As we come to this new psalm of David, we see how David goes from great victory to the fact that Saul wanted and had set plans in place to capture and kill him. Even though David was the Lord’s anointed to be the next king, it did not stop Saul from trying to kill him. After David had killed Goliath, Saul requested that David live in the palace, and he gave his daughter Michal to be his wife. The bible records that David, in this new situation, had acted wisely; he did nothing to upset Saul. So it was hard for him to understand why he was being persecuted by Saul; the interesting thing is that he did not rely on his natural talent to survive, but turned to the Lord for help, like he did when, as a young shepherd, he was attacked by a Lion and a Bear. This is one of the greatest challenges that we face in life, and it is not a one-time experience, but it is something that we face from time to time.

This cannot be over emphasised; the only long-term solution that we have is our relationship with our Lord.  However, despite knowing this, there have been times when I have tried to work things out by my own wisdom, only to find out that when I did this, it took me away from being close to the Lord. The title of this Psalm is “The assured judgement of the wicked”. This is something that we must be very clear about. There is only one way to live, and that is being fully committed to loving Jesus. While this seems to be an obvious statement, the reality is that we are continually tempted to live by our own strength. When you look at the life of David, he was a very successful man and achieved so much, and despite his many outstanding victories, as you read his Psalms, you see a man who relied on the Lord. While at times he did not understand what was happening, he always turned to the Lord. 

Verse1 says:

 In this verse, David asks two things from his God: to deliver and to defend him. Look at the significance of this: Deliver is dealing with the current situation, and defend is God’s ongoing protection of him. God is not only the God of now, but he never leaves us; he is with us all the time.

This is why it is important not to allow ourselves to be sidetracked and lose our passion for the Lord. 

Verse2 is very similar, for it says: 

As I consider this, I realise that we grow so much through the hard times, and while they are not pleasant, I am so glad that the Lord has brought me through those hard times.  Because they produce such a strong foundation in our Christian walk. It is so comforting to know that in the hard times, God is with us, and he will bring us through every situation.