Psalm 17

As I read this chapter, I was reminded of a verse from one of my favorite hymns, Praise to the Lord:

Praise to the Lord/who does prosper your work/and defends you/
Surely, His goodness and mercy/will daily attend you/
Ponder anew/what the Almighty will do/
As with His love He befriends you

What made me think of that? This verse: “Let my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right.” (vs 2) If we are living for God, the first thing we can expect is to be attacked. The enemy will attack us himself (as in the case of Job), or he’ll send others to do his dirty work for him. Either way, we can expect trouble.

It seems like David had been accused of wrongdoing, but he maintained his innocence. Still, he didn’t feel as though he had to fight his own battles. Instead, he expected God to fight for him. He didn’t feel the need to vindicate himself; he knew God would do that in the right time and the right way.

I think there would be a lot fewer problems in the church if we would remember that principle—that we don’t need to stand up for ourselves; we have a heavenly Father who is more than willing and able to defend us. I guess the problem comes when we either think that God isn’t interested in defending us or think that He’s not doing it in the right way. That’s when we want to defend ourselves.

But God will defend us. As Paul wrote in Romans 8, He is for us. Although it may not happen in the way and time we expect, God will not leave His people crushed and defeated. He will vindicate us at the right time. So the next time you feel compelled to defend yourself, relax and remember David’s prayer: Let my vindication come from you.

Expect God to come to your defense. He will.