Verse 1

"To the chief Musician upon a Shoshannim, [A Psalm] of David." Save me, O God; for the b waters are come in unto [my] soul.

(a) Of Shoshannim, read (Psalm 45:1).

(b) David shows by the waters the great dangers he was in, out of which God delivered him.

Verse 2

I sink in deep mire, where [there is] no c standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

(c) No stable firmness to settle my feet.

Verse 3

I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine d eyes fail while I wait for my God.

(d) Though his senses failed him, yet his faith was constant and encouraged him still to pray.

Verse 4

They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, [being] mine enemies e wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored [that] which I f took not away.

(e) Condemning me as guilty.

(f) They judged me a thief, though innocent, and gave my goods to others, as though I had stolen them.

Verse 5

O God, thou knowest my g foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.

(g) Though I am guilty toward you, yet I am innocent toward them.

Verse 6

Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for h my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.

(h) Do not let my evil entreaty of the enemy be an opportunity for the faithful to fall from you.

Verse 9

i For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

(i) When I saw your enemies claim your Name in mouth only, and in their life deny the same, your Holy Spirit thrust me forward to reprove them and defend your glory.

Verse 10

When I k wept, [and chastened] my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.

(k) My zeal moved me to lament and pray for my salvation.

Verse 12

They that l sit in the gate speak against me; and I [was] the song of the drunkards.

(l) The more he sought to win them to God, the more they were against him both the poor and the rich.

Verse 13

But as for me, my prayer [is] unto thee, O LORD, [in] an m acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

(m) Knowing that even though I endure trouble now, yet you have a time in which you have appointed my deliverance.

Verse 14

Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the n deep waters.

(n) He shows a living faith, in that he believes that God is favourable towards him when he seems to be angry and at hand when he seems to be far off.

Verse 17

And o hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.

(o) Not that he feared that God would not hear him, but that care made him think that God delayed too long.

Verse 19

Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine p adversaries [are] all before thee.

(p) You see that I am beset as a sheep among many wolves.

Verse 20

Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and q I looked [for some] to take pity, but [there was] none; and for comforters, but I found none.

(q) He shows men that it is vain to put our trust in men in our great necessity, but that our comfort only depends on God: for man increases our sorrows, then diminishes them, (John 19:29).

Verse 22

Let their r table become a snare before them: and [that which should have been] for [their] welfare, [let it become] a trap.

(r) He desires God to execute his judgments against the reprobate, which cannot by any means be turned, (Romans 11:9).

Verse 23

Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their s loins continually to shake.

(s) Take both judgment and power from them, (Acts 1:20).

Verse 25

Let their t habitation be desolate; [and] let none dwell in their tents.

(t) Punish not only them, but their posterity, who will be like them.

Verse 27

Add u iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.

(u) By their continuance and increasing in their sins, let it be known that they are of the reprobate.

Verse 28

Let them be blotted out of the x book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

(x) They who seemed by their profession to have been written in your book, yet by their fruits prove the contrary, let them be known as reprobates.

Verse 31

[This] also shall please the LORD better than an ox [or] y bullock that hath horns and hoofs.

(y) There is no sacrifice which God values more than thanksgiving for his benefits.

Verse 33

For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his z prisoners.

(z) For as he delivered his servant David, so will he do for all that are in distress and call on him.

Verse 36

The a seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

(a) Under the temporal promise of the land of Canaan, he comprehends the promise of everlasting life to the faithful and their posterity.