Psalm 119:153 NKJV
Consider my affliction and deliver me,
For I do not forget Your law.
Divine Deliverance
My Notes
Scripture: “Consider my affliction and deliver me, For I do not forget Your law.” —Psalm 119:153 (NKJV)
David’s cry is not a demand—it’s a plea wrapped in reverence. “Consider my affliction…” He doesn’t rush God or question His timing. Instead, he invites God to look deeply into his suffering, to weigh it with divine compassion and wisdom. This is the posture of someone who feels safe at the throne of the Lord—not entitled, but expectant.
Affliction was no stranger to David. His life was marked by betrayal, opposition, and hardship. Yet in the midst of it all, he remained tethered to God’s Word. “For I do not forget Your law.” He may have lost comfort, but he never lost conviction. His obedience endured even when prosperity faded.
This verse reminds us that God’s consideration is never passive. When He sees, He acts. Scripture shows us that God looks upon people to enlighten (John 9:1), to call (Matthew 9:9), to restore (Luke 22:61), to deliver (Exodus 3:7), and to honor (Luke 1:48). David’s prayer echoes these divine patterns—he asks God to see and to save.
Importantly, David’s remembrance of God’s law is not a bargaining chip—it’s a testimony. He’s not claiming merit; he’s describing the kind of heart God delights to deliver. His faithfulness is not perfect, but it is persistent. He clings to the Word as a lamp, a guide, and a lifeline.
Affliction drives some away from God. For David, it drove him deeper into his relationship with the Lord. He knew that God’s promises were not just poetic—they were powerful. He trusted that the One who sees affliction also rescues from it. And he prayed not just for relief, but for restoration that would enable him to serve God more fully.
Time to Reflect
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What affliction or hardship are you currently walking through?
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How has God’s Word sustained you in difficult seasons?
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Have you ever felt tempted to forget God’s law during affliction?
Prayer
Abba, You see me—not from a distance, but with tender attention. Consider my affliction, Lord. Look into my pain, my weariness, my need. I do not ask for hasty rescue, but for holy deliverance. I have not forgotten Your law. Let Your Word be my strength, my guide, and my comfort. Deliver me—not only from trouble, but into deeper trust. Let my obedience be a testimony of Your sustaining grace. Your Word says Your presence is always with me and that You give me rest. I believe You are faithful. I wait for You, not in despair, but in hope. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Cross References for Further Study NKJV
God Sees and Responds
Exodus 3:7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.”
Luke 1:48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry.
Deliverance and Protection
Psalm 50:15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.
Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
2 Corinthians 1:10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us.
Faithfulness in Affliction
Job 23:12 I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth More than my necessary food.
Psalm 119:92–93 Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life.
James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
Power and Truth of the Word
Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
Compassion and Mercy
Isaiah 49:13 Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, And will have mercy on His afflicted.
Lamentations 3:22–23 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
Psalm 103:13–14 As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
Proverb for Today
Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. Proverbs 26:20 NKJV
Summary of Commentaries:
Psalm 119:153 is a heartfelt plea for divine attention and rescue. Spurgeon emphasizes the psalmist’s reverent confidence—he submits his affliction to God’s wise and compassionate judgment, not demanding haste but trusting in perfect timing. Gill and Henry affirm that God always sees His people’s suffering, and though He may delay, He never ignores. The psalmist’s faithfulness to God’s law, even in hardship, is not a claim to merit but a mark of enduring devotion. Affliction, rather than driving him from God, draws him closer. This verse teaches us to pray for deliverance with humility, trusting God’s wisdom, mercy, and perfect timing.
NOTE: Psalm 119 has 22 sections to which each section is represented by a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Today, we’re looking at verse 153, which is in the 20th section, which is called “Resh ר” Its primary meaning is “head,” symbolizing leadership, authority, and the beginning or summit of something. This connection to “head” is derived from the Hebrew word “rosh” (ראש), which means head or chief. The pictograph of the ancient Hebrew letter Resh is a head of a man, reinforcing its association with the head as the source of intellect and wisdom. The letter also carries symbolic duality, representing both spiritual leadership and poverty, as the word “rash” (רָשׁ) means poor or lowly, and “rasha” (רָשָׁע) means wicked person. This duality reflects the idea that a person can choose between greatness and degradation, with the potential for spiritual renewal even from a state of poverty or wickedness.
In this section of the psalm, David appears to draw closer to God in prayer, presenting his case and invoking divine assistance with greater boldness and anticipation. It is a pleading passage, and the central theme revolves around the word “Consider.” With unwavering confidence, he asserts his personal relationship with the Lord’s cause as a compelling reason for divine intervention. The specific aid he seeks is personal revival, for which he repeatedly implores the Lord.
