An Answered Prayer

Psalm 23

There are many psalms that we have and know that are prayers to the Lord. This psalm is among those that show a prayer to God, but in this psalm,we also see the rejoicing that comes when God answered the prayer. The Psalm is accredited to David though the time and occasion is uncertain. This psalm shows David pleading to God for help and pleading with the Lord for his very life. The Lord answers David’s prayer and the response and acknowledgment that David shows is something that we should take note of.

“I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit”

The first two verses of this psalm show that David was ill to the point of death. When David writes that the Lord had lifted his soul from Sheol he is saying that the Lord had saved him from death. We know this because Sheol was the Hebrew word equivalent to the Greek word Hades which is the grave world. David was so close to death and he was praying to the Lord for Him to have mercy on him. We find in verse 8 that David was crying for mercy.

“To you O LORD, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy”

David was very sincere in his request for the Lord to save him from the grip of death. At this point in his sickness David understood that the Lord was the only thing that could possibly save him in the circumstance that he found himself in.

It is interesting to note David’s attitude before his illness fell upon him. We see exactly what David was thinking in verse 6.

As for me, I said in my prosperity, ‘I shall never be moved.’”

David didn’t think that anything could possibly overcome him and just when this became his mindset he was overcome by and illness. Once more he understood that he like us today must rely on the Lord and never think of ourselves greater than we are. The Lord answers David’s prayer though and in the last two verses of this psalm we see just how David responded to God answering his prayer.

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!”

When the Lord answers our prayers what is our response? We may not be in the same situation as David,but our prayers are still answered according to the will of God. Do we think that we will never be moved, or are we continually giving thanks to the Lord forever?