“An ever-present source of help”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Friday, July 7, 2023

Psalm 140 (Forward, p. 70) CEV p. 641

Even a brief glance at King David’s life will illustrate the sad fact that he was surrounded and harassed by enemies of some sort or description almost all of his life. Firstly, as a shepherd, there were the enemies such as the bear or the lion that sought to find their meal among his sheep. The ‘nice’ thing—if there be a nice thing—is that none of this was personal. That, however, could not be said of David’s later enemies. There was King Saul, who had a merciless and viscous vendetta, an all-out reign of terror, against David—constantly on the hunt to find him and kill him. And then, there were the enemies of the kingdom of Israel as well, but then, in some ways that was to be expected. A nation could hardly be expected not to have some rivals at very least, if not actual enemies. But then, what must have been so much worse for David was to have enemies within his own court and household. It was most surely like a ‘stab in the back’, an injury when and where he least expected it.

In today’s psalm David is most explicit and detailed in his descriptions of these enemies, even though he never really identifies any of them:

-they are cruel and violent, cruel and brutal;

-they think up evil plans and always cause trouble;

-their words bite deep like the poisonous fangs of a snake;

-they want to destroy him;

-they are proud and have hidden traps and nets to catch him as he

walks;

-they are wicked and they are liars.

And, while David is not specific in terms of who they are, he is quite graphic in terms of what he wishes would be their fate:

“Don’t let the wicked succeed in doing what they want, or else they

might never stop planning evil” (verse 8);

“They have me surrounded, but make them victims of their own

viscious lies” (verse 9);

“Dump flaming coals on them and throw them into pits where they

can’t climb out” (verse 10);

“Chase those cruel liars away! Let trouble hunt them down” (vs. 11).

And, in all this, he does not lift even a single finger, much less give an order or say a word to someone else about them. No, all of this is simply a prayer to God, a prayer to God that God would rescue and protect him. God is, as far as David is concerned, the friend of the homeless and the poor and those who need help and protection. David is fully and absolutely convinced that God has the power to save him and keep him safe and so he leaves this entire matter firmly in the hands of God. So, we, in the midst of the troubles and difficulties that we face, even though they ‘may’ not be at the hands of enemies per se, can always turn to God for help, even as David did. Amen.

Forward notes: “A slanderer shall not be established on the earth, and evil shall hunt down the lawless” (verse 11).

“According to an old saying, ‘Lies can run for 100 years, but truth will beat them in one day.’

“How often we have been slandered! The lies people spread are sometimes motivated by envy: we may be doing something good—perhaps something the envious cannot achieve. Or we may have something that others want—healthy relationships, steady work, and even laughter can become targets for the envious.

“Slander may hurt, but we can be certain no lie lasts forever. Sooner or later, truth will come to light. Those who lie about us may be able to deceive others but not themselves; they will never have peace.

“When we find ourselves in a situation where others slander and speak lies, let us cry out to God. In due time God, who is perfect, will answer justly.

Moving Forward: “Have you experienced hurting because of a slander or a lie? How did you regain peace?”

A concluding thought or two: I’m not sure whether I agree with today’s author, as lies, at least in the public sphere and in the social media specifically, have an incredible ‘shelf life.’ These lies seem to continue on

unabated even if disproved—and, what is worse, be still believed by the faithful of whatever cause or state of mind that lie ‘happens’ to ferment. And so, lies about public figures continue mercilessly and continue to be believed and do their damage. And, amidst the social media and public media it becomes difficult to know what are actually lies and what is truth. And, with the whole notion of conspiracies at work to hoodwink the public, it becomes very difficult indeed to tell the difference. Our author is correct in stating that God will, one day, reveal everything, but for some of us, we would prefer not to have wait quite that long.

And, not only that: lies, even if later proven to be false or incorrect, can inflict terrible damage and have widespread, unforeseen and horrible results. So, it is best to always guard our speech, what we say, and take the time and effort to make sure of the truth, and even then, to speak sparingly, and wisely, if there is any possibility of a negative impact.