Safekeeping from Wickedness

Man, I sure am glad I'm not David. I glazed over Psalm 140 this morning, and expected to do the same with 141. Poor guy. Throughout the Psalms, he is generally hiding in a cave, running from armies with his "Wanted" poster in their fists. He prays for strength to fight, courage to stand and safety in hiding. These were real enemies he was up against.

Yup...glad I'm not him. I don't have any armies chasing me down. No angry kings out for revenge. No plunder, no wreakage. Lucky me.

except............

Then I read verse 3.

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Satan knows I don't have to fight armies. But I do have to fight against my natural instinct. We all do!

In our homes with our kids.
In our place of work.
In our place of worship.
In the restaurant with friends.
At our kids' school.
At our husband's office.

Though David's circumstances may be foreign to us, his words certainly are not. He prays for God to protect him from himself. No matter what.

Maybe we have a right to be angry. Maybe our frustration is justified. But like I tell my daughter, "Everything you do reflects your Savior...good or bad."

It can be all too easy to get caught up in our anger or frustraton. That becomes our focus and everything else tunes into that. Everything reflects those feelings. But look at verse 8:

For my eyes are toward You, O GOD, the Lord;
In You I take refuge; do not leave me defenseless.

Our eyes have to be not on our situation, but on our Savior. I love how the notes in my Bible work this verse.

"In light of the wicked's strength, it is easy for us to fix our eyes on, or worry about, the wicked. It is also natural to focus on ourselves; we either become self-absorbed in our difficulties or exalt ourselves in our victories. But David fixes his eyes only on the Lord."

The "wicked" here needs to be our own natural tendencies. Our human nature. The "old man" that Christ's death and resurrection have done away with. We need to look at that as the enemy that we battle each and every day.

And in that battle, when we take our eyes off the Commander-in-Chief, we will surely fall.

Father, we want our prayer to be set before You as incense. (vs.2) Let our words be from You and our hands be lifted up as the evening sacrifice. To live for You means we give it all to You and let you guide our paths. Help us to trust that You are capable. You remember we are dust and you know our weaknesses. But You love us anyway and want us to succeed in You.