Your decrees are righteous for ever; give me understanding that I may live. (Psalm 119: 144)

Today's psalmist is in trouble. Like most of us his response to trouble is self-indulgent and far from self-critical. He writes, "For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause."

The psalmist is vengeful. He expects God's grace for himself. But for his enemies he seeks only punishment. He writes, "Let my assailants be put to shame; may your servant be glad. May my accusers be clothed with dishonour; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle."

The psalmist is impatient. He wants God to fix the troubles immediately. He writes, "It is time for the Lord to act, for your law has been broken."

The psalmist is consumed by self-pity. He writes, "I am small and despised, yet I do not forget your precepts."

But the psalmist is wise enough, or disciplined enough, or perhaps sufficiently poor and needy to truly come to God. As the psalm proceeds there are fewer assertions, fewer demands, more praise, and - instead of asking for action against the adversary - a prayerful request for God to transform the life and understanding of the psalmist.