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Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. 2 And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. 3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. 4 Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. 5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. 6 I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. 7 Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 8 Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. 9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. 10 Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. 11 Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble. 12 And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.
In this Psalm we have a prayer for rescue from the Psalmist who here serves as a spiritual portrait of all believers pleaing to our LORD for mercy in times of trouble; the cry is not to our own righteousness but God's (vv.1,2,11), see also Romans 3:10-18. Petition is repeatedly made to the LORD from a suffering servant (v.2,3,4,7,12); the thought being that God would act for His name's sake because a true servant put their trust in Him alone. The psalmist in turn prays to God that he might sincerely do His will (vv.6-10).
The terms "hear my prayer" and "give ear to my suppications" in verse 1 are often used when there is a sense of urgency in prayer; for example, see also Psalm 140:6.
What we have in the Psalm is a spiritual picture of a child of God whose life is "smitten" or literally crushed like a stone or broken cake of dirt breaks (Palm 141:7-10); and made to sit in affliction as if forsaken in Sheol, (see Psalm 88:4-6).
However, because of faith all hope is not lost; a believer can lean on the faith of Christ in times of trouble and pray with confidence, even in a "thirsty land" (vv. 5,6); a thirsty land being a spiritual picture of a place where there is no Christian love, there is no spiritual water (see John 7:38).
The seriousness and severity of human suffering is again seen in v. 7 where the Psalmist implores God to "hear me speedily"; this term is often used to show despair; see also Psalms 38:22; 40:13; 69:17; 89:46 & Isaiah 1:15. "in the morning" in verse 8, could be pointing to early deliverance or it could be a plea for the distress to cease by morning as in Psalms 30:5; 88:13; 119:147 & 130:6. Praying to God for Him to teach us how to live our lives is not uncommon in the Bible, see Psalms 51:6; 119:18-33 for a few examples.
God's steadfast lovingkindness toward His servants of our new covenant is only part of the commitment God has promised to His afflicted servants.
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