In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord
Not the creature, for help, and creature amusements to drive away
trouble, but the Lord, in private, by prayer and supplication; a
time of trouble is a time for prayer, ( James 5:13 ) , all men
have their trouble, but the people of God more especially; and
there are some particular times in which they have more than
usual, and then it may be said to be "a day of trouble" with
them; which sometimes arises from themselves, the strength of
their corruptions, the weakness of their graces, their
backwardness to duties, or poor performance of them; sometimes
from others, from the profaneness or persecutions of the men of
the world, from the heretical notions or wicked lives of
professors; sometimes from the temptations of Satan, and at other
times from the Lord himself more immediately, by his withdrawing
his presence from them, or by laying his afflicting hand upon
them; but, let the trouble come from what quarter it may, it is
always right to seek the Lord. Some think reference is had to the
time of trouble mentioned in ( Daniel 12:1 ) ,
my sore ran in the night;
my "stroke", or "wound" F9; so Kimchi interprets it; the wound
that was made in his soul, and the pain and anguish, grief and
trouble, which flowed from it; see ( Jeremiah 6:7
) though the word may be literally rendered "my hand" F11; and
the sense is, either that his hand flowed or was wet with wiping
his eyes, or with the tears that flowed from his eyes, which ran
down to his fingers' ends; so the Targum,
``in the night my eye dropped with tears;''or rather that his hand was stretched out, as waters, that are poured out and run, are spread, that is, in prayer; the stretching out of the hand being a prayer gesture:
and ceased not;
was not remiss and feeble, or was not let down, as Moses's, (
Exodus
17:11 Exodus 17:12
) , it denotes the constancy of prayer, and his continuance in
it; he prayed without ceasing:
my soul refused to be comforted:
such was the greatness of his distress, like that of Jacob's and
Rachel's, ( Genesis
37:35 ) ( Jeremiah
31:15 ) , it is right to refuse comfort and peace, which men
speak to themselves upon the false foundation of their own merit
and works; or any but what comes from the God of all comfort, and
through Christ, in whom is all solid consolation, and by his
Spirit, who is the Comforter; but it is wrong to refuse any that
comes from hence, and by means of the promises, the word and
ordinances and ministries of the Gospel, or Christian friends;
this shows the strength of unbelief.