Charles Spurgeon

May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; may those who love Your salvation always say, “Let God be magnified!”

“Anger against enemies must not make us forget our friends, for it is better to preserve a single citizen of Zion, than to kill a thousand enemies. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee.”

But I am poor and needy; hurry to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.

“But I am poor and needy. Just the same plea as in the preceding Psalm, Ps 69:29: it seems to be a favourite argument with tried saints; evidently our poverty is our wealth, even as our weakness is our strength.”

Be my rock of refuge, where I can always go. Give the command to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.

“DAVID, in his younger days, had been obliged to hide himself away with his followers in the great caverns and rocks of his native land.”

Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless.

“Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked. God is on the same side with us, and those who are our enemies are also his, for they are wicked; therefore will the Lord surely rescue his own confederates, and he will…”

For You are my hope, O Lord GOD, my confidence from my youth.

“For thou art my hope, O Lord God. God who gives us grace to hope in him, will assuredly fulfil our hope, and, therefore, we may plead it in prayer.”

I have leaned on You since birth; You pulled me from my mother’s womb. My praise is always for You.

“By thee have I been holden up from the womb. Before he was able to understand the power which preserved him, he was sustained by it. God knows us before we know anything.”

I have become a portent to many, but You are my strong refuge.

“I am as a wonder unto many. "To thousand eyes a mark and gaze am I." The saints are men wondered at; often their dark side is gloomy even to amazement, while their bright side is glorious even to astonishment.”

Do not discard me in my old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.

“Cast me not off in the time of old age. David was not tired of his Master, and his only fear was lest his Master should be tired of him.”

For my enemies speak against me, and those who lie in wait for my life conspire,

“For mine enemies speak against me. Dogs howl over a dying lion. When David's arm was able to chastise his foes, they were yet impudent enough to slander him, and he fears that now they will take fresh license in the hour of his weakness.”

saying, “God has forsaken him; pursue him and seize him, for there is no one to rescue him.”

“Saying, God hath forsaken him. O bitter taunt! There is no worse arrow in all the quivers of hell. Our Lord felt this barbed shaft, and it is no marvel if his disciples feel the same.”

Be not far from me, O God. Hurry, O my God, to help me.

“O God, be not far from me. Nearness to God is our conscious security. A child in the dark is comforted by grasping its father's hand. O my God, make haste for my help.”

But I will always hope and will praise You more and more.

“The holy faith of the persecuted saint comes to the front in these three verses. But I will hope continually. When I cannot rejoice in what I have, I will look forward to what shall be mine, and will still rejoice.”

My mouth will declare Your righteousness and Your salvation all day long, though I cannot know their full measure.

“My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day. We are to bear testimony as experience enables us, and not withhold from others that which we have tasted and handled.”

I will enter in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will proclaim Your righteousness—Yours alone.

“This is a Psalm of David's old age and we will carefully notice the characteristic feature of it. It is not addressed to men concerning God, but it is addressed to God Himself, for He was David's dearest Friend.”

I will enter in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will proclaim Your righteousness—Yours alone.

“I will go in the strength of the Lord God. Our translators give us a good sense, but not the sense in this place, which is on this wise, "I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord Jehovah."”

O God, You have taught me from my youth, and to this day I proclaim Your marvelous deeds.

“You notice how much David is at home with God. He talks about Him. He does better, he talks to Him. He hears God speaking to him and he keeps up a dialog with God. Where did this holy familiarity come from?”

Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, until I proclaim Your power to the next generation, Your might to all who are to come.

“Now also when I am old and grey headed, O God, forsake me not. There is something touching in the sight of hair whitened with the snows of many a winter: the old and faithful soldier receives consideration from his king, the venerable servant is…”

Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, You will revive me once again. Even from the depths of the earth You will bring me back up.

“Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again. Here is faith's inference from the infinite greatness of the Lord. He has been strong to smite; he will be also strong to save.”

You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.

“Thou shalt increase my greatness. As a king, David grew in influence and power. God did great things for him, and by him, and this is all the greatness believers want. May we have faith in God, such as these words evince.”

So I will praise You with the harp for Your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to You with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.

“I will also praise thee with the psaltery. Love so amazing calls for sweetest praise. David would give his best music, both vocal and instrumental, to the Best of Masters. His harp should not be silent, nor his voice. Even thy truth, O my God.”

When I sing praise to You my lips will shout for joy, along with my soul, which You have redeemed.

“My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee. It shall be no weariness to me to praise thee. It shall be a delightful recreation, a solace, a joy. The essence of song lies in the holy joy of the singer.”

Endow the king with Your justice, O God, and the son of the king with Your righteousness.

“Give the king thy judgments, O God. The right to reign was transmitted by descent from David to Solomon, but not by that means alone: Israel was a theocracy, and the kings were but the viceroys of the greater King; hence the prayer that the…”

May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.

“He shall judge thy people with righteousness. Clothed with divine authority, he shall use it on the behalf of the favoured nation, for whom he shall show himself strong, that they be not misjudged, slandered, or in any way treated maliciously.”

May the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills bring righteousness.

“The mountains shall bring peace to the people. Thence, aforetime, rushed the robber bands which infested the country; but now the forts there erected are the guardians of the land, and the watchmen publish far and near the tidings that no foe is to be…”

May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.

“He shall judge the poor of the people. He will do them justice, yea, and blessed be his name, more than justice, for he will delight to do them good. He shall save the children of the needy.”