David comes to the Lord with another prayer of lament. Justice is on his mind—repaying the evildoers according to their wicked acts. This is a prayer we can all get behind.
Verses 1-2
David seeks an audience with the Lord. He knows that the Lord hears the righteous when they call to Him. And so he prays for God to hear him and not treat him as an unrighteous person destined for Hades.
Verses 3-5
The evildoers David has in mind are those who speak kindly but have malice in their hearts. They are hypocrites. David prays they will get the justice they deserve. They ignored God and the good things God had done. Therefore, David believes God should tear down these proud and arrogant souls so they cannot be rebuilt again.
Verses 6-7
As we all should, David praises God for hearing his prayer. He thanks God for being his strength and shield. Verse 7 says,
My heart trusts in Him and I am helped.
How many times have I lacked help because I haven’t trusted in God?
In the New Testament, Jesus did the healing, but the healed had to do their part too. Stretch forth your hand. Rise, pick up your mat. Wash in the pool.
Obedience leads to the miracle. It’s all mixed together. Just as destruction is the result of unbelief, blessing is the result of faith. We can’t receive the blessing without first acting in obedience.
Verses 8-9
Thankfully, God does not leave us on our own. He asks us to obey, but not in our own strength. He gives us His strength.
The Lord is the strength of His people; He is a stronghold of salvation for His anointed.
David uses the term stronghold again as he did in Psalm 27 to paint a picture. God calls us to obedience and then gives us the strength to obey through His very own salvation power in our lives. This is our every day Gospel.
What a wonderful God we serve! He will be our Stronghold. Our Shepherd. He will carry us on His shoulders every step of the way. We only need to be willing to go.
This post is Day 28 of the 31 Days of Journaling through the Psalms series. If you would like to read the first post, Psalm 1: The Wise and the Wicked, click here. The introduction to the series can be found here.
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