David compares his soul, open to the sight of the Most High, to a child, and there truly is something childishly naive and guileless in his plea that the Lord should not notice his lawlessness. A child would similarly like his parents not to notice the traces of his mischief. Yet David, as he addresses the Lord, is sober-minded. He understands that the Lord sees everything and that nothing can be hidden from Him. Another trait of David’s nature is therefore at work here, akin to a child’s trust in adults.
The psalmist cries out from the depths. This means that his prayer comes not only from the surface of consciousness but also from those inner depths that forget nothing. There lurks what we would like to bury more deeply in the subconscious and recall less often; nevertheless, none of it disappears, and it inevitably comes before the Creator’s gaze.
Yet it is from Him that we can receive not merely forgiveness but also deliverance from the power of evil and sin, which weighs not only upon us but within us. If only our appeal to God and our readiness to receive healing from Him are sincere.
