Verse 11:
"May the foot of the proud not come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away."
David centers in his prayer upon 2 things: (1) "the foot of the proud" and (2) "the hand of the wicked."
Verse 11 reminds me of the prayer of Jabez:
"And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, 'Oh, that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep from evil, that it may not grieve me!' And God granted him that which he requested"
(1 Chronicles 4:10 KJV).
Ephesians 6:16:
"in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one"
(NASB)
Verse
12:
"See how the evildoers lie fallen - thrown down, not able to rise!"
God's judgments may be denied but not avoided!
Randy Rowland says: "One very literary singer/songwriter portrayed rebellion as a marionette who, hoping to be free, cuts its own strings. We all know that such action doesn't result in freedom - rather it leaves just a pile on the floor." (
The Sins We Love, 15)
Tony Evans says: "When sin is finished, it produces death. Carrying through the Bible's analogy of birth, we might say that we now have a grandchild on our hands. The grand mother is called lust, which gives birth to a baby called sin. Then this baby called sin brings forth a child of its own called spiritual death. This is the genealogy of evil. Sin has the power of reproduction - and Satan is the father of this whole mess." (
The Perfect Christian, 27
).
In 2 Kings 19:19 Hezekiah prays:
"Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God"
(NIV).
The response to that prayer is in 2 Kings 19:35, 36:
"That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning - there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there"
(NIV).
The certainty of future judgment is seen in Revelation 20:15:
"And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire"
(NASB).
John MacArthur says: "Having True Sorrow for Sin...Spiritual humility will be marked by a true sorrow over sin. Modern culture does everything possible to avoid pain, to put off thinking about unpleasant subjects, to maximize comfort, and to feel good about circumstances. That philosophy is the reflection of a proud and a self-centered attitude, not the humble and God-centered attitude..." (
Strength for Today, March 7
).
Lancelot Andrewes in his private devotion says: "Excuseless, defenceless, self-condemned am I. My destruction, cometh of myself: O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto me confusion of face."
How often I must confess I have prayed for protection for myself and for my family and friends. I have been challenged to turn over the protection project to our blessed Savior and to be faithful in fulfilling the mandate of His purpose for me.
