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I. THE TRIALS HERE REPRESENTED. He speaks of himself as —

1. Overwhelmed (ver. 3).

2. Walking in snares (ver. 3).

3. Destitute of friends (ver. 4).

4. Greatly reduced (ver. 6).

5. Greatly persecuted (ver. 6).

6. Imprisoned (ver. 7). Ignorance, poverty, affliction, all these imprison.

II. THE RELIGION HERE DISPLAYED.

1. Religion manifesting itself in prayer to God. A practical realization of our dependence on our Maker is true prayer, and this is the essence of religion. Prayer is not language, but life: it is the soul turned ever to the Almighty, as the flower to the sun, as the river to the sea.

2. Religion manifesting itself in practical confidence in God.

(1)  Confidence in His personal superintendence. "Thou knowest;" not merely the path of material universes and spiritual hierarchies, but "my path."

(2)  Confidence in His protection (ver. 5).

(1)  "My refuge." What a refuge, vaster than the universe, strong as Omnipotence.

(2)  "My portion." Everything without Him is nothing worth, nothing with Him is everything, satisfying, glorious.

3. Religion manifesting itself in unbounded trust in His goodness (ver. 7).

(Homilist.)

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KJV: {Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave.} I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.

WEB: I cry with my voice to Yahweh. With my voice, I ask Yahweh for mercy.