What can we do about people who are as wicked as they are powerful? David faced the same problem 3000 years ago. In fact, his own father-in-law, King Saul, spent years trying to kill him, not because David had done anything wrong, but simply because of Saul’s jealousy at David’s success.

No, David was no stranger to the kind of stories that fill our headlines: making evil plans and then using violence to get our way, stirring up wars, laying deceptive traps for one another, telling lies and slandering the innocent.

So, what can we do about all of this? In the first place, we should note what David didn’t do – he didn’t try to take matters into his own hands. In fact, even when he found King Saul alone, and in a very vulnerable position, he refused to kill him or even just to capture him (see I Samuel 24). Instead, David did so often what we see him doing in this passage. He poured out his complaint to God, and asked God to do justice. David asked God to let the wicked experience the same sort of problems they had planned for him (vv. 9-11). At the same time, he asked God to deliver him, to preserve him and to guard him (vv. 1, 4).

But how could David be so certain that God would hear and answer his prayers? Why was he so confident that God would help the afflicted and give justice to the needy (v. 12)? At least in part because God had protected him so many times in the past, even in the heat of battle (v. 7). In the same way, as we look back over our lives, when we remember the ways God has helped us and protected us, our confidence in Him should grow, no matter what is going on in our lives today.

But the biggest reason for David’s certain confidence in God did not spring from his history with God, but from his relationship with God. In verse 6, he simply says, “I say to the LORD, You are my God.” And we can have the same sort of certainty. All those who love and trust Jesus belong to Him, and He belongs to us. And He has promised that He would never turn us away when we come to Him, but that He would meet all our needs (John 6:35, 37).

So instead of despairing over the violence and wickedness we see all around us, let’s remember God’s blessings to us in the past. And let’s rely on the overwhelming power and justice of the One Who laid down His life for us that we might be saved.

Psalm 140 (NASB)

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men; Preserve me from violent men,
2 Who devise evil things in their hearts; They continually stir up wars.
3 They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; Poison of a viper is under their lips. Selah.
4 Keep me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; Preserve me from violent men, Who have purposed to trip up my feet.
5 The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords; They have spread a net by the wayside; They have set snares for me. Selah.
6 I said to the LORD, “Thou art my God; Give ear, O LORD, to the voice of my supplications.
7 “O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
8 “Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; Do not promote his evil device, lest they be exalted. Selah.
9 “As for the head of those who surround me, May the mischief of their lips cover them.
10 “May burning coals fall upon them; May they be cast into the fire, Into deep pits from which they cannot rise.
11 “May a slanderer not be established in the earth; May evil hunt the violent man speedily.”
12 I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor.
13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to Thy name; The upright will dwell in Thy presence.