Timeless Biblical Truth.
In times of rampant betrayal and hostility, believers trust the LORD to deliver them.
- General: When facing hostility, believers express their feelings to God (1- 8).
- Believers earnestly petition God for help (1-2).
- Believers specify to God how they are suffering (3-5).
- Believers reveal to God their desire for relief (6-8).
- Specific: When believers are overwhelmed by evil and betrayal, they pray for God to remove the wicked (9-15).
- Believers ask God to destroy the wicked (9a).
- Believers give God reasons for Him to become involved (9b-14). 1. Reason #1: Believers see evil dominating the world (9b-11). 2. Reason #2: Believers are betrayed even by friends (12-14).
- Believers petition God for His swift judgment (15).
- Confidence: Because God has redeemed His people from their problems in the past, believers confidently pray and encourage others to do the same (16-23).
- Believers confess their faith in God to deliver them (16).
- Believers continue to pray because God is faithful (17-21). 1. Believers recall how God has delivered them (17-19). 2. Believers describe to God the deceitfulness of his enemies (20-21).
- Believers encourage other believers to pray with confidence (22-23).
Questions for Second Milers
- Note the divisions in David’s thoughts in this Psalm. What is the significance of this order?
- What is David’s first reaction to the horror of his situation?
- What is the change in his emotions as his situation become well founded?
- What does he want from God for the enemy? For himself? On what basis? How can he be so sure of the outcome?
- Reread the psalm imagining that your friend has turned against you in an extremely crucial situation. In what ways are your emo- tions similar to David’s? What is similar and/or different in your prayers to God about the matter? Do you finish with the same confidence as David has? Why?
- Give your own title to this psalm.
Lanny Tanton is the Pastor at The Bible Church of the Lakes in Horseshoe Bay, Texas – just outside of Marble Falls. Pastor Tanton welcomes you to our website and hopes that you’ll enjoy reading these insightful blog posts. Please contact us if you have further questions!!



