Psalm 54
Prayer for Vindication
To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “David is in hiding among us.”
1 Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For the insolent have risen against me,
the ruthless seek my life;
they do not set God before them.Selah
4 But surely, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of[a] my life.
5 He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In your faithfulness, put an end to them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
Reflection:
There are times when I read the psalms and wonder how many enemies could the psalmist possibly have? But then again, this psalm is credited to David who many. He was chosen to be king, but Saul already wore the crown. In this psalm David, who had been on the run from Saul, had been betrayed by the Ziphites who revealed to Saul where David was hiding. He had enemies everywhere. Sadly, even after David became king, he found enemies within his own inner circle, his friends, and even his family. And of course there times when David was his own worst enemy.
David’s prayers for justice against his enemies seem harsh, but they were the prayers of a hunted man. Still, even in the most fear filled time of his life, he was relying on God’s justice to prevail and God’s will to be done. He found in his heart a way to hold onto the goodness of God and still offer thanks and praise.
While we may not feel the same urgency as David did, (I hope none of you are hiding in in the wilderness on the run from someone) we still may have enemies, people against whom we hold grudges. People we fear, we loathe, we may even hate. Today, may we pray for our enemies and ourselves. May we pray for peace between us, changes of heart, God’s true justice to prevail and God’s kingdom to be present where peace is made. May we live into the hope of God’s presence and guidance into our lives. May we pray that those who work against God’s kingdom know God’s justice, have changes of heart, learn a new way of living in the world. May we pray for our government officials that they might be more influenced by God’s will than by their own, by deceit, by power, by fear of losing what they have. May we cling to God, as David did, as the upholder of our lives. Amen.