The psalmist certainly isn’t unaffected by his enemies (vs 1–3) and he prays for protection (vs 4–8). Notice how he talks of ‘my’ God in verses 6 and 7. He is confident that despite what others think of him, and intend to do to him, God is still very much for him. Do you share that confidence?

His prayer for his would-be assailants falls short of Jesus’ radical instructions to his followers (‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ (Matthew 5:44)), but it does reveal a desire for justice to be done (v 11a). Despite the threats against him, his confidence for the future (v 13) is drawn on his knowledge of God’s character and the ways that he has seen God act in the past (v 12). 

As you may join with others to worship today try to reflect on ways in which God has helped you to this point of your life, and take comfort in the unchangeable nature of the God who is always ‘on the side of victims’ (v 12, The Message).

‘This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence … God … knows everything.’1

There’s much we don’t know about this psalm – we know nothing of the circumstances that lie behind it, for example – but the psalmist is confident of the things he knows, even if they’re in tension with one another. He knows the reality of evil and its impact on his life. He unmasks his opponents as violent, arrogant, deceitful liars who are out to get him. He doesn’t harbour a romantic view of human nature. They are evildoers and wicked through and through. On the other hand, he also knows that his God is a particular God (v 6) whom he describes as a sovereign, saving shield who surrounds his life. Furthermore, he knows that this God ‘secures justice for the poor’ and needy (v 12) and the sinned-against, among whom he includes himself. This God is definitely not on the side of powerful, immoral abusers, but a God of justice. 

The third thing he knows is that this isn’t just a statement of orthodoxy but an incentive to prayer. He knows that God will come to the rescue – a double-sided experience, in which the righteous are delivered and the wicked judged. He is unabashed in asking God to pursue the latter and mete out punishment on them in a way that we may find embarrassing. When Jesus was in a similar position, he didn’t cry out for vengeance but rather prayed for his Father to forgive them. Should we reject the psalmist’s approach in favour of that of Jesus? As his disciples – yes, but without pretending that wickedness is anything but evil. However, what both the psalmist and the Lord have in common is that they both leave justice in God’s hands,² for him and him alone to administer. And he will. There’s so much we don’t know – but that’s worth knowing and acting on, for sure.

Have you been sinned against? If so, how have you reacted? Have you been able to put the issue into the hands of your sovereign, saving and shielding God?

¹ 1 John 3:19,20  ² cf Rom 12:17–21