Let my cry come near before Thee, O Lord: give me understanding according to Thy Word.
A model prayer
I. The earnestness it breathes. “Let my cry come near before Thee, O Lord.” This prayer is not a statement, not an address, but a “cry” denoting great fervency. Importunacy is the essential characteristic of true prayer. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
II. The mercies it invokes.
1. Spiritual light. “Give me understanding according to Thy Word.” In a moral sense we are blind and foolish.
2. Soul deliverance. “Deliver me according to Thy Word.” Through the fall, souls are embarrassed, imperilled, and enslaved.
3. Divine help. “Let Thine hand help me.” We talk of self-helpfulness. This alone is a fiction, a dream. No hand can really help us but the hand of God.
4. Continued existence (verse 175). He wishes to live, not for any selfish ends, but in order to praise the Lord.
III. The pleas it urges.
1. The testimony he pleads is the testimony of God. He prays for what was Divinely promised. All true prayer must be guided by the Divine Word.
2. He pleads his resolution to praise God (verses 171, 172). He resolves to lay out the remainder of his days in the service of his Maker. “Unto Him be glory,” etc.
3. He pleads his delight in the Divine law (verse 174). Those who fully appreciate what they have from God are warranted to expect, and qualified to receive, more.
IV. The confession it makes (verse 176). This is true of all (Luke 15:4; Matthew 18:12-13). Gone whence? From the knowledge, the image, the companionship of God. Whither? Into the wilderness of moral darkness and confusion. This is our helpless condition. Christ came to seek and to save the lost, blessed be His name! (Homilist.)