This is a thanksgiving psalm; it is not certain whether David penned it upon any particular occasion or upon a general review of the many gracious deliverances God had wrought for him, out of six troubles and seven, which deliverances draw from him many very lively expressions of devotion, love, and gratitude; and with similar pious affections our souls should be lifted up to God in singing it. Observe, I. The great distress and danger that the psalmist was in, which almost drove him to despair, ver. 3, 10, 11. II. The application he made to God in that distress, ver. 4. III. The experience he had of God's goodness to him, in answer to prayer; God heard him (ver. 1, 2), pitied him (ver. 5, 6), delivered him, ver. 8. IV His care respecting the acknowledgments he should make of the goodness of God to him, ver. 12. 1. He will love God, ver. 1. 2. He will continue to call upon him, ver. 2, 13, 17. 3. He will rest in him, ver. 7. 4. He will walk before him, ver. 9. 5. He will pay his vows of thanksgiving, in which he will own the tender regard God had to him, and this publicly, ver. 13-15, 17-19. Lastly, He will continue God's faithful servant to his life's end, ver. 16. These are such breathings of a holy soul as bespeak it very happy.
Grateful Acknowledgments.