There is no indication of when or why David wrote this psalm. There must have been many occasions in his life when he felt alone and depressed. Psychology tells us it is normal for adults to experience this once a month. David realized that when he felt this way, his answer was to turn to God. But like us, David didn’t always find God’s answer right away. How can we grow and become strong in our faith if we always receive our answer immediately? We would become like spoiled children.
David, in his despair, acknowledged God’s holiness and recounted how God rescued Israel when they called to Him (see verses 3-4). He then humbled himself; “I am a worm and not a man, I am scorned and despised by all!” Verse 6 (NLT). He went on to describe how he grew in faith, but he also expresses his current problem.
In verses 22-31, he expresses his praise to God, his assurance that God is with him and will bless him and all who worship God. And finally, David trusts that God’s blessings will be on future generations as they hear of the great things God has done, and they will serve Him.
Some of what David wrote was experienced by the Lord Jesus Christ during the crucifixion. Recorded in Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, and John 19 are several of the phrases from this psalm. The scripture says that Jesus was tested in everything as we are, but He did not sin. As a pastor friend, Doug Goss, said, when we go through these times, we should not look in at our feelings nor look out at the problems around us, but look up to God for our help comes from Him.