Psalm 140 – Trusting God for deliverance

Psalms 140 and the next three Psalms written by David had similar theme. They show how David responded to the trials that he encountered. In this Psalm, written to the choir director, David simply abandoned himself to the Lord and trusted Him to deliver him from his enemies. Here, we are not given the background to the exact situation he was facing. But the content tells us that he was maligned and traps were laid to get him and he felt threatened by his enemies.

The first five verses show us the anguish David was struggling with. He started by asking to be preserved from the evil scheme of the enemies. His enemies were not only evil but were also violent. They not only acted viciously but also slandered wickedly. Who but God can be trusted to preserve David? And he knew with absolute certainty. So he petitioned for preservation. 

David was confident he would be rescued because he came to His God, the one who would strengthen and protect him. He boldly asked God to frustrate and thwart his enemies and prevent them from prospering in their attempts. He pleaded with God to diminish their desire and passion so that they would have no basis to exalt themselves. David’s petition was for his enemies to experience retribution for their evil attempts, instead of success. He prayed for them to reap what they had sown and be utterly destroyed.

The last two verses describe for us David’s explicit trust in the Lord. He was certain that God would preserve him and all like him who were afflicted. He knew God’s deliverance would come and they would be ushered into HIs presence to praise His glorious name. Like David we all do face troublesome times in life. We do encounter people who have evil intention and who will plot our failure. We must emulate David and seek the right course of action i.e. to abandon ourselves to the Lord and trust Him to protect and preserve us. Without a doubt He will come and save us. And when He does, don’t forget to praise Him.