Commentaries:
Barnes' Notes
Hear the voice of my supplications - It was not mental prayer which he offered; it was a petition uttered audibly.
When I lift up my hands - To lift up the hands denotes supplication, as this was a common attitude in prayer. See the notes at I Timothy 2:8.
Toward thy holy oracle - Margin, as in Hebrew, "toward the oracle of thy holiness." The word "oracle" as used here denotes the place where the answer to prayer is given. The Hebrew word - de bı̂yr - means properly the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle or the temple, the place where God was supposed to reside, and where He gave responses to the prayers of His people: the same place which is elsewhere called the holy of holies. See the notes at Hebrews 9:3-14. The Hebrew word is found only here and in I Kings 6:5, I Kings 6:16, I Kings 6:19-23, I Kings 6:31; I Kings 7:49; I Kings 8:6, I Kings 8:8; II Chronicles 3:16; II Chronicles 4:20; II Chronicles 5:7, II Chronicles 5:9. The idea here is that he who prayed stretched out his hands toward that sacred place where God was supposed to dwell. So we stretch out our hands toward heaven - the sacred dwelling-place of God. Compare the notes at Psalms 5:7. The Hebrew word is probably derived from the verb to "speak;" and, according to this derivation, the idea is that God spoke to His people; that he "communed" with them; that He answered their prayers from that sacred recess - His special dwelling-place. See Exodus 25:22; Numbers 7:89.
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