Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy
Mon, 21 August, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
1 To you, O LORD, I call;
my rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if you be silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your most holy sanctuary.
David begins this psalm by crying out to God for mercy, pleading for God’s hand to spare Him from going down to the pit. By the end of the psalm, David is praising God for being His strength and shield. But David starts with a plea for mercy.
What do we learn from this?
David approaches God, not based upon his own strength or merit, but based upon his weakness and need. David sees that his access to God is not based upon on what he can bring to God, but upon his need for God.
This is a radical idea for those of us who desire nothing more than to be independent. We like to think that we can do everything for ourselves, by ourselves. We need no help from anyone. That might be true in many areas in our lives, but when it comes to salvation, it is far from true. We must throw ourselves upon God’s mercy, or we will never be saved. Unless we are depending upon God to save us, we will “go down to the pit”.
In salvation, God will not share the glory with anyone. We must come to Him recognizing our own poverty and want, and in doing so, He will meet our need and grant us the salvation we so greatly desire.
Where is Christ in this passage?
The salvation we find is based upon the work of Jesus Christ. When we come to God seeking His mercy, we come to Him by trusting in Jesus Christ. He is the one who has earned our salvation by His perfect life and by His atoning death upon the cross.
