this
verse the first part of the psalm ends. The psalmist has bent his knee in
prayer: he has described before God, as an argument for his deliverance, the
character and fate of the wicked; and now he contrasts this with the condition
of the righteous. But as for me, I will come into thy house. I will not
stand at a distance, I will come into thy sanctuary, just as a child comes into
his father’s house. But I will not come there by my own merits; no, I have a
multitude of sins, and therefore I will come in the multitude of thy mercy.
I will approach thee with confidence because of thy immeasurable grace. God’s
judgments are all numbered, but his mercies are innumerable. And in thy fear
will I worship toward thy holy temple—the temple of thy holiness. The
temple was not built on earth at that time; it was but a tabernacle; but David
used to turn his eyes spiritually to that temple of God’s holiness where
between the wings of the cherubim Jehovah dwells in light ineffable. Daniel
opened his window towards Jerusalem, but we open our hearts towards heaven.
8. Now we
come to the second part, in which the psalmist repeats his arguments, and goes
over the same ground again. Lead me, O Lord.
As a little child is led by his father, as a blind man is guided by his friend.
It is safe and pleasant walking when God leads the way. In thy
righteousness. Not in my righteousness, for that is imperfect, but
thou art righteousness itself. Make thy way, not my way, straight
before my face. When we have learned to give up our own way, and long to
walk in God’s way, it is a happy sign of grace; and it is no small mercy to see
the way of God with clear vision straight before our face. Errors about duty
may lead us into a sea of sins, before we know where we are.
9. This
description of depraved man has been copied by the apostle Paul (Romans 2),
together with some other quotations, as an accurate description of the whole
human race, not of David’s enemies only. An open sepulchre. A sepulchre
is full of loathsomeness, pestilence and death, and an open sepulchre
has all its evil gases issuing to spread death and destruction all around. So
with the throat of the wicked, it would be a great mercy if it could
always be closed. All the wickedness of their heart exhales. How dangerous is
an open sepulchre; men in their journeys might easily stumble therein, and find
themselves among the dead. Take heed of the wicked man, for there is nothing
that he will not say to you; he will long to destroy your character, and bury
you in the hideous sepulchre of his own wicked throat. One sweet thought here,
however: there will be a resurrection not only of bodies, but characters. This
should be a great comfort to a man who has been abused and slandered (see
Matthew 13:43). The world may think you vile, but if you have been upright, in
the day when the graves give up their dead, this open sepulchre of the sinner’s
throat will be compelled to give up your heavenly character, and you will be
honored in the sight of men. They flatter with their tongue. A smooth
tongue is a great evil; there are human anteaters that with their long tongues
covered with oily words entice the unwary and make their gain thereby.
10. Against thee.
Not against me. If they were my enemies I would forgive them, but
I cannot forgive thine. We are to forgive our enemies, but God’s
enemies it is not in our power to forgive. These expressions have often been
noted by people of over-refinement as being harsh. Let us remember that they
might be translated as prophesies, not as wishes; but we do not care to avail
ourselves of this method of escape. We have never heard of a reader of the
Bible who, after perusing these passages, was made revengeful by reading them,
and it is only fair to test the nature of a writing by its effects. The
psalmist here speaks as a judge, as God’s mouth. The most shameful way of
cursing another is by pretending to bless him. David’s words are intended to be
a blessing by warning the sinner of the impending curse. Impenitent man, all
your godly friends will give their solemn assent to the awful sentence of the
Lord, which he will pronounce upon you on the day of doom!
11. Joy is
the privilege of the believer. When sinners are destroyed our rejoicing will be
full. They laugh first and weep ever after; we weep now, but shall rejoice
eternally. This holy bliss of ours has a firm foundation, for we are joyful in
thee. We love God, and therefore we delight in him.
12. Jehovah
has ordained his people the heirs of blessedness, and nothing will rob them of
their inheritance. With all the fullness of his power he will bless them, and
all his attributes will unite to fill them with divine contentment. It is a
promise of infinite length, unbounded breadth and unutterable preciousness. With
favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield. There were vast shields used
by the ancients as extensive as a man’s whole person, surrounding him entirely.
According to Ainsworth there is here also the idea of being crowned, so that we
wear a royal helmet, which is at once our glory and defense.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
