Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me
This is spoken of God after the manner of men, who, when they
listen and attentively hearken to what is said to them, stoop and
bow the head, and incline the ear; and it denotes condescension
in the Lord, who humbles himself as to look upon men, so to bow
down the ear and hearken to them: this favour is granted to the
saints, to whom he is a God hearing and answering prayer, and
which Christ, as man and Mediator, enjoyed; see ( Hebrews 5:7 ) (
John 11:41
John 11:42 ) ,
for I am poor and needy;
weak and feeble, destitute and distressed, and so wanted help and
assistance; and which carries in it an argument or reason
enforcing the above petition; for the Lord has a regard to the
poor and needy; see ( Psalms 6:2 ) ( 12:5 ) ( 35:10 ) .
This may be understood literally, it being the common case of the
people of God, who are generally the poor and needy of this
world, whom God chooses, calls, and makes his own; and so was
David when he fled from Saul, being often in want of temporal
mercies, as appears by his application to Ahimelech and Nabal for
food; and having nothing, as Kimchi observes, to support him, but
what his friends, and the men of Judah, privately helped him to;
and the character well agrees with Christ, whose case this was;
see ( 2
Corinthians 8:9 ) ( Matthew 8:20
) ( Luke 8:2
Luke 8:3 ) .
Moreover, it may be taken in a spiritual sense; all men are poor
and needy, though not sensible of it; good men are poor in
spirit, are sensible of their spiritual poverty, and apply to the
Lord, and to the throne of his grace, for the supply of their
need; and such an one was David, even when he was king of Israel,
as well as at this time, ( Psalms 40:17
) , and may be applied to Christ; especially when destitute of
his Father's gracious presence, and was forsaken by him and all
his friends, ( Matthew
27:46 ) ( 26:56 ) .