Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice.
A prayer of desire and dependence
David here expresses--
I. his desire towards God. If he cannot now go up to the house of the Lord, yet, wherever he is, he can find a way to the throne of grace by prayer.
1. He humbly bespeaks, because he firmly believes he shall have, a gracious audience (verse7).
2. He takes hold of the kind invitation God had given him to this duty (Psalms 27:8).
(1) The true nature of religious worship. Seeking the face of God. The opening of His hand will satisfy the desire of other living things (Psalms 145:16), but it is only the shining of His face that will satisfy the desire of a living soul (Psalms 4:6-7).
(2) The kind invitation of a gracious God to this duty. He calls us by the whispers of His Spirit, to and with our spirits, to seek His face; calls us by His Word, by the stated returns of opportunities for His worship, and by special providences, merciful and afflictive.
(3) The ready compliance of a gracious soul with this invitation. A gracious heart readily echoes to the call of a gracious God, being made willing in the day of His power.
3. He is very particular in his requests.
(1) For the favour of God, that he might not be shut out from that.
(2) For the continuance of His presence with him.
(3) For the benefit of a Divine conduct (Psalms 27:11).
(4) For the benefit of a Divine protection (Psalms 27:12).
II. his dependence upon God.
1. That He would help and succour him, when all other helps and succours failed him (Psalms 27:10). God is a surer and better friend than our earthly parents are or can be.
2. That in due time he should see the displays of His goodness (verse 18). Even the best saints are subject to faint when their troubles become grievous and tedious. Their spirits are overwhelmed, and their flesh and heart fail; but their faith is a sovereign cordial. They that walk by faith in the goodness of the Lord, shall in due time walk in the sight of that goodness.
3. That in the meantime he should be strengthened to bear up under his burden (Psalms 27:14). Whether he said it to himself or to his friends, it comes all to one. “He shall strengthen thy heart,” shall sustain the spirit, and then the spirit shall sustain the infirmity. In that strength--
(1) Keep close to God, and to your duty.
(2) Keep up your spirits in the midst of the greatest danger and difficulties. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
David’s prayer for audience and answer
I. what David prayed for. The audience which David prays for is not the bare act of hearing, in taking notice of what he said in prayer, for he knew well that would never be wanting in God towards man. But by hearing, he means God’s favourable act of audience, testified by gracious answers (Psalms 143:1).
1. He knew that God did often, for just causes, deny to give such gracious answers, even to the prayers of His servants.
(1) When He would bumble them, and correct them for their sins (Psalms 66:18).
(2) When He would stir them up to more zeal and fervency in prayer (Matthew 15:22, etc.).
(3) When He will exercise them under some affliction (Psalms 22:1-2).
II. the manner of David’s praying. He cried with his voice; which notes great fervency, zeal and earnestness.
1. Prayer is a good thing, and zealous affection in a good thing is always commendable (Galatians 4:18).
2. Zeal and fervency in prayer is very moving (James 5:16; Luke 11:8; Luke 18:1-5).
3. God’s mercies, testified by gracious promises and answerable performances, notably encouraged him to be zealous and earnest in prayer (Psalms 22:4-5; Psalms 107:6; Psalms 107:13; Psalms 107:19; Psalms 6:8-9).
4. His own necessities urged him (Psalms 18:4-6).
III. David’s esteem of this work of God, when he gives audience and answers to his prayers. The reason is, because he, as every other man, stood guilty of sin, which separates between God and us (Psalms 59:2). (T. Pierson.)
Prayer, a child’s cry to God
Telephones have been fixed near the cots of sleeping infants, that when they awake and begin to cry the mother may hear them at once and fly to comfort them. Prayer is a child’s cry, and God is always listening for it. (R. Brewin.)