O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
lest like a lion they tear my soul apart,
rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
O LORD my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
if I have repaid my friend with evil
or plundered my enemy without cause,
let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
and let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
Arise, O LORD, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
over it return on high.
The LORD judges the peoples;
judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
and according to the integrity that is in me.
Comment: This psalm follows a tortuous path! It starts out like a child hiding behind his father’s legs when he is being attacked by a bully. No one would like to be, albeit metaphorically, torn to pieces by a lion! But then he seems to be humble and say to his Father, in this case God, if this attacker’s accusations are just then hand me over to him to do what he wants to me. Let him ruin me, even trample me to death if I’m truly guilty. Then the mood changes….
Get angry God, sit on Your Judgement throne and bring the case before You. And let every person gather around and watch and hear Your judgement. Nobody is sinless but there is a time to claim your honesty and integrity, and David pleads to God that, as he is judged, God will look at the facts of this case.
Prayer: I simply trust You, my God.
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for y our comments on this passage. I found them very helpful, with the picture of a child hiding behind his father’s legs for protection. God is our Protector and our Shield, and we can trust Him to be with us in all of our problems and trials. God bless you.
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