Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite
1 O LORD my God, in Thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this: if there be iniquity in my hands:
4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me: (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy
5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it: yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, O LORD, in Thine anger, lift up Thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that Thou hast commanded.
7 So shall the congregation of the people compass Thee about: for their sakes therefore return Thou on high.
8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end: but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
12 If He turn not, He will whet His sword: He hath bent His bow, and made it ready.
13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death: He ordaineth His arrows against the persecutors.
14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
17 I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.
The wicked oppress the righteous, but the Psalmist is confident in God’s deliverance and praises His righteous justice.
We feel threatened by enemies (spiritual and physical)—enemies that have the power to rip us to pieces. But our focus changes from the enemy to the all-powerful, all-just God. By the end of the psalm we are exulting in His terrible justice and delighting in His salvation.
Verses 1–2. It appears from the title of the psalm that David has been slandered by an enemy. Some commentators suggest that someone, perhaps even a close relative, has taken up a false report concerning David and had shared it with King Saul, further endangering David’s life. Though the nature of the slanderous remarks is not specified in the psalm, it is clear that it must have been very serious.
Bearing this background in mind, the psalm begins with David aligning himself on God’s side. Worship always asks the questions, “Whose side are you on? Are you an enemy of God or a friend of God?” Immediately, David puts himself on God’s side by using the personal name of God, “Yahweh,” and by declaring his total trust in God. On that basis he cries out for God’s deliverance from those who persecute him.
Evidently, he has a strong sense that the enemy wants his complete destruction. Have you ever experienced that sinking feeling that somebody wants to get rid of you? Do you think that somebody may want you dead or burning in hell forever? While we may not have some person hunting down our physical lives, our final destruction is most definitely the intent of our enemies: the world, the flesh, and the Devil.
Verses 3–5. The accuser brings an accusation against him, but David insists upon his innocence. From the few details we have in the psalm, there appears to be an accusation that David has attacked somebody who has no quarrel with him. In other words, David has made war against one who was at peace with him. Again, David claims just the opposite. Harking back to the several times he has mercifully spared his enemy, King Saul, he clears himself of the charge.
If he has committed murder by waging war against the innocent, David is not afraid to accept the punishment of death. This is in accord with Acts 25:11, where the Apostle Paul also affirms God’s righteous law of capital punishment with similar words.
Verses 6–9. In the face of these false accusations, David cries out to God for justice. He holds God to His own standards of justice. Again, you should note that David changes from speaking of his “enemy” (in the singular) to his “enemies” (in the plural). This is a significant change, as David will proceed with petitions for God’s judgment upon his enemies, who always remain in a generic sense in the psalms. In other words, David is not calling down God’s judgment upon King Saul specifically, and, as we will see further in the psalm, he will further qualify his imprecatory pleas. David is asking God to act the Judge. The believer has no trouble with such a request because he knows that he will be found righteous. At first glance, verse 8 may appear as if David is claiming a righteousness of his own working. However, verse 10 clarifies this salvation as originating from God.
The commitment of the righteous is made plain in verse 9. He wants an end of wickedness and conversely, he wants God to establish the just. As a tree sends its roots deeper and deeper into the soil, you know that tree is going to be there for a long time and the winds of a hurricane will never knock it down. This is David’s prayer for the just. The method the Lord uses to establish His people is by way of the fire of trial. This is how God tries the heart. When we face trials, we will either increase in faith and draw closer to God or, as Job’s wife put it, “curse God and die.” Trials serve as a test for our commitment.
Verses 10–13. Once more, David contrasts God’s dealing with the righteous and His dealing with the wicked. He is the Savior of the righteous and serves as the righteous Judge to vindicate His people. On the other hand, He is angry with the wicked every day. Such words lend an insight into the nature of a personal, holy God. Some cannot imagine that God would be anything less than loving and compassionate to men, but these words clearly contradict such a notion. God’s anger burns against those that refuse to turn or repent of their sins and seek His salvation. Moreover, He has manufactured His arrows and prepared His instruments of death. He has purposed the destruction of those that will not turn from their sins.
Verses 14–16. When the wicked hear of God’s fierce judgment against sin, they will blame God for their condition. “Well, if God is sovereign,” they say, “then I am not responsible for my sin.” These verses place the responsibility for sin and the very conception of sin at the feet of man. By nature, man loves to sin. He carefully plots out his next sinful act and he works to destroy the righteous. The author of sin is the heart of man. In fact, the wicked bring judgment upon their own heads. By their own free will they have rebelled against God, and they are clearly responsible for their own demise. They are the ones who dig the pit and fall into it. God is not the author of sin.
Verse 17. The Psalmist closes the psalm with a cry of exaltation for the justice of God. He loves God’s righteous standards and His perfect adjudication of those standards. When it comes down to it, we are not interested in vindicating ourselves against slander as much as we wish to praise the name of the Lord Most High. This is the direction of the heart of the righteous.
Rather than worrying about how people think about you, it would be better to meditate upon the righteous judgment of God. Eventually, we will be vindicated by God Himself and the truth will be established eternally. We throw ourselves on God’s perfect justice and His care when we are slandered by others. Even if we are taken by sin for awhile, we cry out to God for deliverance and He saves us from that sin. A clear and distinct difference between the righteous and wicked is formed when you ask each how he views sin. On the one hand, the righteous are repulsed by it, while the wicked sit around planning their next sin with delighted anticipation.
We cry out to God for deliverance from sin, the flesh, and worldly enemies. We cry out to God for help in the face of enemies who try to harm our bodies and souls. Because we love righteousness and hate wickedness, there is, in the heart of every man and woman of God, a desire for justice. In worship, we desire the destruction of all wickedness—including our own sin first, and then all other sins in this world. We want to see the justice of God played out in the salvation of God’s people through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and by the destruction of those that refuse to repent.
1. Give two examples of Deliverance psalms.
2. What psalm begins with “Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly”?
3. Who is God angry with every day?
4.What do trials do for us?
5.According to verse 12, who will God destroy?
6. What has happened to David here that precipitated this psalm?
1. How do you view your sin? Do you love it? Are there times when you are attracted to your sin?
2. What do you do when others slander you and say things about you that are not true?