Deliver Me, O Lord – from Myself

Psalm 140
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men,
2who plan evil things in their heart and stir up wars continually.
3They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s, and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
4Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men, who have planned to trip up my feet.
5The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and with cords they have spread a net; beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah
6I say to the Lord, You are my God; give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!
7O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked; do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah
9As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10Let burning coals fall upon them! Let them be cast into fire, into miry pits, no more to rise!
11Let not the slanderer be established in the land; let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!
12I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy.
13Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in your presence.

This is another one of those psalms that feels difficult to grab onto and apply. As I was reading through it, for the third time, I was struck by the notion that perhaps I indeed need to pray this prayer but in the reverse. Instead of asking God to deliver me from evil people, I need to ask Him to deliver me from my own evil inclinations.

We live in incredibly acrimonious times. I confess to watching more and more Netflix because I just can’t stand the NEWS anymore. It’s all just too much hatred. The polarization of two sides has become the national pastime and we are the ping pong ball in the middle, being beaten by both sides. Bitterness on the national level cannot be far behind and in many cases is already here. That evil wants to live inside all of us as individuals.

So, instead of asking God to deliver from my enemies on the outside, I am asking Him today to deliver me from my own violent inclinations and warring thoughts. I am asking Him to deliver me from a sharp and poisonous tongue and the plans in my heart to trip others up and see harm done to them. I am asking Him to deliver me from the arrogance that lies in wait for my spirit.

The rewards of this work are great, and I confess to wanting them without apology. I am grateful to be able to say, “You are my God … the strength of my salvation … the righteous shall dwell in Your presence.” Those are the words I pray the Holy Spirit will ring through my heart and mind all day long.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more