1To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2in You I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3Noone whose hope is in You will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. 4Show me Your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths; 5Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. 6Remember, O LORD, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; According to Your love remember me, for You are good, O LORD. 8Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He instructs sinners in His ways. 9He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. 10All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of His covenant. 11For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 12Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. 13He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14The LORD confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them. 15My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only He will release my feet from the snare. 16Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. 18Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You. 21May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in You. 22Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!
This psalm is the prayer of a mature believer who faces both external and internal turmoil: external turmoil due to affliction from his enemies; internal turmoil due to his sin. This prayer demonstrates the maturity of its author in a number of ways: the total dependence upon God, the seeking of guidance from God, the remorse over sin (even sin committed long before), the meditation on the attributes of God in the midst of the prayer, the concern for all of God's people, etc.
This psalm is written in the form of an acrostic. In the original language, each verse begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet, in alphabetic order.[Footnote #9] The motive for writing the psalm in this way may have been to aid memorization; or possibly, the psalm was written as an acrostic simply as an artistic device. In any case, this psalm demonstrates that the use of artistic devices is permitted in the worship of God. Great musicians using their talents to lead in the worship of God, great poetry and literature written to the praise of God, even dance, drama, visual arts created and performed to the glory of God are all good things. We should not discourage great artistry in the name of God, rather we should encourage that all artistic talent be used to the glory of God.
The thematic structure of this psalm alternates between petitions of prayer, and meditation on the attributes and work of God: prayer (vss. 1-2); meditation (vs. 3); prayer (vss. 4-7); meditation (vss. 8-10); prayer (vs. 11); meditation (vss. 12-15); prayer (vss. 16-22).
1To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 2in You I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 3Noone whose hope is in You will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.
David begins his prayer: "To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in You I trust, O my God." This one statement in David's prayer exemplifies the basics of prayer. Prayer is to be addressed to God, so he says: "To You, O LORD". The true believer turns to God first in times of trouble; only He can provide effective relief from affliction. Prayer is to be fervent and from the heart, so he says: "I lift up my soul". Prayer and worship without heart and soul are useless; the soul must accompany the hands and eyes in being lifted up to God. Prayer is to be accompanied by faith in God's ability to answer, so David says: "In You I trust". Petitions without faith and trust that God has the power and desire to fulfill the requests are empty words. Note then that David says: "O my God". It is a great privilege that God allows to us such an appropriation of Himself. He is not just God, but my God.
David's first two petitions are: "Do not let me be put to shame", then, "nor let my enemies triumph over me". Interestingly, David's primary concern, even above his concern about his enemies triumphing over him, is that he not "be put to shame". Shame was a terrible thing to experience in David's day and culture, and as such, shame was a great deterrent to ungodly behavior. Many in today's modern American culture are trying to get rid of shame, and in doing so, they encourage ungodly behavior. It used to be shameful to have a child out of wedlock; it used to be shameful to speak profanely; it used to be shameful to practice homosexual acts, etc. As the culture rids itself of shame, it is also ridding itself of godliness.
David, in verse 3, meditates upon His request in verse 2: "Noone whose hope is in You will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse." David's meditation here is based on reason, based on his knowledge that God is righteous and just. Reason strengthens David's faith.
4Show me Your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths; 5Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. 6Remember, O LORD, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. 7Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; According to Your love remember me, for You are good, O LORD.
Next, David asks for teaching from the Lord, seeking to know His will and way. Though he was a mature believer, David still needed teaching concerning God's will. We will never in this life have perfect knowledge. We always need to strive to know the will of God for us.
It is appropriate that David, in the midst of affliction, asks to know God's will. The knowledge of God's will helps us to bear affliction. David says: "Show me Your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long" (vss. 4-5). What a blessing that we can know God's will and way! "Moral, providential and mental forms of guidance are all precious gifts of a gracious God to a teachable people."[Footnote #10] It is not possible for us, on our own, to discern God's will and way. We need God's help. We are lost without His guidance. David appropriately asks God to teach him in His ways, His path, and His truth.
God teaches us in many ways, as David has enumerated. He has given us His commandments, which are His "ways", what we are to do. He has given us the examples of His people in the Bible, who show us (by example) His "paths", the way to live lives consistent with His commandments. He has given us His Spirit, who "guides us in His truth".
