O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
God knows every folly and sin completely, with nothing hidden from Him even when hidden from others. The psalm foretells the path Jesus would walk through betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion, and it opens His inner suffering when the sins of the world were laid upon Him for our sake. Yet this confession of foolishness and sins is David's own and belongs to him primarily, and cannot be charged to Christ as if He were a sinner. Remembering that God sees all guilt humbles pride, ends excuses, and turns the heart to depend on Him and give Him all glory. Sinners do not flee from such knowledge but come fearing and trembling to tell Him all truth and seek cleansing mercy, and God's children in like trials may pray these prayers assured that He hears and that Christ's triumph is theirs.
Words and Suffering
The verse is an open confession that the speaker's foolishness is known to God and that his sins are not hidden from Him. Even when they are hidden from other people, they are known to God and lie open before Him.
The speaker is a weary sufferer overwhelmed as by deep waters come into his soul, filled with reproach and bitter shame. He is forsaken by those bearing a brother's name, and mocked by enemies while weeping in deep sorrow and trembling fear. He cries to God for lovingkindness and mercy to turn to him and make darkness flee. He trusts the Lord will save the sorrowing poor, revive the fainting, restore the sinking soul and make the contrite live. He prays God to hasten relief, to keep enemies from rejoicing, to darken their chosen pathway and turn their joy to grief.
Prophecy Concerning Christ
The psalm is prophetic of the experience through which Jesus passed. Its prophecies concern his betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion. In particular this verse belongs to the prophecy of Christ's experience when the sins of the world rested upon him for our sake. It reveals his inner experience in suffering and struggle with temptation, and is to be read for a fuller understanding of how Christ felt in such trials.
The psalm as a whole relates primarily to David and finally and antitypically to Christ, with portions fulfilled in Christ. Yet this verse confesses David's own foolishness and sins as known to God and not hidden from him, belongs to David primarily, and cannot be applied to Christ because that would make him a sinner. It is spoken by apparently the same speaker as the verse about zeal for God's house, which is applied to Christ, and this makes application of the psalm to Christ difficult because Christ had no foolishness or sins. This proves that Scripture applies passages to Christ even when parts of the same passage refer only to another. Although the psalm is applied to Christ in the New Testament, its confession of foolishness and sins cannot belong to him while other parts speak literally of him. A prophecy may therefore apply partly to what is immediately before the reader and partly to what is remote, partly literal and partly accommodated. Demanding that the whole prophecy or context be either all literal or all accommodated would either make Christ a sinner or deny his foretold experience.
The psalm is also not limited to fulfillment as prediction. Words spoken by David of himself about zeal for God's house eating up the speaker and about bearing reproaches aimed at God can be appropriated by any Christian whose history runs parallel to David's. Such appropriated use is still called fulfillment of Scripture, but in a different sense from fulfillment of a prediction. On this understanding the psalm is not a prediction but a simple record of David's personal history and experience. It then applies no more to Jesus than to anyone else today whose history is tangent to David's in certain points, such as being hated without a cause.
Humility Mercy and Justice
God knows a person's foolishness, and sins are not hidden from him even when they are hidden from other people. Remembering this humbles people, exposes the pride that excuses their own wrongs while magnifying their virtues, and leads them to depend on God and give him all the glory for the good they receive. God also knows the talents entrusted to each person and how they are used, showing grace to the humble and bringing down the proud.
Although human foolishness is known to God and guilt is not hidden from him, sinners still come to him for purging and cleansing mercy instead of running from him. They come fearing and trembling to fall at his feet and tell him all the truth in order to be cured, even while under the sense of divine displeasure. In doing so they take heed of lasting scars upon the soul.
The psalm belongs to the experience through which Jesus passed, and its prayers may also be prayed by God's children when they face corresponding conditions, with assurance that God hears them. The triumph Jesus won is theirs as well.
The stern vindictive language found among these prayers is not personal revenge but is typical of tribulation upon the enemies of the church and predictive in character. It declares the retributive providence and justice of God. It shows the sin-hating God who drowned the world, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire, extirpated the Canaanites, and thunders curses against sinners of every land and age rather than allowing them to live and die in sin without punishment.
