Psalms 119:169 - Meaning and Application

Here we have a general prayer for God to hear him, repeated in different words: “Let my cry come near before you,” and again, “Let my supplication come before you.” He calls his prayer a cry, which shows how urgent and intense it is, and a supplication, which shows humility. We should come to God like beggars coming to a door for help.

He is concerned that his prayer may come before God and draw near to him. In other words, he wants grace and strength through faith and earnest prayer, so that nothing guilty would block his prayers or separate him from God. He also asks that God would kindly receive his prayer and pay attention to it. When he says his supplication should come before God, he shows a deep sense of his own unworthiness and a holy fear that his prayer might fall short or fail because it is not fit to come before God. None of our prayers would ever have access to God if Jesus Christ had not come before him as our advocate, one who speaks for us.

He then makes two specific requests. First, he asks that God, by his grace, would give him wisdom to behave well in the middle of his troubles: “Give me understanding.” He means the wisdom of a prudent person, the ability to understand his own path, to know God and himself, and to know his duty to God. Second, he asks that God, by his providence, would rescue him from his troubles: “Deliver me,” that is, make a way of escape along with the trial, as in (1 Corinthians 10:13).

He uses the same general plea to support both requests, “according to your word.” This both directs and limits what he asks. He is saying, “Lord, give me the understanding you have promised, and the deliverance you have promised, and nothing else.” It also strengthens his faith and hope: “Lord, what I am asking for is what you have promised, and will you not keep your word?”