The psalm is a prayer to God to deliver him from the wicked.

In verses 1-3, the psalmist cries to God to deliver and protect him from wicked and violent men. They planned to harm him by stirring up trouble and spreading evil about him. Those who bring trouble or speak evil against us want to harm to us or make our lives difficult. We find them in school, in the workplace, and even on the internet.

In verses 4-5, he asks God to protect him from these wicked and violent men who are trying to make him fall. They laid a trap for him as this is the modus operandi of the wicked to cause us to fall rather than attack us directly. Like the psalmist, we are to ask God to protect and preserve us from such wicked people.

In verses 6-8, the psalmist declares his faith in God. He calls on God to hear his pleas for mercy as he declares He is the strength of his salvation. He is confident that God will protect him as He had in the past. He asks God to hinder the evil plot of the wicked or they can become prideful and be exalted if they succeed.

We can pray like the psalmist, ask God to humble the wicked because if they succeed and harm His people, others will look up to them, and they will become proud. It would also cause people to ask, |Why do good men suffer and the wicked prosper?”

In verses 9-11, the psalmist moved from asking God to asking Him to judge and punish them. He asked God to rain burning coals on them and to cast them into the miry pits so they would not be able to get out from them. In other words, he is asking God to destroy them. Do not let them succeed and wipe them out quickly and completely.

Is it wrong to pray such a prayer when Jesus taught us in the New Testament to forgive our enemies? I have said before, we can ask in our frustrations and anger against the evil people, but God is the One who will decide to do as you asked Him to do. However, we must also not take matters into our own hands if God chooses not to do as we ask. Remember, Jesus also prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

In verses 12-13, the psalmist ends by assuring himself confidently that God will protect the afflicted and uphold His justice for the righteous. He proclaims, “Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in your presence.”

However, can we say confidently that we are righteous? We can because our righteousness is not our own but God-given through Jesus. He has made us righteous through His blood. In His righteousness. we have the confidence that God will protect and deliver us when He hears our prayers. We thank God for hearing our cries for deliverance because Christ has made us righteous in Your sight. Thank You Lord for delivering us from our greatest enemy, sin!

Prayer:

Thank you, Lord, you are our Savior and Lord who delivers us in times of trouble. We are certain that You can and will hear our prayers because Christ has torn down the veil for us to come into Your Holy Presence to seek Your face and to pray to You directly. Deliver us from evil and lead us not into temptation, we pray.