English: Michal Watching David from a Window, as in 2 Samuel 6:16: “And it was so, as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.”; watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This lament, according to the superscription, is a psalm of David. And it does have the “flavor” of one of David’s psalms. There is no clue given as to the occasion of the writing. It could be during his flight from Saul or from the Absalom rebellion. It is likely the former, as this period was a long one in David’s life, and would provide the most opportunities for writing such laments.

Unlike imprecatory psalms, David is not praying for God to strike down his enemies. Nor is he praying for God to give him might against them. Instead, he is asking for the strength to withstand what his enemies would do to him, and to restrain his lips against speaking evil of them (verses 3-5).

He tells the Lord that he will continue praying against their evil deeds, asks God to be his defense and his refuge, and prays that his enemies will be the cause of their own demise (verse 10), rather than having him fall victim to them. What a great model of prayer from one who is so persecuted!

Read or listen to audio of ESV version of this selection from this link.

/Bob’s boy

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some images © V. Gilbert & Arlisle F. Beers

Please note: I did not design the reading plan that I am following in my blog.  All of my comments in this blog, however, are solely my responsibility.  When reading ANY commentary, you should ALWAYS refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word. Reading schedules, as well as a link to the site where you can get the reading plan that I’m currently following for yourself can be found on the “Bible Reading Schedules” page of my website at http://graceofourlord.com.