The psalm is a prayer, a solemn address to God, at
a time when the psalmist was brought into distress by the malice of
his enemies. Many such times passed over David, nay, there was
scarcely any time of his life to which this psalm may not be
accommodated, for in this he was a type of Christ, that he was
continually beset with enemies, and his powerful and prevalent
appeals to God, when he was so beset, pointed at Christ's
dependence on his Father and triumphs over the powers of darkness
in the midst of his sufferings. In this psalm, I. David settles a
correspondence between his soul and God, promising to pray, and
promising himself that God would certainly hear him,
To the chief musician upon Nehiloth. A psalm of David.
1 Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation. 2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. 3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. 4 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. 5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. 6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
The title of this psalm has nothing in it
peculiar but that it is said to be upon Nehiloth, a word
nowhere else used. It is conjectured (and it is but a conjecture)
that is signifies wind—instruments, with which this psalm
was sung, as Neginoth was supposed to signify the
stringed—instruments. In
I. As a prayer-hearing God; such he has
always been ever since men began to call upon the name of the Lord,
and yet is still as ready to hear prayer as ever. Observe how David
here styles him: O Lord (
1. What David here prays for, which may
encourage our faith and hopes in all our addresses to God. If we
pray fervently, and in faith, we have reason to hope, (1.) That God
will take cognizance of our case, the representation we make of it
and the requests we make upon it; for so he prays here: Give ear
to my words, O Lord! Though God is in heaven, he has an ear
open to his people's prayers, and it is not heavy, that he cannot
hear. Men perhaps will not or cannot hear us; our enemies are so
haughty that they will not, our friends at such a distance that
they cannot; but God, though high, though in heaven, can, and will.
(2.) That he will take it into his wise and compassionate
consideration, and will not slight it, or turn it off with a
cursory answer; for so he prays: Consider my meditation.
David's prayers were not his words only, but his meditations; as
meditation is the best preparative for prayer, so prayer is the
best issue of meditation. Meditation and prayer should go together,
2. What David here promises, as the
condition on his part to be performed, fulfilled, and kept, that he
might obtain this gracious acceptance; this may guide and govern us
in our addresses to God, that we may present them aright, for we
ask, and have not, if we ask amiss. Four things David here
promises, and so must we:—(1.) That he will pray, that he will
make conscience of praying, and make a business of it: Unto thee
will I pray. "Others live without prayer, but I will pray."
Kings on their own thrones (so David was) must be beggars at God's
throne. "Others pray to strange gods, and expect relief from them,
but to thee, to thee only, will I pray." The assurances God has
given us of his readiness to hear prayer should confirm our
resolution to live and die praying. (2.) That he will pray in
the morning. His praying voice shall be heard then, and then
shall his prayer be directed; that shall be the date of his letters
to heaven, not that only ("Morning, and evening, and at noon, will
I pray, nay, seven times a day, will I praise thee"), but that
certainly. Morning prayer is our duty; we are the fittest for
prayer when we are in the most fresh, and lively, and composed
frame, got clear of the slumbers of the night, revived by them, and
not yet filled with the business of the day. We have then most need
of prayer, considering the dangers and temptations of the day to
which we are exposed, and against which we are concerned; by faith
and prayer, to fetch in fresh supplies of grace. (3.) That he will
have his eye single and his heart intent in the duty: I will
direct my prayer, as a marksman directs his arrow to the white;
with such a fixedness and steadiness of mind should we address
ourselves to God. Or as we direct a letter to a friend at such a
place so must we direct our prayers to God as our Father in heaven;
and let us always send them by the Lord Jesus, the great Mediator,
and then they will be sure not to miscarry. All our prayers must be
directed to God; his honour and glory must be aimed at as our
highest end in all our prayers. Let our first petition be,
Hallowed, glorified, by thy name, and then we may be
sure of the same gracious answer to it that was given to Christ
himself: I have glorified it, and I will glorify it yet
again. (4.) That he will patiently wait for an answer of peace:
"I will look up, will look after my prayers, and hear
what God the Lord will speak (
II. As a sin-hating God,
In singing
7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. 8 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. 9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue. 10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee. 11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. 12 For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
In
I. He gives an account of himself and prays
for himself,
1. He is stedfastly resolved to keep
closely to God and to his worship. Sinners go away from God, and so
make themselves odious to his holiness and obnoxious to his
justice: "But, as for me, that shall not keep me from thee."
God's holiness and justice are so far from being a terror to the
upright in heart, to drive them from God, that they are rather by
them invited to cleave to him. David resolves, (1.) To worship God,
to pay his homage to him, and give unto God the glory due unto his
name. (2.) To worship him publicly: "I will come into thy
house, the courts of thy house, to worship there with other
faithful worshippers." David was much in secret worship, prayed
often alone (
2. He earnestly prays that God, by his
grace, would guide and preserve him always in the way of his duty
(
II. He gives an account of his enemies, and
prays against them,
III. He gives an account of the people of
God, and prays for them, concluding with an assurance of their
bliss, which he doubted not of his own interest in. Observe, 1. The
description he gives of God's people. They are the righteous
(
In singing