1 Lord my God, I take refuge in you;
save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
2 or they will tear me apart like a lion
and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
3 Lord my God, if I have done this
and there is guilt on my hands—
4 if I have repaid my ally with evil
or without cause have robbed my foe—
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground
and make me sleep in the dust.
6 Arise, Lord, in your anger;
rise up against the rage of my enemies.
Awake, my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
while you sit enthroned over them on high.
8 Let the Lord judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.
9 Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
who probes minds and hearts.
10 My shield is God Most High,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
a God who displays his wrath every day.
12 If he does not relent,
he will sharpen his sword;
he will bend and string his bow.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he makes ready his flaming arrows.
14 Whoever is pregnant with evil
conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit they have made.
16 The trouble they cause recoils on them;
their violence comes down on their own heads.
17 I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;
I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
This psalm was written by David as he was being hunted by the King’s army. If they find him, they’ll kill him.
Question 1
What emotions are shown in this psalm? Try and imagine how David was feeling: how would you be feeling if you were hiding because the king wanted you dead?
Question 2
Think back to a time when you saw injustice and wickedness in the world and you wanted justice for the situation.
This can be quite a difficult psalm to read because it talks about God’s anger and judgement. David is calling out for justice. Have you ever seen something so evil and wicked that you’ve called out for justice? When we see sadness and suffering, we long for justice and fairness. Whether it’s seeing someone being mistreated, seeing the inequalities in the world. Or maybe you’ve seen the horrors of wickedness on the news or been affected personally by something evil.
God sees the wickedness and evil in the world and is angry. God is a God of justice and righteousness. One day, God will bring an end to all evil and sin. We will all be judged according to our sin and justice will prevail. This can seem a scary thing because we have all done wrong things. But if you’re a Christian, if you love Jesus and believe in him, then he has taken the punishment that we deserve.
When Jesus died on the cross, he died for those who love and believe in him. So, like David, we can give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness v17.
Question 3
David is in an awful situation, and he remembers God. He cries out to God. When you’re facing difficulties, who do you turn to?
Pray: Father, thank you for being with me. Thank you that I can cry to you and you will hear me.
