1 O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your rage.
2 Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak.
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
3 I am sick at heart.
How long, O Lord, until you restore me?
4 Return, O Lord, and rescue me.
Save me because of your unfailing love.
5 For the dead do not remember you.
Who can praise you from the grave?
6 I am worn out from sobbing.
All night I flood my bed with weeping,
drenching it with my tears.
7 My vision is blurred by grief;
my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.
8 Go away, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord will answer my prayer.
10 May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified.
May they suddenly turn back in shame.
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This Psalm is known as a Psalm of Lament. David is grieving, but in the middle of his grief, he gives us a great truth. He asks God to save him, and the great truth is the basis on which he expects God to respond, It is because of God’s unfailing love that both he and we can expect God to respond.
In these first 6 Psalms, I see so far a dependence by David on God for everything, even for vengeance. David makes the request, but God’s response is all in God’s hands. This truth is a precursor to Paul’s principle that “in everything, make your requests known to God” (Phil. 4:6,7), and then Paul tells us to rest in God’s peace, knowing that he will act.