……..Bill
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Consider mine affliction, and deliver me.” The writer has a good case, though it be a grievous one, and he is ready, yea anxious, to submit it to the divine arbitration. His matters are right, and he is ready to lay them before the supreme court. His manner is that of one who feels safe at the throne. Yet there is no impatience: he does not ask for hasty action, but for consideration. In effect, he cries—”Look into my grief, and see whether I do not need to be delivered. From my sorrowful condition, judge as to the proper method and time for my rescue.” The Psalmist desires two things, and these two things blended: first, a full consideration of his sorrow; secondly, deliverance; and, then, that this deliverance should come with a consideration of his affliction. It should be the desire of every gracious man who is in adversity that the Lord should look upon his need, and relieve it in such a way as shall be most for the divine glory, and for his own benefit. The words, “mine affliction,” are picturesque; they seem to portion off a special spot of woe as the writer’s own inheritance: he possesses it as no one else had ever done, and he begs the Lord to have that special spot under his eye: even as a husbandman looking over all his fields may yet take double care of a certain selected plot. His prayer is eminently practical, for he seeks to be delivered; that is, brought out of the trouble and preserved from sustaining any serious damage by it. For God to consider is to act in due season: men consider and do nothing, but such is never the case with our God.
“For I do not forget thy law.” His affliction was not sufficient, with all its bitterness, to drive out of his mind the memory of God’s law; nor could it lead him to act contrary to the divine command. He forgot prosperity, but he did not forget obedience. This is a good plea when it can be honestly urged. If we are kept faithful to God’s law, we may be sure that God will remain faithful to his promise. If we do not forget his law, the Lord will not forget us. He will not long leave that man in trouble whose only fear in trouble is lest he should leave the way of right.
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Enduring Word
Consider my affliction and deliver me: We are reminded that the psalmist’s life was not lived in an ivory tower or a secluded place where all he did was study the Scriptures all day long. He lived a real life, interacting with people (some of whom became his enemies or opponents). He lived a life that experienced affliction.
For I do not forget Your law: In the lives of some, affliction drives them away from God and His word. For the psalmist, such troubled times drove him closer to God and His word.
(David Guzik)
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John Gill
Consider mine affliction, and deliver me,…. Or, “look upon mine affliction”; as in Psalm 25:18. The Lord seems as if he did not, when he does not grant his gracious presence to his people; or does not arise to the help and deliverance of them so soon as they desire and expect: but he always sees and beholds their afflictions; he cannot do otherwise, since he is the omniscient God; and not only so, but he is the author, appointer, and orderer of them; yea, he looks upon them with an eye of pity and compassion, which is what is here prayed for: he sympathizes with his people in all their afflictions, supports them under them, pays kind visits to them, sanctifies his hand, and in his own time delivers them out of all; which none else can but himself, and he has power to do it, and has promised it, and does perform: see Psalm 50:15;
for I do not forget thy law: the precepts of it; to observe it as a rule of walk and conversation, as a lamp to the feet, and a light to the path, as a directory of the good and perfect will of God: or, “thy doctrine”; the doctrine of the word, the precious truths of it, which were his support under afflictions; and when either of them have a place in the heart, and are written there, they cannot easily be forgotten. This the psalmist mentions, not as if his not forgetting the law or doctrine of God was meritorious of deliverance from affliction, but as a descriptive character of such the Lord does deliver.
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Matthew Henry
He has an eye to God’s pity, and prays, “Consider my affliction; take it into thy thoughts, and all the circumstances of it, and sit not by as one unconcerned.” God is never unmindful of his people’s afflictions, but he will have us to put him in remembrance (Isa. 43:26), to spread our case before him, and then leave it to his compassionate consideration to do in it as in his wisdom he shall think fit, in his own time and way.
He has an eye to God’s power and prays, Deliver me; and again, “Deliver me; consider my troubles and bring me out of them.” God has promised deliverance (Ps. 50:15) and we may pray for it, with submission to his will and with regard to his glory, that we may serve him the better.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Consider mine affliction, and deliver me.” God looks upon or considers man in various ways, and for different ends. To give him light; for “as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth” (John 9:1). To convert him; “He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me” (Mat 9:9). To restore him; “And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter” (Luk 22:61). To deliver him; “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt” (Exo 3:7). To advance him; “He hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden” (Luk 1:48): and to reward him; “The Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering” (Gen 4:4).
—Hugh de St. Victor (1098-1141), in “Neale and Littledale.”
“Consider mine affliction, and deliver me.” We must pray that God will help and deliver us, not after the device of our own brains, but after such wise as seemeth best unto his tender wisdom, or else that he will mitigate our pain, that our weakness may not utterly faint. Like a sick person, although he doubt nothing of the faithfulness and tenderness of his physician, yet, for all that, desireth him to handle his wound as tenderly as possible, even so may we call upon God, that, if it be not against his honor and glory, he will vouchsafe to give some mitigation of the pain.
—Otto Wermuellerus.
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Resh ר
153
Consider my affliction and deliver me,
For I do not forget Your law.
154
Plead my cause and redeem me;
Revive me according to Your word.
155
Salvation is far from the wicked,
For they do not seek Your statutes.
156
Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord;
Revive me according to Your judgments.
157
Many are my persecutors and my enemies,
Yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.
158
I see the treacherous, and am disgusted,
Because they do not keep Your word.
159
Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
160
The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
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