Leave Our Enemies To God

Psalm 70

Our psalm this week is short, and for many, an obscure one written by King David.  In this psalm David cries out to God for help and deliverance from enemies.  As one reads the life of David in the Old Testament, we see that he spent a good deal of his life contending with enemies.

One thing that really sticks out to me, as I read over the life of David and the psalms he wrote, is that no matter what difficulties he was going through, David never lost the joy of the Lord.  Severe trials came his way, some through his own fault and some for no other reason than Satan’s attacks on him, but he kept a heart filled with praise for the Lord.

In verses 3 and 4 we read David’s prayer to God against his enemies.  This may be difficult for some people to consider, especially when we remember how Jesus instructed us to love and bless our enemies.  However, David, along with other writers of the psalms, often would pray to God for Him to bring down his enemies, go get his enemies, let them fall into their own trap, etc.  As mentioned earlier, David spent many, many years of his life being chased and oppressed by his enemies, both before he was king, and while on the throne.  It seemed to never end throughout his life.  Through it all, though, David never took matters into his own hands.  He could have, as he was the king and held all power, and before that he was still quite powerful, with many men under him.  David, though, left the reprisal and vengeance to God.  He knew that vengeance belongs to God (Deuteronomy 32:35; Psalm 94:1; and Romans 12:19).   That is something that we need to remember, as well.  Our enemies may come down hard and heavy on us, but we need to let God handle them.  If our case is righteous before the Lord, then we can trust Him, just as David did.

What did David do instead of taking vengeance into his own hands?  As we read in verse 4, he rejoiced and praised the Lord.  How is that possible?  Here we read that his enemies are after his life, wanting to really hurt him physically, and any other way, too (vs. 2).   In the middle of that, how can one praise the Lord?  David kept his focus on the Yahweh, and not so much on his troubles.  He knew that the Lord, and Him alone, was the only One who could rescue him and bring him deliverance, so David sought Him out.  He could rejoice and be glad when he had the Lord before him.  Most importantly, when David remembered his salvation, he broke out into praise, and magnified, or extolled and glorified the Lord God.

David knew that he did not have the power within himself to help himself in this crisis (vs. 5).  He acknowledged that he was poor and needy, and his only help is God.  That is the case with us, as well.  God is the only One who can come to our aid, and the only one who can fill our lives with joy.  Just like David, when things look bad, we must never forget to praise the Lord.  Praise is important because it helps us to remember who God is, and that He alone has victory over our enemies, especially Satan.  Praise puts the demons to flight!   In difficult times it also helps to remember all the times God has helped us and what He’s done for us in the past, and remember exactly who God is.

In verse 4 David speaks to us believers today.  “Let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Let God be magnified!’”, the verse says.   As believers, we should never keep silent about the good news of Jesus.  We are to share it, and all that He’s done for us.   Like David knew, we can experience the presence of the Lord in our lives through any trouble, and how praising Him will bring us the victory.