I. PENITENT PLAINT (1-6). "Hear me-Thy servant." Trouble overwhelms. r. Preliminary Invocation (1-2). (i} Petition (rab). (ii) Pleas (re). (iii) Petition (2a). (iv) Plea (2b). 2. Perilous Situation (3-4). (i} Cause (3). (ii) Consequence (4). 3. Poignant Recollection (5). 4. Pious Aspiration ( 6). Selah.
II. POWERFUL PLEADING (7-12). "Answer me-Thy servant." Trouble overcome. 1. Persevering Supplication (7-10 ). (i) Petition and Plea for Delivering Grace (7). (ii) Petition and Plea for Directing Grace (8). (iii) Petition and Plea for Delivering Grace (9 ). (iv) Petition and Plea for Directing Grace (10). 2. Positive Anticipation (11-12). (Render verbs as futures). (i) Deliverance of the Affiicted (11). The grace and the ground of it. (ii) Destruction of the Adversaries (12). The government and the ground of it. SUPERSCRIPT.-A Psalm of David. PRIMARY AssocrATION.-Written by David in all probability during the flight from Absalom (so the LXX). Last of the "Penitential Psalms," so styled by the early church. Note the sequence of petitions and pleas throughout. PROPHETIC ANTICIPATION.-The cry of the godly remnant of Israel brought at last to realise the impossibility of self-justification before God. This knowledge is reached through the experience of unparalleled sufferings. Note graphic description of the nation's condition (3). PERSONAL APPLICATION.-It sometimes takes physical peril to produce penitence. Remission of the sin pi:ecedes rescue from the suffering. In our prayers we cannot plead merit; we may plead our need; we may even plead our trust, but it is best to plead the attributes of God Himsel£ "God is our refuge from God. When a child has done wrong it hides its face in the mother's bosom." In verse 2 David anticipates Rom. iii. It is ever the great enemy's plan to keep men in the dark (3), c£ 2 Cor. iv. 4. Few believers are free from what Spurgeon called "fainting :fits" (4). If one is imminent tell the Lord your trouble, cf. cxlii. 2-3. The psalmists ever look for "the morning" (8). roab affords a splendid motto for saints of all ages. VERSE NOTES x. "faithfulness" presupposes a promise, doubtless the Davidic covenant of 2 Sam. vii. 12; "righteousness," i.e. God regards it as necessary to His honour to save those who put their trust in Him; c£ r Jno. i. 9. 2. "Thy servant" sec 12; c£ 2 Sam, vii. s, 19-21, 25-29. It was Jehovah Himself
who first applied this term to David, so David fastens on to it as a plea, magnifying not his own service but God's electing grace; "Enter not ... " i.e. with the present enemy as a divine· agent. d" d " -. h d ( ) " lik th d d f 3. persecute = pursue ; snutten = crus e ; c • • • e e ea o long ago" = and so forgotten. h 1m d" · lf · "d all d 4. overw e e = wraps 1tse m g oom ; eso ate = app e or benumbed. 6. C£ I.xiii. I and 2 Sam. xvi. 2, 14; xvii. 2; "weary"= thirsty, i.e. as a parched land in time of drought longs for the refreshing rain. 8. He longs for speedy and seasonable help; "the way," i.e. the way to deliverance. IO. Marginal readings better; lit. "a level land," i.e. a life free from the ups and downs of his recent experience. II. Br. "Thou wilt preserve me alive ... wilt bring ... strait"; "name's sake," no greater plea than this, for God supremely desires to maintain the honour of His name. 12. "Thou wilt cut of£" Rebels against God's anointed deserve no quarter.
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