A Prayer For The Lord’s Deliverance

Commentary

Nobody can hope to have any real guidance unless he is willing to spend time in the Word of God (vv. 12-14). David says that the Lord rescues him from every trap (v. 15). When he is lonely and troubled the Lord has pity on him (v. 16). It is evident that as he is writing this psalm he is in serious trouble. It is quite possible that this took place in David’s life during the time Absalom, his son, was rebelling and trying to take over the kingdom. It appears that David who had been the national hero was now discovering, through Absalom’s rebellion, just how much his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah had alienated him from the people. The whole nation, except Joab and a handful of loyalists, had joined in the rebellion against him. 

Now as David evaluates his situation it is very serious. No doubt the rebellion of his beloved and favorite son had broken his heart as is evident in his prayer, “The troubles of my heart are enlarged” and “please rescue me from my sadness” (v. 17). Although he had been forgiven by God for his tragic past, he could not forget it, and neither could the people. The guilt still haunts his mind and so he cries out again to God “forgive all my sins” (v. 18). He talks about how much his enemies hate him and cries out for God to protect him (vv. 19-20). This is one of the high prices we pay for sin in our life. However, no matter how dark and desperate his situation was David was going to trust the Lord. He was simply going to put his trust in the integrity and uprightness of God (v.21). Uprightness makes us learn God’s requirements and strive to fulfill them. Integrity keeps us from claiming to be upright while living as if we do not know God. Since he was the king his problems of being alienated from his people involved not only himself but his kingdom, so he cried out for God to “Redeem Israel” also (v. 22).

Do life’s problems always seem to go from bad to worse? God is the only one who can reverse this downward trend. He can take our problems and turn them into glorious victories. There is one necessary requirement and that is that we, like David, must cry out to God, “have mercy on me.”

Application

There are times when the consequence of my behaviors involves other people. Therefore, I need to be concerned about helping those who may be enslaved because of my failures.