But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Jehovah, in an acceptable time: O God, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness, Answer me in the truth of thy salvation.

But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord; for the time of thy good pleasure, O God. In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, Jehovah, in an acceptable time: O God, in the abundance of thy loving-kindness answer me, according to the truth of thy salvation:

But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy, answer me in the truth of thy salvation.

And I, my prayer is to Thee, O Jehovah, A time of good pleasure, O God, In the abundance of Thy kindness, Answer me in the truth of Thy salvation.

But as for me, let my prayer be made to you, O Lord, at a time when you are pleased; O God, give me an answer in your great mercy, for your salvation is certain.

They that sit in the gate talk of me; And I am the song of the drunkards. .

But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Jehovah! It was a sign of uncommon virtue in David, that even this hard treatment could not shake his mind, and sink him into despondency. He informs us of the means by which he fortified himself against that terrible stumbling-block. When the wicked directed against him their witty and scoffing remarks, as if engines of war, to overthrow his faith, the means to which he had recourse for repelling all their assaults was pouring out his heart in prayer to God. He was constrained to keep silence before men, and, being thus driven out from the world, he betook himself to God. In like manner, although the faithful in the present day may be unable to make any impression upon the wicked, yet they will ultimately triumph, provided they retire from the world, and go directly to God to present their prayers before him. The meaning, in short, is, that David, having tried every means in his power, and finding that his labor was to no purpose, left off dealing with men, and dealt with God only. What follows, a time of thy favor, O God! is explained otherwise by many interpreters, who read the two clauses of the verse in one sentence, thus: But as for me, I prayed to God in a time of his favor; corresponding to that passage in Isaiah 55:6, "Call ye upon him while he is near." Others resolve it thus: I prayed that the time of favor might come, and that God would begin to be merciful to me. But David is rather speaking of the consolation which he then received by reflecting with himself, that although it was now a time of trouble with him, and although his prayers seemed to be altogether unavailing, yet God's favor would have its turn also. Thus the Prophet Habakkuk says, "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me." (Habakkuk 2:1) In like manner, Isaiah says, "I will wait upon the Lord, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob;" (Isaiah 8:17) and Jeremiah 14:22,) "We will wait upon thee." The only means by which, in our affliction, we can obtain the victory, is by our having hope shining in us in the midst of darkness, and by our having the sustaining influence which arises from waiting for the favor of God. After David has thus fortified himself for continued perseverance in the attitude of waiting, he immediately adds, Answer me in the multitude of thy goodness; and to goodness he joins the truth of salvation, [1] intimating that God's mercy is proved by indubitable effect when he succours his servants who are reduced to the very depths of despair. What prompted him to present this prayer was, the full persuasion which he had, that the darkness in which he was now involved would in due time be dispelled, and that a serene and unclouded season of God's favor would succeed; a persuasion which arose from his recalling all his thoughts to God, lest he should faint by reason of the harassing treatment which he met with from the wicked.

Footnotes

1 - Dr Wells explains, the truth of thy salvation, as meaning, "according to the promises thou hast made of saving me."

But as for me - In respect to my conduct and my feelings in these circumstances, and under this treatment.
My prayer is unto thee - I indulge in no reproaches of others, and no recriminations. I do not permit myself to indulge in any revengeful feelings. I give myself to prayer. I look to God alone. I keep up my devotions, I maintain my habits of religion, notwithstanding their reproaches, and revilings. I do not allow these things to alter my course of life. Compare the notes at Daniel 6:10.
In an acceptable time - A time that is well-pleasing to thee; a time when thou wilt hear me. See Isaiah. 49:83; Isaiah 61:2; 2-Corinthians 6:2. This implies
(a) that he had come to God when he was "disposed" to hear; and
(b) that he had heard him, and had answered his requests.
While others mocked, he continued to pray, and the Lord heard him. No time for prayer can be more "acceptable" to God than when others are reproaching us because we are his friends.
In the multitude of thy mercy hear me - In the abundance of thy mercy; or, in thy abounding compassion. This was the substance of his prayer.
In the truth of thy salvation - In the exercise of that faithfulness on which salvation depends; or which is manifested in the salvation of people. He prayed that God would show himself faithful to the promises which he had made to those who were seeking salvation.

My prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time - This seems to refer to the end of the captivity, which Jeremiah had said should last seventy years, Jeremiah 25:11, Jeremiah 25:12 : "The whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon," etc. The conclusion of this period was the accepted tome of which the psalmist speaks. Now, they incessantly pray for the fulfillment of the promise made by Jeremiah: and to hear them, would be the truth of God's salvation; it would show the promise to be true, because the salvation - the deliverance, was granted.

But as for me, my prayer [is] unto thee, O LORD, [in] an (m) acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
(m) Knowing that even though I endure trouble now, yet you have a time in which you have appointed my deliverance.

But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord,.... Christ betook himself to prayer in these circumstances, and not to railing and reviling again: he applied to his divine Father, and committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, and prayed both for himself and for his enemies too: and this he did
in an acceptable time; or "a time of good will" (c); which was the time of his sufferings and death; so called, because the good will and pleasure of God was seen therein; in not sparing his Son, his own and only begotten Son, his beloved Son, and delivering him up to justice and death for the worst of sinners; and because at this time the good will of God was done: Christ laid down his life by the commandment of his Father, offered himself a sacrifice by the will of God, and hereby the law of God was fulfilled, justice satisfied, and the work of man's redemption finished; which was the pleasure of the Lord, that prospered in his hands; and therefore this must be an acceptable time to God. The sufferings of Christ were well pleasing to him; the sacrifice of Christ was for a sweet smelling savour; the righteousness of Christ was acceptable to him, the law being magnified and made honourable by it: peace was now made by the blood of his cross; the perfections of God were glorified, his purposes executed, his promises fulfilled, his covenant confirmed, and his people saved; and so a proper time for the Mediator to offer up his supplications and prayers, in which he was heard, as appears from Isaiah 49:8;
O God, in the multitude of thy mercy; these words, according to the accents in the Hebrew text, should be rendered in connection with the preceding words, thus: "in the time of good will, O God"; or "in the time of the good will of God, through the multitude of thy mercy"; and then the sense is, that the acceptable time was owing to the greatness of divine mercy; it was from hence that the dayspring from on high visited men; or Christ came in the flesh, and suffered in the room and stead of sinners; in which there was a wonderful display of the abundant mercy of God to men; for otherwise there was none shown to the surety and Saviour; he was not spared, but delivered up; and then it follows,
hear me, in the truth of thy salvation; or "because of", or "by thy true salvation" (d); that which God contrived in council, and secured in covenant, and sent his Son to effect, and which he is become the author of, is a true and real salvation; not figurative and shadowy, as the salvation of Israel out of Egypt and Babylon were: or because of the truth and faithfulness of God, who had promised salvation to the Messiah, that he should be carried through his sufferings, be raised from the dead, and be crowned with glory and honour; and therefore he prays he might be heard on this account, and his prayer follows, and the several petitions in it.
(c) "tempus beneplaciti", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, &c. (d) "per salutem tuam veram", Gejerus.

Whatever deep waters of affliction or temptation we sink into, whatever floods of trouble or ungodly men seem ready to overwhelm us, let us persevere in prayer to our Lord to save us. The tokens of God's favour to us are enough to keep our spirits from sinking in the deepest outward troubles. If we think well of God, and continue to do so under the greatest hardships, we need not fear but he will do well for us. And if at any time we are called on to suffer reproach and shame, for Christ's sake, this may be our comfort, that he knows it. It bears hard on one that knows the worth of a good name, to be oppressed with a bad one; but when we consider what a favour it is to be accounted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus, we shall see that there is no reason why it should be heart-breaking to us. The sufferings of Christ were here particularly foretold, which proves the Scripture to be the word of God; and how exactly these predictions were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, which proves him to be the true Messiah. The vinegar and the gall given to him, were a faint emblem of that bitter cup which he drank up, that we might drink the cup of salvation. We cannot expect too little from men, miserable comforters are they all; nor can we expect too much from the God of all comfort and consolation.

With increasing reliance on God, he prays for help, describing his distress in the figures of Psalm 69:1-2.

In the truth - Or, According to thy saving truth, or faithfulness; grant me that salvation, which thou hast graciously promised.