Psalms 119:170 Let my
supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word.
In this verse the
psalmist does the same as he did in the first verse: he prays to God
to let his prayer come before Him. In the last verse he
called his prayer a cry. In
today’s verse he refers to it as his supplication.
A supplication is
the act of supplicating. Therefore, in order to know what a
supplication is, we
need to define the word supplicate.
Supplicate - To beg, pray, or entreat
humbly; to present a humble petition.
Simply stated, a
supplication is a prayer
in which one humbly
begs God for something. The psalmist is praying to be admitted into
the presence of God as a beggar. In praying thus, the psalmist
assumes a humble posture before God, which pleases Him. Had he not
been humble, his prayer would not have come before the Lord as the
next two verses make plain:
James 4:6 But he giveth more
grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace
unto the humble.
Psalms 138:6 Though the LORD be
high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth
afar off.
Matthew Henry’s comments on this verse are worth noting:
“His prayer that his supplication
might come before God implies a deep sense of his unworthiness, and a
holy fear that his prayer should come short or miscarry, as not fit
to come before God; nor would any of our prayers have had access to
God if Jesus Christ had not approached to him as an advocate for us.”
Thank God for the Lord
Jesus Christ through Whom we “have access by one Spirit unto the
Father” (Ephesians 2:18).
Then the psalmist
brought this request before the Lord: deliver me according to
thy word. This is the sixth
time in this psalm that he prayed to be saved or delivered (see
verses 94, 134, 146, 153, 154). In this prayer he does not specify
from what or from whom he prays to be delivered. But when you
consider that believers are locked in a battle with the devil and his
angels (Ephesians 6:11-12); and that they live in a world that hates
them (John 15:19); and that they live in corruptible bodies of flesh
in which there “dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18); then you
understand that believers always need deliverance. Hence, they need
to be always praying deliver me.
Since
we are finite creatures with very limited knowledge, there are many
things that threaten us that we are not even aware of. There are
things that will look very good to us that are in reality very bad;
but because of our shortsightedness, we just don’t see the bad.
Therefore, we need an infinite Mind to look out for us and deliver us
from that which we do not, yea, cannot see. Of course, that infinite
Mind is our God Whom we should ever supplicate to deliver us. For
there will always be something we need to be delivered from, whether
we know it or not.
And
notice that the psalmist
sought the deliverance that is according to God’s
word. He wanted the
deliverance that is promised in God’s word in the way that God has
promised it. He prayed for that deliverance that would make him more
holy, more in conformity to the commandments of God, and would thus
be to the glory of God. If that deliverance came through the path of
suffering, then let it be. He wanted that salvation that fulfills the
desire of a heart that is right with God, a heart that continually
says: “The LORD be magnified.”
Psalms 40:16 Let all those that
seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation
say continually, The LORD be magnified.
Philippians 1:19 For I know that
this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply
of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
20 According
to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be
ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ
shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
In that last reference were the words of the apostle Paul. If Christ was magnified in his body, that was salvation for Paul, even if it meant death. Is that the kind of deliverance you seek from God? Do you seek a deliverance that centers in God’s glory, or one that centers in your personal ease and ambition? In other words, do you seek to be delivered according to God’s will as expressed in His word or do you want to be delivered according your will as you may too often express in your words? His will or yours? His word or yours? Which is it?
No comments:
Post a Comment