"From The Lord"
Daniel Valles

READ Psalm 109

Undoubtedly, if you take a stand for Christ, there will be words said about you, and actions taken against you.  Every Elijah has his Jezebel, every Moses his Korah, every David his Saul, every Daniel his enemies.  If you do not have enemies, perhaps you are not acting like a soldier.  In this chapter, David pours out his heart to God about his enemies.  This is an account that many of us can all relate to.  When slanderous words and actions are hurled our way, what are we to do?

In verses 2-5, David describes his the wicked.  Remember, that the 'wicked' are not just the unsaved who live for the flesh and lust.  A Christian can also be the 'wicked' if they are not following Christ and His commandments.  Christian enemies can sometimes make deeper wounds than our unsaved enemies.  David does not describe the wicked who afflict him by their gross immorality, lasciviousness, or blasphemy; he describes them by actions.  He states that they have lied about David to other people and to himself as well.  One of the greatest hurts is when people lie to others about you.  Not only did they lie to David, but they sought to discredit and dishonor him.

Their attitude, words, and demeanor towards him was full of hate (vs.3); their actions against him were without legitimate reason.  They were not retaliating against David because David had harmed or lied about them; they slandered him "without a cause."  David even states in verse 4 that he showed nothing but love toward them.  Through all of the lies, slander, and attacks on his character, David's testimony stayed the same - Christ-like.  Did he lash out against them and try to sling mud all over their character?  No!  He reacted like every Christian should - he prayed.  In verse four, David confides that during these times, he gave himself "unto prayer."  Later, in verse 24, David details how he has been in long periods of fasting because of these attacks.  He takes his problems and griefs to the Lord.

When it seems that your enemies continue to slander and attack you in spite of your love and good, what are we to do?  Can we Biblically lash out and fight back?  Should we start our own smear campaign?  No.  Like David, we should take it to the Lord.  We will find the ultimate reason shortly.

When David took this grief to the Lord and laid it at His feet, he was not necessarily ignoring the problem or living as a doormat, he was taking his problems to the One who could best handle the situation.  Each of the requests that he makes about his enemies is a petition that only God could fulfill.  Verses 6-20 covers twenty-two requests that David asks the LORD to 'let.'  Anything that was going to happen to David's adversaries would be with the sole permission and allowance from God.  In verse twenty, David states that any reward would be "from the LORD." 

What about us?  When we are reviled, when men speak falsely about us, when men slander us for doing what is right, what should we do?  In a physical sense, we should 'do' nothing.  In a spiritual sense, we need to get on our needs like David (vs.24) and pour out our petitions to Him!  Our petitions do not need to be limited to praying that God just deliver us from the circumstances, or that we be able to bear it.  David gave the Lord twenty-two petitions.  Each one was a request for righteous judgment to answer the wicked.  Sometimes the wicked continue to prosper because none of the righteous pray a petition that they will be "cut off" (vs. 13,15), "judged" (vs. 7), "condemned" (vs. 7), or cursed (vs. 17).

Now did David rub it in their faces that he was daily praying against them? No.  They probably already knew he was a man of prayer.  In verse twenty-seven David makes a statement that is hard for a fleshly, carnal Christian to make.  When he finished his petitions to God, he stated that the end goal of these petitions was that "they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it."  David was not interested in getting the praise for dealing 'a swift hand of justice.'  David acknowledged that he was nothing special.  In verse twenty-two, David plainly spells out that he is poor and needy.  Many times we will come across situations that are larger than us.  David was attacked, slandered, and criticized so much that he lamented that his heart was wounded.  It hurts deeply when people lie and slander you.  In verse 24, David even states that it was affecting his health.  He was fasting and praying so much that his knees were weak.

For most of us today, we are not familiar with that type of prayer.  To plead with God with such a seriousness that we will skip meals, and that our body will ache from kneeling in prayer is not common in our luxurious America.  To pray for fifteen minutes seems lengthy, let alone skipping a meal.  Why do we not see more answer to prayer?  Why do the wicked continue and flourish?   Too many Christians try to take care of their conflicts in their own strength, relishing in the vengeance.  When we try to take care of these attacks ourselves, we end up harming our testimony, burning out, and making ourselves the center of attention.  We never realize that we burn away more time and energy in a fruitless effort when we could have just spent that time on our knees petitioning our Father.

Our LORD is willing to save and deliver.  Verse 30-31 says, "I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.  For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul."

He will receive our petitions, He is worthy of praise, and He should receive all the glory.