Verse 140:1 has David asking God for protection:
Save me, O Eternal One, from the
evil men who seek my life.
Shield me from this band of violent
men.
We all tend to think everyone is against us. And somehow
believe that if things are not going our way then some outside force must be
stopping it. Today I sit in a new home without work and wondering if we made
the right move. The job I thought I was a “shoe-in” for never transpired and I
find this market is not as deep as I was hoping. Is there some great force working
against me or did I just mess up? Neither actually! God has me where he wants
me to be doing what I need to be doing which isn’t what I expected.
Now David DID have people trying to destroy him, from his
trusted king, Saul, to the many enemies to the nation of Israel. In HIS
instance he had a “band of violent men” pursuing him. We on the other hand may
have instances of evil “violent men” pursuing us, but in most cases it’s a
short period of maybe an instance of greed and envy. Sure we need protection from
the thief, robber, assaulter or other criminal but to compare this to David’s
live is not the same.
Verse 141:3 is something we all need to consider:
Guard my mouth, O Eternal One;
control what I say.
Keep a careful watch on every word I speak.
I love statements like this because it reminds me of one of
my major problems, speaking too quickly without thinking. How many times have
we said “I wish I hadn’t said that” to ourselves? We really need to dig down to
the root of the problem and control our thoughts. We need to watch what we say
and think since that tends to steer our lives. It’s like the rider who watches
the crash in front of him and ends up riding right into it. Stop loose thoughts
and talk for a reason.
Verse 142:1 start with David begging for favor:
I call out loudly to the Eternal
One;
I lift my voice to the Eternal begging for His favor.
This again is easy to try to apply for our lives but
when you consider David wrote this hiding in a cave that may have been the one
Saul poo’ed in while David hid. He was in a difficult time and could really use
help. Did God answer David and swoop down? No he suffered in a cave and was pursued
for some time. He learned to lean on God through the good AND the bad while not
blaming Him for the bad. That is the key here!!