26
Help me, O Lord my God!
Oh, save me according to Your mercy,
27
That they may know that this is Your hand—
That You, Lord, have done it!
My Thoughts
The text reflects a plea to God for help based on His mercy, emphasizing the importance of divine intervention in times of peril. The author desires recognition of God’s power in delivering him, not for personal gain but for God’s glory. Various commentators affirm the prayer’s relevance for believers facing adversities.
Let my prayer this morning be for You to help me Father, Let my first thought in any situation be of You and save me according to Your mercy, not my thought on how I should be delivered from the situation but for it to be Your way, for You know better than I do. And let my persecutors know that this answer is from You and that You by Your power and Your might have delivered me in a way that there is no doubt or explanation other than that it has been done by Your hand……Bill
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Charles Spurgeon
“Help me, O LORD my God.” Laying hold of Jehovah by the appropriating word my, he implores his aid both to help him to bear his heavy load and to enable him to rise superior to it. He has described his own weakness and the strength and fury of his foes, and by these two arguments, he urges his appeal with double force. This is a very rich, short, and suitable prayer for believers in any situation of peril, difficulty, or sorrow.
“O save me according to thy mercy.” As thy mercy is, so let thy salvation be. The measure is a great one, for the mercy of God is without bound. When man has no mercy it is comforting to fall back upon God’s mercy. Justice to the wicked is often mercy to the righteous, and because God is merciful he will save his people by overthrowing their adversaries.
“That they may know that this is thy hand.” Dolts as they are, let the mercy shown to me be so conspicuous that they shall be forced to see the Lord’s agency in it. Ungodly men will not see God’s hand in anything if they can help it, and when they see good men delivered into their power they become more confirmed than ever in their atheism, but all in good time God will arise and so effectually punish their malice and rescue the object of their spite that they will be compelled to say like the Egyptian magicians, “this is the finger of God.”
“That thou, LORD, hast done it.” There will be no mistaking the author of so thorough a vindication, so complete a turning of the tables.
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Enduring Word
Help me, O LORD my God: David’s plea was straightforward and simple. Like the woman of Canaan with the demon-possessed daughter (Matthew 15:21-25), he asked God for help. As in Psalm 109:21, he asked for it on the basis of God’s mercy, not his own merit. (Guzik)
That they may know that this is Your hand: It was very important to David that his enemies and all who looked on him knew that his rescue was from God’s hand; the LORD had done it. He didn’t want deliverance only for his own sake, but also for the glory of God. (Guzik)
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Barnes
That they may know that this is thy hand – That this has been done by thee; that it has all occurred under thy direction, or has been ordered by thee. The reference seems to be particularly to God’s interposition: “Let it be manifest to all that thou hast interposed in my behalf; that thou hast undertaken for me; that thou art my Friend.” He desired an interposition from God that he might be vindicated before all his enemies.
That thou, Lord, hast done it – Let it be such an interposition that it will be manifest to all that no other one but God could have done this.
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John Gill
Help me, O Lord my God,…. Jehovah the Father is here addressed, who is the God of Christ, as Christ is man; who formed him, supported him, and glorified him; and whom Christ loved, believed in, obeyed and prayed unto; nor did he pray to a God that could not hear, but to one that was able to save him from death: as a divine Person he needed no help, being the mighty God, the most Mighty, the Almighty: but as man he did, being encompassed about with infirmities; and as Mediator help was promised him, he expected it, and he had it, Psalm 89:21.
O save me according to thy mercy; or “kindness”; as before in Psalm 109:21 from sufferings, and out of them; from death and the grave, as he was; or his people by him, who are saved not by works of righteousness, but according to the mercy of God, Titus 3:5.
That they may know that this is thy hand,…. Which inflicted vengeance, and executed judgments on Judas and the Jews, as before imprecated: so the Targum, “that they may know that this is thy stroke;” or which was concerned in all the sorrows and sufferings of the Messiah, which could never have come upon him had it not been the will of God; it was his hand and council that determined it, or men could never have effected it; see Acts 4:28, or which wrought deliverance and salvation as before prayed for; see Psalm 118:21.
That thou, Lord, hast done it: one or other, or all the above things; the finger of God was to be seen in them; particularly in the sufferings of Christ, and in his exaltation; see Acts 2:23.
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Cross References
He sealeth up the hand of every man; That all men may know his work.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Job 37:7.
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, 1 Ki 18:36–37.
28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind. 29 If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the Lord hath not sent me. 30 But if the Lord make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Nu 16:28–30.
19 Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Ex 8:19.
47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, 1 Sa 17:47.
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KJV W/ STRONGS BIBLE – PSALMS 109
109:26 Help 5826 8798 me, O LORD 3068 my God 430: O save 3467 8685 me according to thy mercy 2617:
109:27 That they may know 3045 8799 that this [is] thy hand 3027; [that] thou, LORD 3068, hast done 6213 8804 it.
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 109:26-27
26 Help me, ô Lord my God: (o) save me according to thy mercie.
27 And they shal knowe, that this is thine hand, and that thou, Lord, hast done it.
(o) The more grievously that Saul assailed him, the more earnest and instant was he in prayer.
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Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 1:17-20 NIV
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