for I am a pious man that I hear my insults and my disgraces, and I am able to wreak vengeance; yet I remain silent. So it is in Aggadath Tehillim (Mid. Ps. 86:1). Another explanation: Our Sages explained in Berachoth (4a): [David said,] “Am I not a pious man, when all the kings of the Orient and the Occident sit in their glory, and my hands are sullied with blood, with the sac, and with the afterbirth?”

all the days All the days of the exile, which is day for the wicked and night for the righteous. It is explained in this manner in Aggadath Tehillim (Mid. Ps. 86:2).

I lift my soul I direct my heart.

like Your works Who places the heavenly beings before the earthlings.

and perform wonders, You, O God, alone Before the angels were created, heaven and earth were created. Therefore, all the nations will glorify Your name.

from the lowest depths of the grave It is customary for adulterers to be put into the depth of the grave, and from there You saved me, for Nathan the prophet said to me (II Sam. 12:13): “Also the Lord has removed your sin.”

willful transgressors have risen against me Doeg and Ahithophel.

and they did not place You before themselves They did not remember what they saw, that Samuel anointed me on Your orders.

the son of Your maidservant The son of the maidservant humbles himself before his master more than the slave purchased with money, because the son of the maidservant was born in the house and was raised in his master’s bosom.

Grant me a sign for good so it may be apparent to others that You have forgiven me.

and let my enemies see the sign and be ashamed. But the Holy One, blessed be He, did not listen to him to grant the sign during his lifetime. Instead, [it came] in his son Solomon’s lifetime when the gates clung to each other and did not open until he said (II Chron. 6:42): “Do not turn back the face of Your anointed; remember the kind deeds of David Your servant.”