2. Preserve my soul. Let my life be safe from
my enemies, and my spiritual nature be secure from their temptations. For Iam holy. I am set apart for holy uses; therefore do not let thine enemies
commit a sacrilege by injuring or defiling me: I am clear of the crimes laid to
my charge, and in that sense innocent; therefore, I beseech thee, do not allow
me to suffer from unjust charges; and I am gentle towards others, therefore
deal mercifully with me as I have dealt with my fellow-men. Any of these
renderings may explain the text; perhaps all together will expound it best. It
is not self-righteous in good people to plead their innocence as a reason for
escaping from the results of sins wrongfully ascribed to them; penitents do not
bedaub themselves with mire for the love of it, or make themselves out to be
worse than they are. To plead guilty to offenses we have never committed is as
great a lie as the denial of our real faults. O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. Lest anyone should suppose that David
trusted in his own holiness he immediately declared his trust in the Lord, and
begged to be saved as one who was not holy in the sense of being perfect, but
was even yet in need of the very elements of salvation. How sweet is the title my God when joined to the other, thy servant; and how sweet is the hope
that on this ground we shall be saved. Note how David’s poor I am (or
rather the I repeated without the) appeals to the great I AM with sacred
boldness engendered by necessity, aided by the faith which removes mountains.
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