He Expresses His Confidence That God Who Has Called Him To Be A Believer Will Prolong His Life And Extend It Into The Future, Promising In Return That He Will Continually Praise And Worship God And Fulfil All That He Has Vowed (Psalms 61:5-8).
‘For you, O God, have heard my vows,
You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.'
He is confident that God will hear him because he has made his vows to God. The vows that are in mind are indicated here. They are the vows of one who has become a believer, and has entered into what God promises for the future, long life and blessing. They are vows of constancy, and obedience to His word. In other words, they are the vows of someone fully committed to God. As a consequence he is confident that God has given him the inheritance which is the lot of all who truly fear God, that he himself has entered into their heritage in order to enjoy the benefits that God gives to His own. To ‘fear His Name' is to walk in humble reverence of God, worshipping and obeying Him and ever seeking to do His will because they recognise Who they are dealing with.
‘You will prolong the king's life,
His years will be as many generations.'
He will sit enthroned (or ‘dwell') before God for ever.'
David now refers to himself in the third person as ‘the king' in view of the fact that he is God's chosen and anointed king to whom God has promised long life and posterity. It is as his chosen King that he is sure that God will preserve and prolong his life, so that he will see his sons, and his sons' sons, and their sons also, as he spans the generations. Furthermore God had promised that his throne would be sure for ever, with his sons and his sons' sons following him (2 Samuel 7:13; 2 Samuel 7:16), and he is taking Him at His word.
It may even be that his confidence in God is such that he is sure that even after he dies he will still abide before God. Compare Psalms 16:11; Psalms 17:15. There he is in such a close relationship with God that he cannot believe that that relationship will ever be broken. He is confident that he will abide before God for ever. In the literature that we have he never expands on the idea, but it is perfectly clear from what he says in those Psalms. He never speaks of ‘eternal life' but that is what he is confident that he will enjoy.
(For this sudden switch from speaking personally to referring himself as the king in the third person compare Psalms 63:11, where the reference can only be to the Psalmist for the ascription to make sense).
‘Oh, prepare (appoint, allot) covenant love and truth,
That they may preserve him.'
He calls on God to ‘allot covenant love and truth' to him, in other words, to act in covenant love and loyalty towards him. He knows that his preservation is in the hands of God, on the basis of the covenant by which God has committed Himself to His own. His confidence in God rests on the fact that he knows that God will never fail to fulfil His covenant promises to those who are loyal to Him.
In the same way, if we are fully responsive to God we can also be sure that He will fulfil His promises towards us, watching over us, keeping us, chastening us when necessary, and working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).
‘So will I sing praise to your name for ever,
That I may daily perform my vows.'
In response to God's faithfulness, David also promises that he too will be faithful. He assures God that he will continually praise Him, and will perform his vows, (the vows spoken of in Psalms 61:5), to Him daily, his vows of loyalty and obedience to His covenant requirements, in other words to His word. If we would enjoy God's protection it is required of us that we be found faithful and true to His word.