The God who rescues the afflicted
In a world rife with domestic abuse, religious violence, war crimes, how can we believe God is just? Though unjustly attacked, David knows the God of covenant faithfulness cares deeply about injustice.
To the music director. A David psalm.
1 Deliver me, YHWH, from malicious men.
Save me from violent men
2 who plot evil in their hearts
and are always bent on war.
3 Their sharp tongues
are just like serpents’ tongues
while viper venom stains their lips. Selah
4 Keep me, YHWH
from the grasp of the wicked
from violent men intent on my downfall.
5 The arrogant have set a trap for me
spreading their nets out to catch me
laying snares beside my path. Selah.
6 I pledge my allegiance, YHWH:
“You alone are my God.”
Listen, YHWH—
to you I cry for mercy.
7 YHWH my Lord
my saving strength
you covered my head on the day of battle.
8 Do not, YHWH
grant the desires of the wicked—
don’t let their evil scheme succeed
lest they be exalted. Selah
9 May the mischief their own lips produced
cover the heads of those who surround me.
10 Rain down burning coals on them
and send them sprawling into gaping pits
never to rise again.
11 Let no slanderer make headway in the land.
Let evil hunt violent men down relentlessly.
12 I know YHWH will advocate for the afflicted
and execute justice for the downtrodden.
13 Then God-seekers will praise your name
and God-pleasers will live in your presence.
David writes in crisis, with Saul’s elite or some other powerful gang surrounding him. Intent on killing him, they’re ready to start a fight over the least little offence. Though doubtless frank- and friendly-sounding, their words mask the violence and viciousness they harbor underneath, just like those of the serpent of old.
The psalm’s focal point is David’s urgent plea for covenant protection, sandwiched between his pledge of allegiance and his grateful testimony to God’s faithfulness.[1] Refusing to turn to other gods in desperation, David puts all his hope in YHWH, the one who has faithfully shielded him from violence before.
Urging God to judge the scoundrels bent on killing him, David asks only that they fall prey to their own evil plots, reap what they’ve sown, and be put out of business once and for all. While he doesn’t detail his precise situation, it’s clear that he’s pledging to leave vengeance to God.
David ends with hope: he’s convinced YHWH will come through for him, vindicate him, fill him with praise, and restore him to God’s temple. Later Jews who returned from exile only to endure slanderous attacks by vicious enemies must have found this prayer very encouraging. With David, we can be confident that God will vindicate his people, renew us, and fill us with joy.
In your fight against evil, Jesus, you endured vicious plots and slander. Seeing me as both one of your attackers and evil’s victim, you pleaded for mercy. Since you’re fully committed to me, help me trust you fully in return, believing you’ll come through for me and I’ll yet praise you. Amen.
During your free moments today, meditate on these words:
I know YHWH will advocate for the afflicted
and execute justice for the downtrodden.
[1] This psalm’s first eleven verses are structured chiastically: violent men (1-2), lips (3), scoundrels’ plots (4-5), CONFESSIONS OF MUTUAL COVENANTAL LOYALTY (6-7), scoundrels’ plots (8), lips (9-10), violent men (11). The last two verses serve like a coda, wrapping things up.
