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I. ON BEHALF OF SELF.

1. For deliverance from suffering (ver. 16). "The road to heaven," says an old writer, "is soaked with the tears and blood of the saints."

2. For forgiveness (ver. 18). He traced his sufferings to his sins. Sin is the gall in the cup of life; the root of the pestiferous tree of all natural evil. From suffering we infer sin. He believed that his sins had to do with God. Wrong in any form or department of life is sin against Him. "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned." He knew that Gods forgiveness was necessary to his deliverance.

3. For preservation of life, of confidence, of character (ver. 21).

II. ON BEHALF OF SOCIETY (ver. 22). There is nothing selfish in genuine piety. The man who prays and struggles only for his own salvation is utterly destitute of genuine religion. His creed may be correct, and all his religious observances, but he has not the root of the matter in him.

(D. Thomas, D. D.)

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KJV: Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.

WEB: Turn to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted.