NOTES for Psa 17:5

⁵Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

David says that even upon the assurance of the correctness of the way, his steps are not too firm sometimes, - footsteps slip. Man is a complex being, and his firmness in one thing doesn’t abolish fear in another. Thus, the taken decision to serve the neighbor doesn’t abolish fear before pain. And in this prayer, David asks God to strengthen him particularly in what he cannot cope himself. It is very important that we realize our weakness, our inability to cope with life without God, and open them to God in prayer, - then the Lord can assert us, bestow us His power, because the power of God is fulfilled in our infirmities (see 2 Cor. 12:9).

Other notes

For

²Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.

³Thou has proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou has tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

⁴Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.

⁵Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

⁶I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.

⁷Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.

⁸Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

⁹From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

¹⁰They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly.

¹¹They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;

¹²Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.

¹³Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:

¹⁴From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

¹⁵As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

David calls the Lord his rock, an impregnable fortress that has repeatedly saved him from his enemies... Read more

David calls the Lord his rock, an impregnable fortress that has repeatedly saved him from his enemies. Not only when armed enemies attack, but even when death and hell draw near and salvation seems impossible, we can turn to the Lord, and He hears and comes to our aid. He comes, shaking heaven and earth; His majesty is incomparable with anything that exists in the created world, and the images of natural forces used by the psalmist can give us only an approximate idea of Him.

Yet although He Himself is above all things, the Lord draws a tiny human creature from the ocean of calamity, and here another greatness is revealed—perhaps less immediately apparent, but no less astonishing—the greatness of His mercy. In the midst of a universe that staggers the imagination, a person's own existence can sometimes seem so insignificant, and the observance of "some" commandments more insignificant still.

But none of this is insignificant in the eyes of the Lord, the bearer of righteousness.

Mark 1:21-28

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NOTES for Psa 17:5

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Readings for 29 January 2012

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