The Word Made Fresh
(Of David.)
1I call on you, LORD. You are my rock.
Don’t refuse to hear me out.
If you are silent, I will be like the dead in their graves.
2Hear my plea. I cry out to you for help!
I lift my hands toward your sacred sanctuary.
3Don’t drag me off with the wicked people who do evil things.
They speak peace to their neighbors but plan evil against them.
4Give them what they deserve because of their evil deeds.
Give them the punishment their evil deeds deserve.
5They give no credit to anything the LORD has done,
and that is why the LORD will chasten and restore them no more.
6Good for the LORD!
The LORD has heard my appeal!
7The LORD is my strength. The LORD is my shield.
My heart trusts in the LORD, and the LORD sends me help.
Then my heart is glad, and I sing a song of thanksgiving.
8The LORD is the real strength of my people,
the safe place for those who are given the LORD’s protection.
9Save your people, LORD. They are your heritage – reward them!
Be their shepherd and watch over them forever.
Commentary
Superscription: the 25th psalm of David.
1-5: The first half of this little psalm is a prayer to God for help against enemies who are seeking to do harm to the author. It is not a hollow request, for the psalmist genuinely believes his accusers are godless people who are out to get him without fault on his part.
6-9: The second half of the psalm is praise and thanksgiving for being delivered. The trial is over, and the outcome was favorable, and the psalmist credits God for upholding justice.
Takeaway
C. S. Lewis wrote a little book called “God in the Dock.” In British law, the “dock” is the witness stand in court. Whenever we are falsely accused, this little psalm can remind us that God is taking our side as a friendly witness, and the outcome is assured. If the outcome is not what we want, it may be because there is something God wants us to learn. God is always teaching and testing us!