AND I WAS AS A DUMB MAN

The books of psalms do not teach Christian experience but they often reflect the experience of a Christian. There is no doubt that the remnant of Israel in a future day will find their experience mirrored in the psalms, as they wait for their com­ing Messiah. But believers of this dispensation have found much comfort in these pages of scripture, especially when they realize that their distress is often the result of their own waywardness and sin.

The inward life of David is laid bare in these words. Yet, even in the conscious knowledge of his sin and failure, he understood how to appeal to his God, vv. 15, 17. His prayer came from a mind that, in better days, had a deep understand­ing of the nature and character of God.

His sin had made his friends stand at a distance from him. They regarded him as they would a leper full of sores. They feared moral contamination and had no answer for his condi­tion. But, if friends stood afar, his enemies drew near. These were days of opportunity for them. His moral standing amongst men was now in doubt. His enemies slandered him further and sought to weaken his authority amongst his subjects.

And so, this penitent man had to learn to close his ears to the slander of his enemies, ‘as a deaf man’ and, instead of responding to their accusations, he was ‘as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth’, v. 13. And, having closed his ears to the accusations of men, he turned to God and explained the reasons why he should be forgiven, vv. 15-20. This is faith!

This is the prayer of a man who did not live in our dispen­sation. What a difference the death, the resurrection and exaltation of Christ has made to us. We have been brought into the Father’s family where we do not need to plead our case. He forgives His children when they confess their sins because ‘the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin’, 1 John 1. 7.