Homilist Psalm 55:1-23 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not yourself from my supplication.… I. THE COMPASSIONABLE. David appears here an object for pity and compassion, as the victim of — 1. Malignant oppression. 2. Overwhelming terror. 3. Foul treachery. II. THE COMMENDABLE. 1. He lays all his troubles before Him who alone could help him. The fact that men in great trouble and danger, whatever be their theoretical beliefs, instinctively appeal to God for help, argues man's intuitive belief — (1) In the existence of a personal God; (2) In the accessibility of a personal God; (3) In the compassion of a personal God. 2. Under all his troubles he strives to maintain his confidence in God. (1) Men have burdens. What anxieties press upon the human soul, making the very frame to stoop, and the heart to break. (2) Men's burdens may be transferred to God. "Cast thy burden upon the Lord." How? By an unbounded confidence in His character and procedure. (3) Those who transfer their burdens on the Lord will be sustained. "He shall sustain thee." God gives men power to bear their burden, and will ultimately remove their burden from them. III. THE CENSURABLE — HIS IMPRECATIONS. Revenge is a moral wrong; and what is morally wrong in the individual can never be right in any relationship or office that the individual may assume, or in any combination into which he may enter. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: {To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David.} Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.WEB: Listen to my prayer, God. Don't hide yourself from my supplication. |
    |