The Believer’s Humble and Confident Submission to the Hand of God.
V. 13. For I have heard the slander of many, the whispering directed against his person; fear was on every side, terrors all around him; while they took counsel against me, they devised to take away my life. Thus his enemies were engaged, such intentions they harbored; that was the trouble in which David found himself, the experience of most believers, at one time or another.
CONFIDENCE AND TRIUMPH OF FAITH. — V. 14. But I trusted in Thee, O Lord, again spoken with emphasis, “But as for me, in Thee have I confided, O Yahweh.” I said, Thou art my God, his highest Good, his safe Refuge. V. 15. My times, the entire course of the believer’s life, are in Thy hand, not subject to blind fate, but to the gracious will of the heavenly Father. Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, always stretched out to harm him, and from them that persecute me, torturing him with their pursuit.
V. 16. Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant, in merciful kindness; save me for Thy mercies’ sake, all merit on the part of the believer being disowned. V. 17. Let me not be ashamed, O Lord, become an object of ridicule on account of his trust in Yahweh, for I have called upon Thee; let the wicked be ashamed, all mockery being heaped upon their head, and let them be silent in the grave, cut off from the land of the living and silenced in the realm of the dead below. V. 18. Let the lying lips be put to silence, forever become dumb in death, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous, speaking arrogantly with pride and scorn, this attitude being characteristic of the unbelievers in their treatment of believers.
V. 19. Oh, how great is Thy goodness which Thou hast laid up, as a precious treasure, for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men! The love of God is manifested to the soul in secret, in a hidden manner, but altogether satisfactory to the believer. V. 20. Thou shalt hide them, the believers, in the secret of Thy presence, in the protection which His face affords, from the pride of man, from the conspiracies of the wicked, concealing them as with a screen; Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion, as a guest of Jehovah in the protecting shelter of His tent, from the strife of tongues, those of the wicked being engaged, as in warfare, in hurting the righteous.
V. 21. Blessed be the Lord; for He hath showed me His marvelous kindness, working miracles for the sake of the believer, in a strong city; for the believer, by placing his trust in Jehovah, enters into a fortified city, which cannot be taken by the enemies. V. 22. For I said in my haste, while he was confused and as in a stupor from surprise, I am cut off from before Thine eyes, he had for a moment believed himself forsaken by God; nevertheless, Thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto Thee, the deliverance of the Lord putting his small faith to shame.
V. 23. O love the Lord, all ye His saints, in return for the many evidences of His loving-kindness; for the Lord preserveth the faithful, Yahweh keeps the faith which He has promised, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer, with the punishment which his pride deserves. V. 24. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, strong and valiant of heart they shall be in their trust in Yahweh, all ye that hope in the Lord, confidently waiting for the final manifestation of His glory, a word which applies to the believers of all times. It may often seem as though nothing but darkness surrounded us, but the light of God’s countenance is always upon us, the full manifestation of His unchanging love being revealed on the Last Day.