Psalm 109:4; Psalm 142:1; Psalm 84:8
I give myself unto prayer.
I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.
O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer.
WILLIAM JAY (1769-1853): David was a man of prayer. We here read of his giving himself unto prayer; that is, he made it the leading business of his life. Now in this he is an example worthy of our imitation, for prayer is the very life of religion, without which it cannot exist, much less prosper, therefore we should be found much in the exercise of it. For this purpose we may take three views of it. First, View it as a duty. Though God knows all things, and sees the end from the beginning, and works all things after the counsel of His own will, yet He hath said, “For these things I will be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them,” Ezekiel 36:37; thus they are commanded to “seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually,” 1 Chronicles 16:11.
ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): This is a proof of the bent of David’s mind, in the composition of this beautiful and devout psalm in 1 Chronicles 16:11. If the Reader will critically examine it, he will discover that it is a compilation from several other Psalms.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): “I will call upon God,” Psalm 55:16. In translating this verse I have retained the future tense of the verb, as the Psalmist does not refer to something already done, but rather excites himself to the duty of prayer, and to the exercise of hope and confidence…In the verse which follows, David engages more particularly to show perseverance in prayer. “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” He does not content himself with saying that he will pray, for many do this in a perfunctory manner, and soon become wearied with the exercise; but he resolves to display both assiduity and vehemency. From the particular mention he makes of evening, morning, and noon, we are left to infer that these must have been the stated hours of prayer amongst the godly at that period…As we are naturally indisposed for the duty of prayer, there is a danger that we may become remiss, and gradually omit it altogether, unless we restrict ourselves to a certain rule.
WILLIAM JAY: Secondly, prayer is a due acknowledgment of His nature, and our dependence upon Him, as our Benefactor, Preserver, and Governor, and “the God of our salvation, to whom belong the issues of life.”
THOMAS MANTON (1620-1677): If we did take up God in this notion, to look upon Him as a Father, it would increase our confidence and dependence upon Him. This is a sweet relation: the reality is more in God than can be in an earthly father; for He is a Father according to His essence, knowing our necessities, pardoning our sins, supplying our wants, forming and fashioning our manners, providing able guardians for us, and laying up a blessed inheritance for us in heaven. As it encourages us to pray, so it furthers our duty in prayer, that we may behave ourselves with reverence, love, and gratitude, with a child-like reverence and affection in prayer. If we expect the supplies of children, we must perform the duty of children. God will be owned as a father, not with a fellow-like familiarity, but humbly, and with an awe of His majesty.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): “Pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly,” Matthew 6:6. Here is set forth the holy and unspeakable privilege of prayer. Here we are invited to open our minds and hearts freely unto Him who cares for us, acquainting Him with our needs and cares, making known our requests with thanksgiving.
WILLIAM JAY: How relieving is it to pour our complaints into the bosom of a friend, who does not suffer us to cry in vain, “Have pity on me, have pity on me, O ye my friends, for the hand of the Lord hath touched me,” Job 19:21. But how much more relieving and delightful is it to make God our Friend, and, like David, to pour out our hearts before him! And this is what David himself enjoins: “Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he will sustain thee,” Psalm 55:22. He would not have us struggle and turmoil with it ourselves, but we are commanded to roll our burden on the Lord, for we can roll what we cannot heave. This is done by prayer, and each petition we offer takes off some of the load, and lays it upon Him. The apostle Paul also says, “Be careful for nothing,” Philippians 4:6. But how is this to be accomplished? This is the way: “Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you,” 1 Peter 5:7.
JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807): His ear is always open to us: let who will overlook and disappoint us, He will not.
WILLIAM JAY: “It is good for me,” says David, “to draw near to God,” Psalm 73:28. What a relief does the very exercise of prayer afford! How it eases the aching heart, and binds up the broken spirit! Oh, there are times and seasons in which every refuge seems to fail us, and God is our only resource; when we look inward, and perceive nothing but decaying affections and withered hopes.
THOMAS MANTON: When we look to things below, we have many discouragements, dangers without and difficulties within: till we get above the mists of the lower world, we can see nothing of clearness and comfort; but when we can get God and our hearts together, then we can see we have a God in heaven.
A. W. PINK: Consider the privilege of prayer.
WILLIAM JAY: Thirdly, We may view it as an honour. We should deem it an honour if we had free and full access to an earthly sovereign—and is it nothing that we can have access at all times to the “blessed and only Potentate, who is King of kings, and Lord of lords”? Prayer places us nearly upon a level with the glorified spirits above, with this difference—they approach the Throne of glory, and we the Throne of grace.
JOHN NEWTON: How little does the world know of that intercourse which is carried on between heaven and earth; what petitions are daily presented, and what answers are received at a Throne of Grace! O the blessed privilege of prayer! O the wonderful love, care, attention, and power of our great Shepherd! His eye is always upon us; when our spirits are almost overwhelmed within us, He knoweth our path. When means and hope fail, when every thing looks dark upon us, still our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. To Him all things are possible; and before the exertion of His power, when He is pleased to arise and work, all hindrances give way and vanish, like a mist before the sun. And He can so manifest Himself to the soul, and cause His goodness to pass before it, that the hour of affliction shall be the golden hour of the greatest consolation. He is the fountain of life, strength, grace and comfort, and of His fulness all His children receive—but this is all hidden from the world.
