The psalmist desires strongly that God would deliver him from those who were oppressing his soul (v. 81). His hope of deliverance was not only an inner longing. It was based on what God had promised, whether a specific promise or several of them that pointed to such a deliverance. Such a promise or set of promises creates expectations, but until they are experienced, there will be a sense of dissatisfaction for lack of divine comfort (vv. 81-82).
The opposition had left its mark on him (v. 83), but it had not caused him to forget his responsibility to serve God. The Lord’s requirements were still at the forefront of his mind. Yet he desired the Lord to intervene and help him. The psalmist was not a stoic, only responding with a grin and bear it attitude. He wanted the Lord to act on his behalf (v. 84). He stated to the Lord what the opponents were doing against him – digging pitfalls – and that they did not obey God’s commandments (v. 85).
Sometimes the opposition can be physical, but often a mental assault is more draining, especially when it includes falsehoods (v. 86). The psalmist’s opponents were spreading false accusations against him, and they seemed have had some success because his life was in danger (v. 87). Yet their malice had not caused him to cease serving God, nor had the silence of heaven so far to his prayer for deliverance.
As he prayed about his demanding situation, he thought about the covenant faithfulness of his God. He knew that spiritual strength and power could be given to him. Why did he want divine help? His desire was to continue practising what the Lord had commanded (v. 88).
In this section, the author is at his lowest regarding the problems he was facing, as far as the psalm is concerned. What he desired was twofold. First, divine deliverance from his foes and, second, divine enabling to keep on serving God. The psalmist wanted them in that order, but God could choose to reverse the order.
No comments:
Post a Comment