Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!
Let them be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
Let them turn back because of their shame
who say, “Aha, Aha!”
May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay!
This is a Psalm that calls out to the Lord for help in a time of crisis. David, as we are aware, had several such periods in his life. For many years, when he was young, he was on the run from his father-in-law King Saul who sought to kill him. He also had to deal with the harassment of the Philistines who wanted to exterminate the Jews. Later in life he had to run from Absalom, his rebellious son who sought to overthrow him. At these times, some people opposed him and spread lies and slander about him much like we hear in political campaigns and on social and broadcast media. David remained zealous for the Lord. He bore the reproaches of others as God’s anointed servant should for any attacks on he who was God’s anointed were attacks on the Lord. He knew the Lord would deliver him.
Many times we are assailed by people who malign us and call us evil because they hate God. Such attacks threaten Christians for their proponents have powerful and widespread influence in the media, in academia and in the public schools.
At the same time, there are many men and women, including many celebrities who have set themselves up as spiritual gurus. These offer guidance and advice they claim to have obtained from the spirit world, the stars, angels or even from God. If we examine their pronouncements closely we would discover that they are interested in helping and exalting no one but themselves. So it is quite obvious that any advice is worthless or, worse, wicked because it comes from the devil. There is no other option. Such people will mislead many because they are trusting in a lie. When people are faced by a real crisis of come face to face with death, the trust they have placed in these false prophets will be empty and useless. But those who trust in the Lord have the faith to carry them through any crisis.