God knows every folly and sin completely, with nothing hidden from Him even when hidden from others. The psalm foretells the path Jesus would walk through betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion, and it opens His inner suffering when the sins of the world were laid upon Him for our sake. Yet this confession of foolishness and sins is David's own and belongs to him primarily, and cannot be charged to Christ as if He were a sinner. Remembering that God sees all guilt humbles pride, ends excuses, and turns the heart to depend on Him and give Him all glory. Sinners do not flee from such knowledge but come fearing and trembling to tell Him all truth and seek cleansing mercy, and God's children in like trials may pray these prayers assured that He hears and that Christ's triumph is theirs.
Words and Suffering
The verse is an open confession that the speaker's foolishness is known to God and that his sins are not hidden from Him. Even when they are hidden from other people, they are known to God and lie open before Him.
The speaker is a weary sufferer overwhelmed as by deep waters come into his soul, filled with reproach and bitter shame. He is forsaken by those bearing a brother's name, and mocked by enemies while weeping in deep sorrow and trembling fear. He cries to God for lovingkindness and mercy to turn to him and make darkness flee. He trusts the Lord will save the sorrowing poor, revive the fainting, restore the sinking soul and make the contrite live. He prays God to hasten relief, to keep enemies from rejoicing, to darken their chosen pathway and turn their joy to grief.
Prophecy Concerning Christ
The psalm is prophetic of the experience through which Jesus passed. Its prophecies concern his betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion. In particular this verse belongs to the prophecy of Christ's experience when the sins of the world rested upon him for our sake. It reveals his inner experience in suffering and struggle with temptation, and is to be read for a fuller understanding of how Christ felt in such trials.
The psalm as a whole relates primarily to David and finally and antitypically to Christ, with portions fulfilled in Christ. Yet this verse confesses David's own foolishness and sins as known to God and not hidden from him, belongs to David primarily, and cannot be applied to Christ because that would make him a sinner. It is spoken by apparently the same speaker as the verse about zeal for God's house, which is applied to Christ, and this makes application of the psalm to Christ difficult because Christ had no foolishness or sins. This proves that Scripture applies passages to Christ even when parts of the same passage refer only to another. Although the psalm is applied to Christ in the New Testament, its confession of foolishness and sins cannot belong to him while other parts speak literally of him. A prophecy may therefore apply partly to what is immediately before the reader and partly to what is remote, partly literal and partly accommodated. Demanding that the whole prophecy or context be either all literal or all accommodated would either make Christ a sinner or deny his foretold experience.
The psalm is also not limited to fulfillment as prediction. Words spoken by David of himself about zeal for God's house eating up the speaker and about bearing reproaches aimed at God can be appropriated by any Christian whose history runs parallel to David's. Such appropriated use is still called fulfillment of Scripture, but in a different sense from fulfillment of a prediction. On this understanding the psalm is not a prediction but a simple record of David's personal history and experience. It then applies no more to Jesus than to anyone else today whose history is tangent to David's in certain points, such as being hated without a cause.
Humility Mercy and Justice
God knows a person's foolishness, and sins are not hidden from him even when they are hidden from other people. Remembering this humbles people, exposes the pride that excuses their own wrongs while magnifying their virtues, and leads them to depend on God and give him all the glory for the good they receive. God also knows the talents entrusted to each person and how they are used, showing grace to the humble and bringing down the proud.
Although human foolishness is known to God and guilt is not hidden from him, sinners still come to him for purging and cleansing mercy instead of running from him. They come fearing and trembling to fall at his feet and tell him all the truth in order to be cured, even while under the sense of divine displeasure. In doing so they take heed of lasting scars upon the soul.
The psalm belongs to the experience through which Jesus passed, and its prayers may also be prayed by God's children when they face corresponding conditions, with assurance that God hears them. The triumph Jesus won is theirs as well.
The stern vindictive language found among these prayers is not personal revenge but is typical of tribulation upon the enemies of the church and predictive in character. It declares the retributive providence and justice of God. It shows the sin-hating God who drowned the world, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire, extirpated the Canaanites, and thunders curses against sinners of every land and age rather than allowing them to live and die in sin without punishment.