avid prays for safety. (1-10) He complains of his enemies.
(11-16) And calls upon God to support him. (17-28)
Verses 1-10: It is no new thing for the most righteous men, and the
most righteous cause, to meet with enemies. This is a fruit of
the old enmity in the seed of the serpent against the Seed of
the woman. David in his afflictions, Christ in his sufferings,
the church under persecution, and the Christian in the hour
temptation, all beseech the Almighty to appear in their behalf,
and to vindicate their cause. We are apt to justify uneasiness
at the injuries men do us, by our never having given them cause
to use us so ill; but this should make us easy, for then we may
the more expect that God will plead our cause. David prayed to
God to manifest himself in his trial. Let me have inward comfort
under all outward troubles, to support my soul. If God, by his
Spirit, witness to our spirits that he is our salvation, we need
desire no more to make us happy. If God is our Friend, no matter
who is our enemy. By the Spirit of prophecy, David foretells the
just judgments of God that would come upon his enemies for their
great wickedness. These are predictions, they look forward, and
show the doom of the enemies of Christ and his kingdom. We must
not desire or pray for the ruin of any enemies, except our lusts
and the evil spirits that would compass our destruction. A
traveller benighted in a bad road, is an expressive emblem of a
sinner walking in the slippery and dangerous ways of temptation.
But David having committed his cause to God, did not doubt of
his own deliverance. The bones are the strongest parts of the
body. The psalmist here proposes to serve and glorify God with
all his strength. If such language may be applied to outward
salvation, how much more will it apply to heavenly things in
Christ Jesus!
Verses 11-16: Call a man ungrateful, and you can call him no worse:
this was the character of David's enemies. Herein he was a type
of Christ. David shows how tenderly he had behaved towards them
in afflictions. We ought to mourn for the sins of those who do
not mourn for themselves. We shall not lose by the good offices
we do to any, how ungrateful soever they may be. Let us learn to
possess our souls in patience and meekness like David, or rather
after Christ's example.
Verses 17-28: Though the people of God are, and study to be, quiet, yet
it has been common for their enemies to devise deceitful matters
against them. David prays, My soul is in danger, Lord, rescue
it; it belongs to thee the Father of spirits, therefore claim
thine own; it is thine, save it! Lord, be not far from me, as if
I were a stranger. He who exalted the once suffering Redeemer,
will appear for all his people: the roaring lion shall not
destroy their souls, any more than he could that of Christ,
their Surety. They trust their souls in his hands, they are one
with him by faith, are precious in his sight, and shall be
rescued from destruction, that they may give thanks in heaven.
avid prays for safety. (1-10) He complains of his enemies.
(11-16) And calls upon God to support him. (17-28)