Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
140 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. [a]Selah.4 Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
Preserve me from violent men
Who have [b]purposed to [c]trip up my feet.
5 The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the [d]wayside;
They have set snares for me. Selah.6 I said to the Lord, “You are my God;
Give ear, O Lord, to the voice of my supplications.
7 “O [e]God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You have covered my head in the day of [f]battle.
8 “Do not grant, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;
Do not promote his evil device, that they not 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 [g]deep pits from which they cannot rise.
11 “May a [h]slanderer not be established in the earth;
May evil hunt the violent man [i]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 Your name;
The upright will dwell in Your presence.
There are two kinds of prayers we can pray, one is pretty easy and natural, which is to ask God to do what we would like. The other is difficult, and requires some time and thought, and listening. This is the prayer for His will to be done, and given that God allowed this prayer psalm to be included in His word, I suspect it is one of the latter.
The psalmist could have prayed for fabulous wealth, and for help vanquishing his enemies. He could have requested to never again have trouble, or to live to be a hundred years old. Yet he didn’t, in part because some of those things are pretty selfish. Rather, he asks for God’s deliverance, and God’s protection.
As mentioned in v. 12, he knew that God would not ignore the afflicted, the poor, or the needy, and that God wants good things for us. All the things he prays are for God to do His will, not the psalmist’s. Does that means we can pray for our enemies to be cast into the fire? Well, for starters that depends on who you are praying about.
Perhaps the people you see as enemies need your prayers most of all, and besides, Jesus told us to love and pray for them. Why would he ask us to do something so… unnatural? Because prayer is meant to be an act where we align our hearts with God’s heart, where we find what He wants to do in our lives–and the lives of others. It isn’t about us winning the lottery or living a comfy cozy life.
So as you pray today, and Paul reminds us we ought to pray often (without ceasing), listen too. One-way conversations are no good, and even worse when it comes to God, as we will miss the whole point. Let God do a “tune up” on your heart and mind, and set you on the right track (His track) as you continue on this journey of life.