Daily Prayer Devotional for Women and Men | OnlinePrayerJournal

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A prayer of David. ¹Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. ²Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; 3 have mercy on me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. ⁴Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.

⁵ You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you. ⁶Hear my prayer, Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. ⁷When I am in distress, I call to you, because you answer me.

⁸ Among the gods there is none like you, Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. ⁹All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord; they will bring glory to your name. ¹⁰For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.

¹¹ Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. ¹²I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. ¹³For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.

¹⁴ Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God; ruthless people are trying to kill me— they have no regard for you. ¹⁵But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. ¹⁶Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant; save me, because I serve you just as my mother did. ¹⁷Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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David’s prayer portrays a humble man in trouble, calling on his God, who he knows can help. David, here, is not seeking power or a name for himself. Affliction and need can humble us and bring us to our knees, but it is better not to experience a day of trouble before we praise God. Certainly, there is much to praise God for in this psalm. David explicitly praises Him for being good, ready to forgive, abundant in lovingkindness, merciful, gracious, slow to anger and faithful. He declares that God is great, above all other gods, superior in workmanship, does wondrous deeds, and provides deliverance. As well, he recognizes that God listens to him, can save, preserve, help, and comfort him, is able to teach him, and give him strength. Implicitly, he affirms that God is trustworthy and worthy of being worshipped and glorified.

It takes less than two minutes to read the psalm out loud. Ask yourself when was the last time that, in two minutes of prayer, you praised God with such a prayer as David’s. This is, of course, one reason why we have the psalms. We can pray them, for they contain things that we are unable to say, or simply neglect to say. We do not need to be stricken, as David was, to use the psalm to praise God. At the same time, the lament psalms are there to help us frame our prayers when we need to ask God for help, particularly when we are oppressed by enemies, whether the enemy be human(s), an organization, sin, or something else.

David prays that God will teach him His ways of truth and help him fear God’s name (11). Let’s pray that prayer now.

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