In verses 169 and 170, the psalmist wants his desire to come before the Lord. He regards God as a king dealing with important matters. An earthly king would have to give a lot of time to consider his response to such things. With some of them he would recognise that he was unable to solve the matters because he did not have the resources or the power to deal with them. But the psalmist knew that God would never have such a dilemma.
The psalmist is concerned about two matters – ongoing instruction and deliverance from his enemies. Those two concerns have appeared frequently throughout the psalm, a reminder that some prayer requests are repetitive. The contents of God’s Word were the answer to both his concerns. He knew that the Lord would act according to his Word in both areas.
The outcome of understanding God’s Word for the psalmist would be torrents of praise to his God. He would discover wonderful truths about the Lord and be led regarding how to find the best quality of life in conformity to his Word. His response will be one of intense gratitude to the Lord for providing him with such blessings (vv. 171-72).
Nevertheless, he knew that he needed divine help even to perform what he had freely chosen to do. So he prayed that the Lord’s hand would always be ready to help him obey God’s precepts. The Lord’s hand is a wonderful picture of how he helps his people obey him – personal, powerful, and persistent (v. 173).
Although he had endured prolonged opposition, the psalmist was determined to follow God’s requirements. Yet he also longed for the time when such hindrances to his spiritual enjoyments would no longer be a problem (v. 174). He wanted spiritual life within him, pouring out glad praise, and one feature of such an experience was ongoing guidance found in God’s rules (v. 175).
In the last verse of the psalm, the author likens himself to two needy positions. First, he was prone to wander like a lost sheep leaving the good pastures of God’s Word. Second, he was a dependent servant, always needing divine help. Despite his wanderings, he still retained a commitment to God’s requirements, but he knew that only the Lord could ensure his progress in the spiritual life. So he prayed for divine help.
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