Sometimes in the lives of God’s people, it seems like we have to look up to see the bottom. A deep-seated sadness threatens to overwhelm us because we do remember times of failure or lack of enthusiasm for the things of God. We begin to wonder if there is any way to shake off this struggle to maintain life the way it should be. The initial appeal of the psalmist is for mercy, not to try to justify himself in any way.
His appeal is to God's faithfulness to hear and answer prayer. He knows God is faithful and righteous, so, with that assurance, he expected an answer. He also made his appeal to the righteousness of God because he knew God knew what was needed and what the right thing to do was. A request for help from one who can meet a need we cannot supply is not out of order. He was being persecuted and smitten down, or trapped like one already dead. He was devastated by what was happening to him and couldn’t do anything about it because the persecution was heavy and bitter.
In this psalm, there are quite a number of subjects that we experience in our lives. There are times when we need help and grace in crisis. When we are desperate for a solution to a problem larger than we can handle, we pray with great earnestness, offering sincere and urgent prayers. We look for some favor to be granted as quickly as possible, fearing consequences over which we have no control catching us.
David was thinking back to the ways God dealt in the past and considering what God has done. His providential “works” prompt him to meditate on who the Lord is, and he then reflects on “the work of Thy hands,” which reminds him that he is speaking to the One who created all things. In his soul, he longs for fellowship with the Lord, so he listens for expressions of divine lovingkindness in the morning. He remembers times of deliverance and wants a speedy answer in this crisis.
Even though all around us we can see reasons for fear and sadness, when we hear the voice of God through His word and put our unreserved trust in Him, our burdens are lifted. When grace is needed, our God is able to supply it. Some of the reasons for such difficult experiences are to teach and train us to learn how to obey God, and to show why spiritual balance is so important in keeping us from going to extremes of emotion.
We must always remember that we belong to the Lord, who preserves His own children and allows them to pass through waters that will not drown us because He is with us in that place. Evidence of God’s lovingkindness is not necessarily an easy path without enemies. He guides and delivers us in those times, and we learn the truth then that we would never learn any other way. It is then that we are not likely to stumble or stray into the paths of sin, because we are identified with the name of the Lord. We show the reality of who we are by righteous conduct, no matter what others may consider okay. God deals in justice with the criminal and in mercy with those who are righteous in times of danger. Three good things to pray for are: “Deliver me… teach me… quicken and preserve me.”