God is my shield
God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right. God is an honest judge. He is angry with the wicked every day. Psalm 7:10-11
Evil is an uncomfortable issue. Most of us live peaceful lives and rarely come up against anger and violence. We don’t deny that there is evil in the world but we hear about it on the news so, usually, are far removed from it in our day-to-day lives. But as we bring our worship to God we have to acknowledge that there is desperate evil in our world. Our psalm today makes clear that God is really angry about this, and so we cannot ignore it. There are people who die in violent conflict, and many of them are completely innocent. There are millions of people who have been displaced from their homes and as they wake up today they are in a place where they don’t want to be. There are also millions of Christians who are unable to worship God openly because of their government’s laws.
Evil was on David’s mind because of a particular person when he wrote this psalm. He was having terrible problems with Cush of the tribe of Benjamin. This is the only reference in the Bible to this particular Cush, and it is likely that he was a supporter of King Saul with whom David was locked in conflict for many years. Saul was also from the tribe of Benjamin. What is clear is that Cush was out to get David, who knew that if God didn’t take action then his enemy would maul him like a lion and tear him to pieces (v2). Whether or not you have had such an experience, there are two things that we need to remember about God. Firstly, he hates evil and, secondly, he wants to be
our rescuer.
God is a God of justice, so whenever we confront injustice or hear about it on the news we need to remind ourselves that God stands with us. He doesn’t ignore the evil, but longs that truth and justice should be found. That’s why it’s so important that Christians get involved in fighting for justice – because it is exactly what God wants.
David was clearly in a very dangerous place. The evil that he was facing was life threatening, but he knew that God was his shield. If we didn’t know God, then there would be every reason to be truly terrified of the evil in our world. But having God with us we have nothing to fear.
QUESTION
In what ways have you faced evil, and how does your Christian faith help you to face it?
PRAYER
Loving God, thank you that you are always with us. Give us your strength and inspiration as we stand up to injustice. Amen