Because Your mercy is good, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. (Psalm 109:21-22)

After several verses in which David pleads with God to deny the wicked the opportunity to oppress the righteous — to remove the wicked from power and influence, he now looks to God for mercy and deliverance. Being persecuted as he was, he obviously felt powerless to do anything about his situation other than pray and seek God for relief. Also, seeing himself as a fugitive, he might have felt that he had nothing to offer others; to the contrary, being “poor and needy,” he was reliant upon others, taking rather than giving. No doubt, his sense of destitution and being cut off from community contributed to the sense of a wounded heart. In fact, in the next verse he likened himself to a shadow that is quickly swallowed up by the coming darkness of night.

As is the case with all who have suffered due to circumstances and at the hands of others, David’s plight was useful — we might even say needful — considering what God had in store for David. If he were to lead God’s people in a way that was pleasing to the Lord, it must be in righteousness and with humility. Like all of us, David was born with an evil inclination; in another psalm, he confessed, “ I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). It’s not hard to imagine that, after slaying Goliath and hearing the praises of the people, David might have been tempted to look upon himself in a different light than what was required in regard to the call of God. Therefore, he was subjected to an ordeal engineered to purge him of pride and self-confidence; it was necessary for David to depend upon the Lord for everything — even every breath of life.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul admonished us all, “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly” (Romans 12:3). I take the word “soberly” to mean clearly and honestly; in other words, not allowing our opinion of ourself to be intoxicated by the accolades and honors others might bestow upon us. Quite frankly, mankind was not designed to receive praise and unrestrained adoration — like strong drink, it quickly goes to our head and blurs the line between reality and what we wish our reality to be. All of this is to say that, it is in our best interests to abase ourselves before the Lord, and in due time, let Him exalt who He wills. It is in our best interest to regard ourselves as “poor and needy” in the eyes of God, and look to Him for everything — even every breath of life. Therefore, let us not put our trust in chariots and horses — or in ourselves for that matter — but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill