Deliver Me, O LORD, from Evil Men
TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID.
Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men;
preserve me from violent men,
who plan evil things in their heart
and stir up wars continually.
They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,
and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
The “righteous” vs the “wicked” is a long established individual and team sport though out society. Like a long rivalry, both tend to hate the other. One claims to be the other. The wicked always claims to be the righteous. Often, the truth is it is the wicked vs the wicked. Neither show much righteous behavior. Yet, that is the way they describe themselves. Each claims righteousness and implicates the other as wicked.
In the above passage we have a song of David where he lays out the case of the wicked, as they plot against him. He doesn’t start with their behaviors toward him, but he will get there. He starts out with their mindset about him. He claims they are planning evil in their hearts about him. We don’t know the specific situation David is referring to, but in his life he had many where this were true. It could have been king Saul who he is referring to in the above. Saul was constantly plotting evil due to his jealousy of David. David could be referring to the family of Goliath. It was not like they were his greatest fans. He could also be referring to his own son, Absalom, who plotted against David to take his kingdom away. Whoever it was, David notes that the plotting in the heart eventually came out in the tongue, as they spoke evil of him. The heart always determines the content of the tongue. Earlier, in talking about unmovable men, the song writer wrote:
Psalms 15 (ESV)
Who Shall Dwell on Your Holy Hill?
A PSALM OF DAVID.
O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent?
Who shall dwell on your holy hill?
He who walks blamelessly and does what is right
and speaks truth in his heart;
who does not slander with his tongue
and does no evil to his neighbor,
nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
but who honors those who fear the LORD;
who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
who does not put out his money at interest
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
These men in Psalm 140 were not men of Psalm 15. These were men who plotted evil, spoke evil and eventually carried out their evil plots. This is who David is bringing before God. He has for “deliverance” from these type of people. This is the power of this song. It is not David’s power that will rescue him from these evil men. It is God’s power. David immediately appeals to God for protection. It is God who knows the hearts and protect us from the evil plots of men who would prefer to destroy us.
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