I am afflicted very much; O Jehovah, quicken me according to thy word.
God's word lights the psalmist's path, and this verse shows how hard that lit path is to walk. He does not ask God to take him out of the trouble; he asks for life in it, and he rests that asking on God's own word.
One writer looks at the Hebrew word behind "afflicted":
The word for affliction (anah) here is the same as in verse 67 (see that verse), and it literally means "depressed."
One writer reads verses 107 and 108 together:
The path the godly man has to tread is often one of deep affliction; even so, the light of the Word reveals a path through the trial. So here he does not pray for deliverance. He asks for energy in the trial (v. 107), to offer praises God accepts despite it, and to be taught by the Lord through it (v. 108).
Where the ESV reads "give me life," older translations read "quicken me." One writer explains what that older word asks for:
The Psalmist says that God's Word has quickened him in verse 50, yet again and again he asks to be quickened. The word is clearly used more in the sense of being revived, of being restored to more vigorous life.
The plea rests on something God has already pledged:
Opposition from other people keeps him in constant danger. This affliction has far too much power over him. He realises and pleads his need of divine energy, which has in fact been pledged to him, so that he can count upon it.
One writer looks closely at the affliction lying across that lit path:
Here he sees it simply as affliction on the path that the word lit up for him. On that path he looks to God for strength and revival, through the word working in his soul. But his heart's desire here is not deliverance, sweet as that may be. As he turns to God on this path of righteousness, he wants God to accept the free-will offerings of his mouth. Kept on that path with God's thoughts in him, he can bring God free praises — praise the affliction did not interrupt.
One writer answers the fear that the trouble is more than a person can bear:
The writer feels very much afflicted. Does he think he is afflicted beyond his ability to endure? We have a wonderfully comforting promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13: "No temptation (or affliction) has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."
The same writer carries the prayer forward to what Christians now have:
Being Christians does not mean God will spare us the afflictions, sicknesses and troubles that others face. But God understands, and gives us grace to bear and to endure. The Psalmist prays, "quicken me, O LORD, according to Your Word." He does not yet know about the abundant life that the Lord Jesus Christ came to bring and to show. That life is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The New Testament believer has the Lord Jesus as his life. That is why we can say, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2:20).
- Pressed. "Afflicted" is the same Hebrew word used in verse 67 of this psalm, and it literally means "depressed."
- Revived. The ESV's "give me life" is "quicken me" in older translations: a plea to be revived, restored to more vigorous life, and he prays it again and again.
- Not rescued. He does not pray to be taken out. He prays for energy inside the trial, teaching through it, and praise despite it.
- Pledged. "According to your word" is the ground of the prayer: God has pledged the strength he needs, so he can count on it.
- Fulfilled. What he asks for in outline, Christians now have in a Person: Christ Himself as their life, and grace to bear what stays.
Accept, I beseech thee, Jehovah, the voluntary-offerings of my mouth, and teach me thy judgments.
In the verse just before this one, the psalmist says he is severely afflicted. Yet what he asks for next is not rescue. He asks that God would receive the praise he offers of his own accord, and that the lessons would keep coming.
The offering named here belongs to a class of gifts in Israel's worship that were never required. One writer sets it beside the vow, and traces both to what moved the giver.
These offerings were to come from hearts touched by a sense of Jehovah's goodness. They came from people who wanted to do what pleased Him, as the burnt offering shows. A vow would be a special mark of devotion to the will of God. A free-will offering was the simple desire to give God something back for His generosity and goodness.
An older translation reads "the freewill offerings of my mouth." The worshipper brings no animal. The gift is words. One writer marvels that God counts such breath as a sacrifice.
He has brought us where we are. Is it not blessed beyond words that He would have us there, offering up the fruit of our lips for what He has done? Praise flows out of the constant realisation of what He has done. And how it brings out the surpassing magnificence of God in His greatness, that He can take notice of the very smallest things! What a little breath, breathed out in a few words of praise — an "acceptable sacrifice"!
Notice where this verse sits. The trouble of verse 107 does not lead to a plea for escape.
The path the godly man has to walk is often one of deep affliction. Even so, the light of the Word shows him a path through the trial. Here he does not pray for deliverance. He asks instead for strength in the trial (v. 107), to offer acceptable praises despite it, and to be taught by the Lord through it (v. 108).
The man praising here has been astray and knows it. One writer marks carefully what this praise is not.
Kept in that path, with God's thoughts in him, he can bring free praises to God — praise that affliction did not interrupt. He had been brought low. He had been astray. But now he walks with an upright heart, and he longs for these outpourings of his heart, the fruit of the word's power, to be accepted. This is all as it should be. It is not the joy of present salvation. All the way through there is the awareness of having been astray; only the heart is set right.
He does not assume his praise is welcome. He asks. One writer treats that prayer as a question with an obvious answer, and carries the same certainty into the second half of the verse.
He is moved to pray that God will accept the freewill offerings of his mouth. Is there any doubt that such a prayer will be answered? Indeed, it is accompanied by the desire that God would teach him His judgments. Of course, God will answer this too.
The two halves belong together. Praise looks back at help already given. The prayer to be taught looks forward to what he still does not know.
He realises his need of divine energy and pleads for it. God has indeed pledged that energy to him, so he can count on it. So he can bring the free-will offerings of his mouth, which acknowledge the help God has given, and still pray to be taught Jehovah's judgments.
Teaching also works the other way round. It produces the praise. Earlier in the psalm the same writer calls God's judgments "His decisions in the court of conscience." They display His righteousness so clearly "that to learn these will produce a spirit of praise in an upright heart" (Numerical Bible Notes).
- Free. The offering here is one God never demanded — the plain wish to give Him something back for His goodness.
- Spoken. It costs nothing but breath. God treats that breath as a real sacrifice and notices the smallest thing we bring Him.
- Afflicted. It rises in the middle of trouble. The man does not ask to leave the trial. He asks for strength, acceptance and teaching inside it.
- Accepted. He asks instead of assuming. The answer is not in doubt: God receives praise from a heart set right.
- Taught. Learning God's judgments produces the praise. The praise then asks for more teaching. Thanks and hunger to learn travel in one breath.