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By Edwin K. Gedney
The first 10 verses of this psalm are a hymn of praise to Jehovah for his goodness to the writer, while the latter part is a sermon of exhortation addressed to men. It is an alphabetical psalm, the verses beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
The cause of David’s rejoicing is his deliverance from the king, Abimelech, of Gath as recorded in 1 Samuel 21:10. During the period of this experience he had suffered much and had had many narrow escapes. Now after the experiences of the past, David reviews his hardships, and the one thing that stands out in his mind is not the detail of the experience, which he does not recount, but the great power of God to deliver those who hold fast to him.
How beautiful it is to those of long experience to look back over life in retrospect and count the blessings that God has given. It is out of these past victories that we get grace for the problems of the present. As David himself said in facing Goliath, “The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”
Pray for the faith to use the smaller victories of the past as stepping-stones to greater ones. Pray for the downtrodden and oppressed of the world that they may find him who will “deliver them out of all their troubles.”
Originally published November 6, 1944
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