But Do Thou For Me

“But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy [is] good, deliver thou me.” (Ps 109:21 AV)

Aren’t the first five words a bit peculiar?  Those first five words seem a bit demanding and immature.  It may seem a little self-centered.  At least that is how we would take it if someone approached us with the same words.  However, this is not the case above.  The writer is in the throes of persecution from those who hate God.  He sees what seems like prosperity for those who treat him so badly.  He cannot explain why it is so, but he does have confidence in the justice of God.  Regardless of the short-term success the enemies of God seem to have, the writer knows it is temporary at best.  He is not envious.  He is not bitter.  All he asks is that God would act on his behalf.  The reason the word ‘but’ is there is because the writer seems some progress of the ungodly against him.  He sees that if God doesn’t do something, the enemy will triumph over him.  He sees the success of the ungodly as an extension of God’s favor, in a manner of speaking, and is asking for the LORD to be as merciful to him and it may seem He is being toward those who are abusing him.  This cry is from someone who is as low as he can get.  His situation overwhelms him to the point he cannot see what God has already done for him.  He has convinced himself the mercy of God has been silent and the only way he can receive the mercy for which he seeks is to make it very personal.  He is not seeking mercy that is common to all.  He is pleading as a child of God for God’s mercy on him based solely on that relationship alone.

When my wife spent a week in the hospital after her cancer surgery, the call button was her friend.  I have sixty years of experience with health issues.  I have spent several times in a hospital bed and many years on the care team.  I have seen the health industry from both perspectives.  The care my wife received was beyond phenomenal.  The hospital in which she stayed and to which she goes if she has a need caters to cancer patients in a way I have never seen before.  She spent her time in the critical care unit.  This means she has more personal nursing care than would normally be the case.  Each nurse had a station right outside the rooms they were caring for with a window that could look inside.  My wife had nurses, doctors, medical students, and other professionals treating her as though she were the only one in this hospital.  But that button made her care very special.  You see, many decades ago, the nurses and doctors would have had times when disconnecting the call button became a deep desire.  There was a generation when health care was not nearly as personal as it is today.  When my wife pressed that button, she didn’t have to wait very long.  Someone immediately spoke to her over the call device, and she never had to wait more than three minutes for the help she needed.  But do thou for me was an important request.  It was one born out of desperation on the patient’s part, and pity on the caregiver’s part.

It is ok to look out for number one every once in a while.  It is ok to be one’s own advocate.  It is ok to make our requests personal.  This cry of “But do thou for me” is one of deep humility.  It believes God has refrained intervention; not to be cruel; but rather, to help the desperate one see just how much the LORD cares for them.  “But do thou for me” is a cry for pity.  It is a cry for a response from a God who is not only sovereign and capable but also feels deep emotions toward the one crying out.  “But do thou for me” are five words spoken from a broken soul who needs the presence of God just as much, if not more, than a solution to his or her situation.  “But do thou for me” is not a selfish request where others would be put out if God did something for the petitioner.  “But do thou for me” is the cry of a child who feels alone even though he really isn’t.  It is a cry of desperation.  It is a cry for affirmation.  “But do thou for me” is a request for God’s love as manifested by deliverance and not mere deliverance alone.  It is personal.  It is intimate.  It is humble.  It is child-like.  “But do thou for me” are five words we must speak often because it is by those five words that God becomes very real to us.  “But do thou for me” is precious.  These five words move the heart of God to the depths of our soul.  Speak them sincerely.  Speak them often.  Speak them quickly.  Speak them now!