To you, O Lord, I cried out;
I begged the Lord for mercy:
9“What profit is there in taking my life,
in my descending into the Pit?
Can the dust of the grave praise you?
Can it declare your loyalty?
10Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me!
O Lord, deliver me!”
Psalms 30:8-10 NET
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Psalm 30:8-10
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What is absent from David’s plea for mercy from God? What is absent is any mention of “merit” on David’s part. David is pleading with God for mercy for himself, however his argument is all about God. God created in order to show His glory and to have fellowship with his creation. Humans are designed to love and praise God, to have fullness of joy in communion and adoration of their Creator and Savior. And David relates here to God in full view of these things. ‘Have mercy and save me God, not because I merit it, but so that I can continue to praise you and declare your loyalty.’ It has a similar ring to it as “O Lord, deliver me for Your name’s sake.”
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@Sarah-Hubert said in Psalm 30:8-10:
Humans are designed to love and praise God, to have fullness of joy in communion and adoration of their Creator and Savior. And David relates here to God in full view of these things.
This psalm should be a reality check for us! I find it so easy to forget the reason I exist at all, and the reason why I have been redeemed: not to find happiness in myself and fulfilling my own purposes, but in doing God’s will, in delighting in him, in worshipping him (John 4:34). And when I forget this, I either don’t pray, or I pray on the basis of my own merit or my own wants. No wonder, then, that often our prayers are unanswered (James 4:3).
