Jeduthun was one of three music directors that served during David’s reign. He was also the King’s Seer. The tone of this psalm does not come across well in English. It takes turns of logic and makes subtle connections that don’t match anything in modern literature. It almost looks like random verses strung together from two or three short pieces.
There is a bit of the Job experience here for David. It’s one thing to yell and fuss with God in your private prayers. Wrestling with God should be a private matter as each of us comes to slightly different terms of peace in our souls. God is not some distant ruler, but our closest confidant. In Ancient Near Eastern cultures, a private audience was much freer than we would imagine under Western feudalism. We have no equivalent in our culture where one can speak frankly with his master in private, so long as court protocol is not breached in public. Thus, David is careful not to let schemers in on his private dealings with God, because they would use such knowledge as leverage for evil.
But David is filled to bursting with the need to vent to his Heavenly Father. So eventually he could contain himself no longer and had a frank discussion with God. What he needs most is to embrace his own mortality. It’s not something he needed to share with others, but to ensure he fully grasped the implications in his own heart. People who think they’ve gained much in this life actually have nothing. David implies that the richest treasure of this world is not taking yourself too seriously. Life in this world is all about bringing God glory; all else is just a tool for that end.
On these grounds, David asks that he be able to embrace the choices God makes for him. When you face unexpected turns of life with aplomb, it’s hard for fools to heap criticism on you. Facing things with serenity is easily the most powerful way to live. By the same token, he asks that God not put too severe a test upon him. David knows that God is more severe with His own because they have less excuse for transgression, having come to know God and His character much better than the rest of the world.
Still, human life is transient at the best of times. David’s highly emotional and piteous cry to God would be out of place among Western royalty, but this is the private David seeking the face of His Lord in a time of trouble. It need not be for a specific sin that David repents here, but his prayer is more general. David is torn between his human identity and his longing to be with the Father. His otherworldly bent makes him feel like an alien among his own people, and God is his only comfort.
