The psalmist urges God to deliver him. He pleads, “Let your hand be ready to help me.” The hand of God is a metaphor that conveys his active and powerful intervention. He asks the Lord to act on his behalf, to accomplish what he cannot accomplish for himself. He recognizes his own weakness. His hands are not sufficient. No human ally can ultimately secure his safety. Matthew Henry writes, “He finds his own hands are not sufficient for him, nor can any creature lend him a helping hand to any purpose; therefore he looks up to God in hopes that the hand that had made him would help him; for, if the Lord do not help us, whence can any creature help us.” The basis for his appeal is clear: “for I have chosen your precepts.” He has aligned himself with God’s word. He has resolved to know it and to obey it. His obedience does not earn deliverance, but it does express his loyalty. Having chosen God’s ways, he now entrusts himself to God’s care. So must we. We choose his precepts, and we rely on his power. We walk in obedience, and we ask his hand to uphold us where our strength gives way.
