Psalm 25:16 – “Alone and Afflicted”

Here is my literal translation of this verse:

¹⁶Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I [am] alone and afflicted.

“…alone and afflicted.” The first thing I note is how these two travel together. Is it not too often true that to be afflicted is to be alone? The word translated “afflicted” is the same word as back in v9 where I noted it means to be crushed, beaten down, conquered, afflicted, etc. When we get “beaten down” by whatever it makes us very aware of who around us really cares. To realize that, really, no one cares, only adds to the pain. Then sometimes it is true that there are people who really do care very deeply but simply cannot do anything to help, besides offer their sympathy and kindness. Though perhaps they care deeply, still we find ourselves seemingly alone in the sense that we suffer with no one to deliver us.

As hopeless and despondent as this may sound, yet is it not true that it is at these very times we most realize our utter dependence on God? David here prays to the Lord, “Turn to me and be gracious to me …” because clearly there is no one else to help him. Either no one cares to or no one is able. Either way, in this world, he is very painfully alone.

I want to interject at this point that sometimes there is something someone else can do. It occurs to me that we should all strive to be more aware of when people around us are hurting and there really is something we could do to “help.” God help us all, as we realize how deeply it hurts to suffer alone, to do all we can to be the kind of friends who really are “there” when others need us.

But then, going in another direction, studying this verse reminds me that, as much as I may care, as much as I may want to help, it will too often be true that I simply cannot help them. I can’t get away from work, don’t have the money, simply don’t know what to do, lack the expertise, etc. All I can offer is my sympathy and love. As valuable as that may be, it still leaves the other person “alone.” But that is not all bad. There simply is a time when we all have to realize that other people need God too, that we cannot take His place, that when human resources are spent, even people we love must, in a sense, be left alone to nurse their relationship with the only One Who really can help. It would be great to go to someone and say, “I desperately need $50,000 to pay some bills that are crushing me,” and have them say, “Here’s a check. Go take care of it.” But can we say it is in the end a far greater privilege, realizing there is no one, to find our souls grasping Heb. 4:16 and going boldly to the Throne of Grace, to “obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” only to find there that we truly have known communion with God, have known the comfort of His presence, have savored the little cordials of love from His gentle hand, and perhaps, eventually, even enjoyed one of His great miraculous deliverances?

I think I can honestly say, as much as it hurts to suffer alone, as much as it hurts to live with no earthly deliverance, yet I’d rather go on suffering only to one day die and be able to say, “But I have known God.”

So I guess both are true. On the one hand, God give me the eyes to see the pain in others’ lives, to do all I honestly can to relieve that pain and to at least be sure they don’t suffer alone. But, on the other hand, if all I can give is my love, may I give it, while at the same time releasing them to know God themselves, praying to that end for them. God give me the wisdom to know the difference.

We all so desperately need for God to be gracious to us. Note that, once again in Hebrew, the “I” is emphatic (which is why I underlined it). Interesting that, on God’s side of the ledger David asks Him to be gracious. On David’s side of the ledger he says, “As for me (I), all I have to offer is that I am alone and afflicted.” No merit. No “You really should help me …” It’s just, “I need You.” Here is where the blood of Jesus shines. Dirty wretched rebels getting far less than they deserve can crawl to the Throne of Grace and say, “I need You.” And if God be for us, who can be against us?

For whomever may stumble across this blog,

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

Shalom, my friends.