How the Psalmist Prays (Part 1)

(Psalm 119:169-176) -"169 Let my cry come before You, O Lord; give me understanding according to Your word. 170 Let my supplication come before You; deliver me according to Your word. 171 Let my lips utter praise, for you teach me Your statutes. 172 Let my tongue sing of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteousness. 173 Let Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts. 174 I long for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my delight. 175 Let my soul live that it may praise You, and let Your ordinances help me. 176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments."
This final section of Psalm 119 is a prayer to God to act and enable. To "let" means to allow or to enable. If a child asks a parent (say a father) to let them go to a movie, they ask because they know He holds the authority to say yes and allow it, or to say no and not. The Psalmist knows that God holds the authority and the power to enable or not enable the things he asks for. Notice how he uses the promises of God as a reason the Lord should answer; almost like "but you said!" God will never go against His word, so you will never hear Him say "I know I said that, but...", though He may say "that is not what I said" or "that is not what I meant". Knowing and understanding the promises of God are then key to effecive, biblical prayer. So what does the Psalmist ask God to enable him to do? (Read vs.169) For God to give him understanding, He must have allowed his cry to come before Him. This basically is just a prayer for God to hear and respond. This is supplication, which is why he asks in the next verse (170) , "Let my supplication come before You." Notice also in vs. 169 that the word "cry" denotes how the Psalmist presents his requests to God, not as mere requests from an equal, but passionate pleas for mercy from a beggar. So the Psalmist asks for God to listen, grant understanding, and now to deliver according to His word. This is wonderful, for since God loves to be exalted, He then loves for His word to be exalted, which is what we do in prayer when we claim what He has already said. Whose word do you place more authority and confidence on in prayer? The Psalmist does not want to be delivered in a way against or outside the word, knowing that God delights to honor what He has already said, so that He might be seen as Faithful and we might glorify Him by placing a higher confidence in His word.