Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

The worldwide worship is presented in the middle of two verses describing the miracles of God. This teaches us that God will do supernatural things to bring about the conversion of souls to his son. The description of the miracles and greatness of God are in the present tense showing us that his abil- ities are still available to us today: “you are great and perform great miracles.” (10) He is not only God who was great in the past; as we pray and sing David’s prayer we will see his miraculous power accel- erate towards the fulfillment of worldwide revival.

III LOOK DOWN AND HAVE MERCY - 11-17

This section contains the remaining three of David’s eight petitions. He sings two of the most un- selfish prayers in the psalms each beginning with a ‘request’ and a desired ‘result’: Request: “Teach me your ways, O Lord,” Result: “that I may live according to your truth!” Request: “Grant me purity of heart,” (give me an undivided heart NIV) Result: “that I may honor you.” (that I may fear your name. NIV) (11) David knows that if he is to live right and honor God he must be shaped outwardly by the teach- ing of the Lord and inwardly by the renewing of his heart. Outward conformity without inward sincerity leads to self-righteousness. David then declares his ‘resolve’ to worship and the ‘reason’ why he is so passionate about loving God wholeheartedly. 6. Resolve to Praise- “With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God. I will give glory to your name forever, for your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death! [Sheol]” (12, 13) The decision to worship the Lord is complete, no part of his being is to be excluded. It is also eternal, without ceasing. Two reasons for this undivided praise are given; first is the great ‘hesed’ or covenantal love of God that is never ending and unbreakable 2 . Secondly the psalmist has been figu- ratively delivered from the ‘depths of Sheol’ the lowest hell or the depths of the grave. David faintly points to Jesus, the coming ‘Son of David’ who would escape the destruction of the grave by his tri- umphant resurrection. The Situation- “O God, insolent people rise up against me; violent people are trying to kill me. And you mean nothing to them.”(14) We know nothing of the circumstances surrounding this song; it is a sweet distillation of the most intimate prayers that David prayed during his entire lifetime. It is the con- centrated nectar of prayer. The Savior- “But you, O Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to get angry, full of unfailing love and truth.” (15) David borrows directly from Moses in this verse, showing the legitimacy of praying the scriptures when seeking God’s help and favor. “I am the Lord, the merciful and gracious God. I am slow to anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness. I show this unfailing love to many thousands by forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion.”(Ex. 34:6, 7) The Solution-This section contains David’s last two petitions. 7. Prayer for Strength- “Look down and have mercy on me. Give strength to you servant; yes, save me, for I am your servant. “ [the son of your maidservant. NIV] (16) Mercy creates strength in the human heart and David asks for it a second time. He reminds God again that he is his designated ser- vant and the son of his ‘maidservant’. Perhaps he was referring back to his famous great-grand- grandmother Ruth as she received God’s mercy and was called the maidservant of the Lord: “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken kindly to your maidservant,…” (Ruth 2:13 NAS) Or he might have been speaking prophetically of the Lord’s maid- servant Mary who gave birth to the Son of David, Jesus Christ. “I am the Lord’s servant, (maidservant) and I am willing to accept whatever he wants.” (Lk. 1:38) 8. Prayer for favor- “Send me a sign of your favor. Then those who hate me will be put to shame, for you, O Lord, help and comfort me.” (17) Deliverance from his enemies was a continuing sign of God’s approval upon David’s life. Beginning with Saul right to the end of his days when his son Adoni- jah led a rebellion, everyone who had risen against him was put to shameful defeat. When asked for a David ends this psalm with a realistic prayer:

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