Rescue Me from Evil Men-For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
“Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men. Protect me from men of violence, who devise evil in their hearts and stir up war all day long. They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah (Pause and calmly think on that.)
Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked. Keep me safe from men of violence who scheme to make me stumble. The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah (Pause and calmly think on that.)
I say to the LORD, “You are my God.” Hear, O LORD, my cry for help. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You shield my head in the day of battle. Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not promote their evil plans, lest they be exalted. Selah (Pause and calmly think on that.)
May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused. May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into the miry pits, never to rise again. May no slanderer be established in the land. May calamity hunt down the man of violence.
I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy. Surely the righteous will praise Your name; the upright will dwell in Your presence.”
“Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men. Protect me from men of violence, who devise evil in their hearts and stir up war all day long. They sharpen their tongues like snakes; the venom of vipers is on their lips. Selah (Pause and calmly think on that.)” We don’t know exactly when David wrote this psalm’ however, it’s obvious that David is under attack, not only physically but mentally. David’s enemies are spreading all kinds of vicious rumors, the kind of thing that is impossible to contradict. Just as David thinks he’s laid one rumor to rest, three others pop up. The attack is relentless.
“Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked. Keep me safe from men of violence who scheme to make me stumble. The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah (Pause and calmly think on that.)” Whatever is happening, David finds himself threading a way through all kinds of traps and lures. Perhaps his enemies have sent a gorgeous young lady to seduce him-hey, it worked with Samson! Perhaps his enemies are offering bribes. Worst of all, perhaps David’s enemies have induced one of his long-time friends to try to sway him, so that he will take a disastrous decision and betray himself.
“I say to the LORD, “You are my God.” Hear, O LORD, my cry for help. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You shield my head in the day of battle. Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; do not promote their evil plans, lest they be exalted. Selah (Pause and calmly think on that.)” David wants to believe that God is truly righteous and holy and that God will protect him; however, the attacks are escalating. David begs God to come through for him and protect him. Surely a righteous God will not allow the schemes of the wicked to succeed….will He?
“May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused. May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into the miry pits, never to rise again. May no slanderer be established in the land. May calamity hunt down the man of violence.” Notice that David is begging God to allow the wicked to reap the results of their wickedness. One of the immutable laws of the Kingdom of God is that “the measure you give out is the measure you will receive.” What goes around, comes around. The horrible fates David is forecasting for his enemies are simply the same things that they have already tried to do to David.
“I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy. Surely the righteous will praise Your name; the upright will dwell in Your presence.” David is ending the psalm by this affirmation of faith, but there’s also an underlying note of “God, please don’t fail me!”
APPLICATION: Ever notice that troubles seem to come in bunches? Many times, you might feel that you are caught in some kind of cosmic “Whack a mole” game where you just knock off one problem, only for three more to pop up. (Whack a Mole exists in several forms, including video games. The idea is to bop as many moles as possible over the head as they pop up.) When we first arrived in our current station decades ago, I took over from an individual who had been systematically looting the clinic and using its small revenues to float soft loans for all his relatives and himself. I had to do an exorcism on the pharmacy because he had been meeting his mistress there. Junior nurses were carrying wild stories about me to the Regional Director of Health Services because someone failed to introduce me to him properly.
I had barely succeeded in bringing some sanity to the clinic finances when a tribal war broke out in 1994 and we became the only facility at which 100,000 members of one tribe could safely receive medical treatment. And we were doing all this without electricity or running water. My husband and I were the only ones who could run out to buy drugs and consumables because all our other workers ran the risk of being shot and killed. Truly, it was God who cared for us during all these problems.
Perhaps today is your day for “cosmic whack a mole.” You feel so stressed that it’s impossible for you to pray. Let this psalm, or part of it, become your prayer. You can beg God to rescue you from the wicked and to uphold justice and defend the cause of the needy. God knows your heart and God already knows your problems. Turn to Him, and remember that God does not play favorites. God delivered David and God will also deliver you.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us feel overwhelmed by our problems. Our troubles appear to be multiplying by the minute. But You are the God who can still storms and You are the One who delivered David out of all his problems. Lord, deliver us and help us to trust You and to praise You. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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