1. Deliverance: “Save Me!” (vv. 1-18). He begins by asking for deliverance for his own sake (vv. 1-5) and describes his dangerous situation with the metaphor of a drowning man. (See 18:4-6; 30:1; 32:6; 42:7; 88:7, 17; 130:1-2.) His cries to God show how desperate the situation was: “Save me” (v. 1); “deliver me” (v. 14); “hear [answer] me” (vv. 16-17); “redeem [rescue] me” (v. 18); “set me up on high [protect me]” (v. 29). He had prayed to the Lord, but the Lord had not yet answered (v. 3), and he wanted an answer now (v. 17)! Though he was not sinless (v. 5), he was innocent of the charges his enemies were making, and yet he was being treated as though he were guilty (v. 4). This reminds us of our Savior, who was sinless yet treated like a transgressor (Isa. 53:5-6, 9, 12). (See also Ps. 35:11-19; 38:19; 109:3; 119:78, 86, 161.) Jesus quoted verse 4 in the Upper Room Discourse (John 15:25). Referring to verses 1-2, Amy Carmichael wrote, “Our waters are shallow because His were deep.” How true!

His second reason for praying for deliverance was for the Lord’s sake (vv. 6-12), because those who lied about David were blaspheming the name of the Lord. David did not want God’s people to suffer shame because of him (v. 6; see 25:3; 38:15-16). The word reproach (scorn, insults) is used six times in the psalm (vv. 7, 9, 10, 19-20). He was scorned because he stood up for the Lord (v. 7) and because he was zealous for God’s house (v. 9). He even alienated his own family (v. 8; see John 7:5; Mark 3:31-35), and the insults that people threw at the Lord also fell on him (v. 9; John 2:17; Rom. 15:3; and see Isa. 56:7; Jer. 7:11). When they blasphemed God, they blasphemed David, and their attacks against David were attacks against God, and David felt them. David had a great zeal for God’s house and received the plans for the temple from the Lord and gathered the materials for its construction. It takes no special gift to discover Jesus in this psalm and to see the way people treated Him when He was ministering on earth.

His third argument for deliverance is based on the character of God (vv. 13-18). What the Lord said to Moses in Exodus 34:5-9 is reflected here. In verses 14-15, David repeats the metaphor from verses 1-2, but he sees hope in God’s loving-kindness and compassion, for the Lord is merciful and gracious. His truth endures, and He will always keep His promises.