In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my
God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into
his ears. (Psalm 18:6)
It was a very evident proof of uncommon faith in David,
when, being almost plunged into the gulf of death, he lifted up his heart to
heaven by prayer. Let us therefore learn, that such an example is set before
our eyes, that no calamities, however great and oppressive, may hinder us from
praying, or create an aversion to it. It was prayer which brought to David the
fruits or wonderful effects of which he speaks a little after, and from this it
appears still more clearly that his deliverance was effected by the power of
God.
In saying that he cried, he means, as we have
observed elsewhere, the ardor and earnestness of affection which he had in
prayer. Again, by calling God his God, he separates himself from the
gross despisers of God, or hypocrites, who, when constrained by necessity, call
upon the Divine Majesty in a confused and tumultuous manner, but do not come to
God familiarly and with a pure heart, as they know nothing of his fatherly
favor and goodness.
When, therefore, as we approach to God, faith goes before to
illumine the way, giving us the full persuasion that He is our Father, then is
the gate opened, and we may converse freely with Him and he with us. David, by
calling God his God, and putting him on his side, also intimates that God was
opposed to his enemies; and this serves to show that he was actuated by true
piety and the fear of God.
By the word temple we are
not here to understand the sanctuary as in many other places, but heaven; for
the description which immediately follows cannot be applied to the sanctuary.
Accordingly, the sense is, that when David was forsaken and abandoned in the
world, and all men shut their ears to his cry for help, God stretched forth his
hand from heaven to save him. (Commentaries)
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