“See my affliction”: A Tale of Two Gates

“Have mercy on me, O LORD;

See my affliction because of those who hate me,

you who lift me up from the gates of death,

so that I may recount all Your praises

in the gates of the Daughter of Zion,

that I may rejoice in Your salvation.”

Psalm 9:13-14

For my daily devotions, I have been reading through the Psalms. Today, I was struck by these lines that juxtapose two gates: the gates of death and the gates of the daughter of Zion. The psalmist pleads with God to have mercy on him and to see his affliction at the hands of his enemies, so that God will raise him from the former gate—the epitome of hopelessness—to the latter gate—the epitome of beatitude. The phrase ‘see my affliction’ is the same as that used by Leah when she thanks God, who has seen her afflictions as Jacob’s unloved wife – and seen fit to bless her with a child, Reuben (Gen. 29:32). Leah hopes that giving Jacob his firstborn son will make her husband love her, but she is doomed to disappointment. The psalmist, on the other hand, asks God to see his affliction and to raise him up from the gates of death. What is his motivation? He does not desire to be restored from death merely so that he can extend his life or his years of carousing. His heart is fixed instead on another set of gates – those of the Daughter of Zion, in other words, Jerusalem. The psalmist throws himself on God’s mercy because he wants yet another reason and more time to praise God. I am challenged to think about the times when I ask for God’s mercy. When I pray that God will deliver me from the gates of sickness, financial instability, frustration, sin, injustice, and all those things that stink of death, what is my goal? Are my prayers for help motivated by a desire to praise God in the community of His redeemed people? If my plea for God’s mercy is driven by a desire for anything less, I may end up more like unhappy Leah than like the joyful psalmist.