Hear my prayer, O Lord;
give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
² Enter not into judgment with your servant,
for no one living is righteous before you.

³ For the enemy has pursued my soul;
he has crushed my life to the ground;
he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
⁴ Therefore my spirit faints within me;
my heart within me is appalled.

⁵ I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the work of your hands.
⁶ I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah

⁷ Answer me quickly, O Lord!
My spirit fails!
Hide not your face from me,
lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
⁸ Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,
for in you I trust.
Make me know the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

⁹ Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord!
I have fled to you for refuge.
¹⁰ Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God!
Let your good Spirit lead me
on level ground!

¹¹ For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life!
In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
¹² And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies,
and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,
for I am your servant.

1) What are the four sections of this psalm?
Verses 1-4 lay out David’s complaint or trouble to the Lord. Verses 5-6 are the turning point of the psalm, where David’s heart is refocused on truth despite his circumstances. Verses 7-11 show David beseeching the Lord; he lays out what he longs for God to do. Finally, verse 12 shows David’s confidence, bringing the psalm full circle from despair to trust.

2) What does the psalmist recognize about himself and God that is the turning point in the psalm?
In verses 5-7, David verbalizes how finite he himself is. He recognizes that it has been the Lord’s faithfulness and goodness that has been displayed in the past events of his life rather than something he could manufacture or control. As he has undoubtedly done in the past, David “stretches out” his own hands before Yahweh to work mightily when he himself can do nothing.

3) On what does the psalmist find comfort and confidence?
A beautiful aspect of the psalms is the deep emotional language throughout them. David doesn’t sugarcoat his situation, paste on a happy face and pretend “everything will work out”. The utterances of his heart are genuine, real to life, and extremely transparent, but his comfort and confidence isn’t flimsy wistfulness either. His confidence in God has been proven, tested, and shown to be worthy of his trust, no matter the circumstances. He recognizes his own inability to have confidence in himself, while acknowledging that God is more than capable of answering David’s cries, preserving his life, listening, interceding on David’s behalf, delivering him, teaching him, leading him, and most obviously, loving him. David’s trust and full life surrender are firmly cast upon God and His unchanging character.

1) How do these four sections provide a model for our prayers?
When we pray, it’s important to remember why we’ve been given the grace gift of prayer. The Lord God longs for a deep, intimate relationship with us and has given us prayer as a means of accessing and growing that relationship. Because prayer is designed for communication, honesty and transparency are paramount. David lays out his troubles to the Lord, not holding anything back, much like we would do to a very dear friend. David is sharing his heart with his Father God and we are invited to do the same. Halfway through, David intentionally refocuses his heart on truth. He reminds himself of God’s faithfulness and His good character, which allows him to leave his burdens with God instead of carrying them himself. (1 Peter 5:7) Notice that while David is beseeching God for his desires, he couples his wants with God’s character. “Deliver me from my enemies….You are my refuge”. When we pray with God’s character in front of us, it shifts the attitude of our hearts. David closes his time with God by full trust in God and His sovereignty. God is God, and David is His servant. Solid truth will always clarify our circumstances, providing an anchor in God Himself instead of our feelings or the situations around us.

2) What does the psalmist recognize about himself and God that is the turning point in the psalm?
David’s willingness to completely rely on God rather than himself should encourage us to do the same. Just as David intentionally reflected on the many ways God had acted on his behalf in the past, we are invited to do likewise. Take time to write down specific events where you have seen God’s character on display in your circumstances, even if at the time, the situation looked grim. Praise Him for this, take comfort in His faithfulness, and be reminded that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! (Hebrews 13:7-8)

3) On what does the psalmist find comfort and confidence?
In a world where circumstances change as quickly as they come, appearances are so often deceiving, and lasting comfort and sure confidence are difficult to come by, the knowledge of the Almighty is the cornerstone for a rock solid life. The deeper we pursue a relationship with Christ and the more we seek to truly know Him through study and biblical community, the more sure our footing becomes when chaos comes our way. Don’t shy away from finding solid, biblical truth to build your life upon, seek His Word and find true anchoring!

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We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
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