David has confidence that God will grant His requests to teach him on two bases: that God is his Savior; that David himself trusts in God. David says: "[T]each me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long" (vs. 5). God went to great lengths to save us. Why then would He not be willing to guide us in His ways? And in addition, if we hope in Him for everything "all day long", would not God be all the more willing to reveal Himself to us?
In support of his petitions, David first appeals to God to "remember" two of His most beloved attributes: "Remember, O LORD, Your great mercy and love, for they are from of old" (vs. 6). God's great love for us is shown most in His mercy. Though we sin and stumble in our relationship with Him, He has mercy upon us and, despite our failings, continues to answer our prayers. Significantly, David reminds God that His "mercy and love" are "from of old". As God Himself told us: "I the LORD do not change" (Mal. 3:6). If God has shown such great mercy and love in the past, why would He not continue to do so? "If the Lord will only do unto us in the future as in the past, we shall be well content."[Footnote #11]
David encourages God to remember His "great mercy and love. . . from of old" (vs. 6), but then encourages Him to forget his own past behavior: "Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways" (vs. 7). Youth guarantees that none of us will ever go sinless! We all, I am certain, could pray along with David here for God to forget "the sins of [our] youth", sins committed "at an age when reflection is subordinate to passion."[Footnote #12] And despite God's omniscience, because of His great love for us, He chooses conveniently to forget His people's sins: "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more" (Isa. 43:25). Our God is too good to us, as David points out in the next section. . .
8Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore He instructs sinners in His ways.
9He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them His way.
10All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of His covenant.
11For the sake of Your name, O LORD,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great. The foregoing petitions have again brought David into meditation, this time concerning the goodness of God: "Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He instructs sinners in His ways" (vs. 8). David realizes that God, not only chooses to forget our sins, but He also, because of His great love for us, "instructs sinners in His ways", though we do not deserve such instruction. That God would reach out to sinners is difficult for some to accept. The Pharisees were not pleased when Christ associated with "tax collectors and sinners" (Matt. 9:10-12). There is always an outcry when an evangelist preaches to a murderer and the murderer accepts Christ. We at times think that God's grace should only be reserved for the ones whom we deem worthy to receive it. This view is a faulty, works-based theology, which slights the love of God for all people, including the worst of sinners. We forget too easily that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Rom. 10:13; cf. Joel 2:32), not just the so-called best of us. "To attribute to God an uprightness which He may exercise only towards the worthy and the meritorious is a cold view of His character, and of little advantage to sinners, and yet the world commonly apprehends that God is good in no other sense."[Footnote #13]
Those "sinners" whom God instructs are described next: "He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way" (vs. 9). Only through humility can we become God's children, as we acknowledge our moral bankruptcy before God and lean on the work of Christ for our salvation. Because of this, the humble (it seems) get special treatment throughout the Bible. So too here, as it is the humble who are accepted into God's school of instruction. "Pride and anger have no place in the school of Christ. The Master Himself is `meek and lowly of heart' (cf. Matt. 11:29); much more, surely, ought the scholars to be so."[Footnote #14]
David continues his meditation: "All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant" (vs. 10). The word here "ways" signifies "the tracks and ruts made by the wheels of wagons by often passing over the same ground. [Love and faithfulness] are the paths in which God constantly walks in reference to the children of men; and so frequently does He show them [love], and so frequently does He [show Himself to be faithful], that His [ways] are easily discerned. How frequent, how deeply indented, and how multiplied are those tracks to every family and individual!"[Footnote #15]
David's meditation leads him to a quick petition before he continues his meditation: "For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great" (vs. 11). The "great"ness of sin is no barrier to forgiveness, for "where sin increased, grace increased all the more" (Rom. 5:20). God's grace, and the work of Christ, is sufficient to atone for all sin, no matter how great. As intimated above, sin is not the greatest obstacle to God's forgiveness; rather, lack of humility is.
12Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. 13He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14The LORD confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them.
David then continues his meditation upon those whom the Lord instructs: "Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him" (vs. 12). In addition to humility, fear of the Lord is an important attribute of those who become children of God. "The fear of God (importing care to serve God according to His word, and to stand in awe to offend Him) is the necessary property of a true and lively believer."[Footnote #16] "Present fear begets eternal security."[Footnote #17] Solomon teaches us: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 9:10). David here agrees: "The LORD confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them" (vs. 14). Not only is revelation from God available to those who fear Him, but also prosperity: "He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land" (vs. 13).
