David is once again in trouble, but he takes his situation to the Lord. He does not pray because he thinks the Lord does not know about the problem. This is a reminder that prayer is engaging with the Lord about matters of which he is fully aware.
Yet prayer is more than merely stating the problem; it is often a description of our faith, of how we regard God. In this set of verses, David says a great deal about the Lord, which is a feature of all the psalms. For a believer, prayer is not an approach to an unknown God. While David does refer to his problems, he also says much more about God than he does about those who were troubling him.
David regards the Lord as his only refuge. He knows that his God is this all the time. Yet he still prays to experience divine protection. Why? Because he wants the comfort connected to his spiritual privileges. He needs inner assurance that God is for him. He wants to experience the Lord’s power in his current providence (vv. 1-2).
David in his prayer is both profound and simple. His God is the great Yahweh, but he also describes him symbolically as having an ear to listen and a hand to pull him out of the net laid by his enemies. The great God is present not only as a fortress but as a guide. Whatever else is included in describing God as a guide, it indicates that there is a future destination for David even although he is presently in trouble (vv. 3-4). David takes everyday things and uses them to describe God because they enable his faith to grasp the reality of God in his life.
In verse 5, David indicates that his faithful God has rescued him. Therefore he can trust in the Lord for the future. His spirit had been distressed, but now it was full of joy because of experiencing again God’s deliverance (v. 7). He affirms his commitment to God by distinguishing himself from idolaters (v. 6). He testifies that his God had been aware of his distress and had shared his inner pain, but had now given him spiritual liberty (v. 8).
The verses of this psalm remind us that the spiritual life is primarily a relationship with God. This relationship persists in times of trouble as well as in periods of comfort. It confirms the reality of the faithfulness and friendship of God as well as the necessity of faith and prayer in the outlook of his people.
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