A Prayer in Tribulation
Explanation of the Psalm
1 When the sinful desires are very powerful, God seems to forget and to desert the soul; when the understanding is obscured by darkness, he seems to turn from the soul. He, being the light, illuminates, when he shows his face, and leaves all in darkness when he turns it away. The man under temptation then exclaims, in reference to the first, “how long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end?” And in reference to the second, “How long dost thou turn away thy face from me?”
2 Inverting the order, he complains, first, of the darkness he is wrapt in; secondly, of the sinful desires he is unwillingly subject to. In consequence of the obscurity of my understanding, “How long shall I take counsels in my soul?” That is to say, devise various plans to deliver myself from the evil; and, again, looking at these wicked desires that infest my heart, “How long shall I have sorrow in my heart all the day?” How long shall I have sorrow and grieve, for fear I may have offended God; and do so daily, that is, the whole day, without intermission.
3 Both evils are here comprehended. For the “Enemy is then exalted” over man, when he oppresses him, both by the suggestion of sinful thoughts, which he cannot banish; and by involving him in darkness he cannot dissipate; and thus, as if he were suffering grievously, he cries to God, “How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”
4 He next invokes the divine assistance against both evils. “Consider,” that is, turn your face, “and hear me,” that is, don’t forget, don’t desert, help me; I entreat you, “Enlighten my eyes.” The same prayer more clearly expressed and repeated, “Enlighten:” banish the darkness of my mind, by turning to, and regarding me, “That I may never sleep in death:” that by consenting to my evil desires, my soul may not be lost. The death of the soul or body is not uncommonly called sleep in the Scriptures, because God can as easily wake one from either, as we can wake the sleeping. The words that “I may never sleep,” signify that man, when he yields to temptation, sleeps as it were, and feels no further torment from the temptation: but as rest of that sort, so far from being wholesome, is fatal, the words “In death” are appended. Man, then, may be freed from temptation in two ways, either by banishing the tempter, through the grace of God; or by indulging his passions, by consenting to the sin: he prays here to be freed in the first manner, for fear, to his serious cost, he may be freed in the second manner; that is, by sleeping in the consent to sin, and he gives a reason for desiring to be freed from temptation in the next verse.
5 The devil certainly would exult on having conquered a servant of God, a thing that would tend to lessen God’s glory. A reason assigned for his praying, “Lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him.” For “They that trouble me will rejoice when I am moved;” that is, they will do so, not only on my entire prostration, but even on my appearing to be slightly shaken; for, as “there is joy in heaven, for one sinner that does penance, more than for ninety nine just that do not need penance;” so the evil spirits more exult in even the approach to sin of one perfect man, than they would in the reveling of confirmed sinners in the most grievous sins. Hence it would appear that David, in writing this Psalm, had merely in view the delivery of the just man from the temptation of the devil; and not, as some would have it, his own delivery from Saul’s persecution. During that persecution, he was daily obliged to move about, in which case the words, “They will rejoice when I am moved,” as if he considered it of great importance not to move, would be quite inapplicable.
6 Another reason why the just man should be helped by God, because, “trusting in his mercy,” and not relying on his own strength, he resisted the tempter. The last reason he assigns for moving God to help him, is a promise that when freed from the temptation, he will not prove ungrateful to his liberator, but will thank God for the benefit, in heart, words, and deeds. “My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.” My heart shall bound with joy, on attaining salvation, attributing the whole to you, and praising you for it. The mouth will do its duty, for, “I will sing to the Lord, who giveth me good things.” Deeds are comprehended in the expression, “I will sing;” for the word sing properly means in the Hebrew, to strike the harp. Hence the Scripture says, “David sang with his hands,” 1 Kings 18, and in Psalm 144:9, “With a psaltry of ten strings will I sing unto thee.” He therefore promises, that he will exult in his heart, will sing with his mouth and strike the harp with his hands, that his entire body and soul may be engaged in celebrating God’s praises. “I will sing to the name” means, to chant the praises of God.