Given all this, clearly we should cultivate our fear of the Lord. Yes, God is gracious; yes, God is loving; but also, the thought of God should inspire in us the greatest awe, the deepest reverence. These days, many have lost the fear of the Lord. They see God as a kindly, George-Burns-ish old man who wouldn't hurt a flea. This is not the God of the Bible. God is mighty; God is awesome (in the traditional sense of the word; also translated "terrible" in the King James Version, see Deut. 7:21). And in our sin, we should greatly fear His disfavor, for He is holy. We should humbly bow before Him and confess our sins, and resolve (in fear) to sin no more.
15My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only He will release my feet from the snare. 16Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. 18Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins. 19See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! 20Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You. 21May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in You. 22Redeem Israel, O God, from all their troubles!
David finishes up his meditation and starts to focus again on his afflictions: "My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only He will release my feet from the snare" (vs. 15). In the midst of his affliction, David's eyes are still "ever on the LORD". "Though we cannot see Him by reasons of our present distance and darkness, yet we must look towards Him."[Footnote #18] David's eyes, as ours should be, were "ever on the LORD" in trust, in hope, in love.
David then continues his petitions: "Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted" (vs. 16). Just as David's eyes are "ever on the LORD", also assuredly the Lord's eyes are ever on David; so, it is unnecessary for David to ask God to "turn to [him]". We at times have the mistaken assumption that God turns His back upon us in our affliction. On the contrary, God is always with us, especially during our affliction. As David pointed out in an earlier psalm: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me" (Ps. 23:4). And the Lord Himself says in Isaiah: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior" (Isa. 43:2-3). David apparently needs such protection in this time of great affliction. He prays: "The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish" (vs. 17).
David then continues: "Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins" (vs. 18). Very often, in the midst of affliction, we are reminded of our sins. Part of us even thinks that our affliction is a direct result of our sin. While this is not always true, it is still not inappropriate to reflect upon our sins when we are in the midst of affliction. It is as good a time as any to get right with God, to confess our sins before Him, to ask for forgiveness and make a clean slate of things. As John teaches: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9). To seek, as David does, for God to "take away all [our] sins" is the most needed prayer, and when answered, the greatest gift.
David's petitions take on added urgency and fervency: "See how my enemies have increased and how fiercely they hate me! Guard my life and rescue me; let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You" (vss. 19-20). Next, David does not pray for a miraculous intervention of God, but that deliverance would come through natural means: "May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in You" (vs. 21). David, to his credit, wants to overcome his enemies, not with evil and violence, but with "integrity and uprightness". We would all like to believe that through godliness we can overcome affliction, and we should strive for this. As Paul exhorts: "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:21). David's petition here is one we should all pray for in the midst of affliction, for it implicitly asks for two things: first, that God would give us the moral strength to act with "integrity and uprightness"; then that God would direct events such that through our "integrity and uprightness", our affliction is overcome.
Though wrapped up in his own troubles, David has not forgotten the needs of all God's people. He ends his prayer: "Redeem Israel, O God from all their troubles" (vs. 22). We should remember the needs of and pray for all God's people, not just selfishly pray for ourselves. Then also, specifically, we should pray for the redemption of Israel. Paul teaches that the redemption of Israel is an important part of God's plan, and suggests that Christ will not return until Israel is redeemed: "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:25-26).
So Father, we praise You for answered prayer, that You hear and respond to our requests. And we too pray for the redemption of Israel. We ask that Your Spirit would move among them, to turn them to You, and Your Son Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen.
Footnote:
9. This psalm is the first of seven acrostic psalms. The others are: 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145.
10. C. H. Spurgeon, A Treasury of David, Vol. I; pg. 392.
11. C. H. Spurgeon, A Treasury of David, Vol. I; pg. 393.
12. J. A. Alexander, Commentary on the Psalms, pg. 123.
13. John Calvin, cited in Plumer, Studies in the Book of Psalms, pg. 333.
14. George Horne, cited in Spurgeon, op. cit., pg. 404.
15. Adam Clarke, cited in Spurgeon, op. cit., pg. 405.
16. David Dickson, A Commentary on the Psalms, pg. 132.
17. Augustine, cited in Spurgeon, op. cit., pg. 409.
18. Matthew Henry, cited in Spurgeon, op. cit., pg. 411.