“To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!” -Psalm 31:title–2
So much of David’s life was spent in distress that numerous Psalms include his prayers for relief, salvation from persecution, defamation, and even death. David was both a prophet of God, that is a mouthpiece and model for righteousness, and a statesmen, the king of Israel. Each of these offices by themselves would be enough to laden a man with an unbearable burden, except God help him. But together—and the consequences of his own sins to boot—most of David’s life was spent in the condition we experience here in Psalm 31.
Yet, the cries for deliverance, the pleas for God to hear his prayers and to rescue him speedily, are uncannily familiar to our own experience. May we take comfort in the knowledge that God listens to this kind of prayer life, obviously delivered David else we would not have his Psalm, and then recorded and preserved such prayers for his church to pray and sing and contemplate.