Tuesday 25 March, 2014

1 God, hear me as I tell you my problem. Don’t let my enemies kill me. 2 Hide me from those who make evil plans against me. Hide me from that crowd of people who are doing evil. 3 They make their tongues like sharp swords. They aim their words like deadly arrows. 4 They shoot from their hiding places at people who aren’t guilty of doing anything wrong. They shoot quickly. They aren’t afraid of being caught. 5 They help each other make evil plans. They talk about hiding their traps. They say, “Who can see what we are doing?” 6 They make plans to do what is evil. They say, “We have thought up a perfect plan!” The hearts and minds of people are so clever! 7 But God will shoot my enemies with his arrows. He will suddenly strike them down. 8 He will turn their own words against them. He will destroy them. All those who see them will shake their heads and look down on them. 9 Everyone will respect God. They will tell about his works. They will think about what he has done. 10 Let godly people be full of joy because of what the Lord has done. Let them go to him for safety. Let all those whose hearts are honest praise him.

In this psalm we see David crying out to God and asking God to deliver him from those who are engaging in sin and plotting against him. David is not happy with what is happening and the threats he is facing. What is interesting is the way in which he follows up from his complaints: he states his problem and then he declares that God is going to bring the justice. God is going to sort out those who do wrong, and the result of all this is that people will see what God has done and God will get the glory. David can rest satisfied that the God of justice will bring justice in the end. He doesn’t blame or criticise God for what he is suffering, but takes comfort in the reality that God will right the wrongs.

Reflecting on this it is no surprise that David ends the psalm praising God, who he knows is altogether righteous. David can rejoice in God and His righteousness, even when he isn’t experiencing the final fulfilment of it in the world.

God, please help me when I feel the victim of injustice and when I’m wronged, help me to trust that in the end you will right every wrong. Help me to move from complaining to praising, my God who is perfectly righteous. Hallelujah!

Written by Beth Waugh