Psalm 7

1 I come to you for protection, O Lord my God. Save me from my persecutors—rescue me!
2 If you don’t, they will maul me like a lion, tearing me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done wrong or am guilty of injustice,
4 if I have betrayed a friend or plundered my enemy without cause,
5 then let my enemies capture me. Let them trample me into the ground and drag my honor in the dust.
6 Arise, O Lord, in anger! Stand up against the fury of my enemies! Wake up, my God, and bring justice!
7 Gather the nations before you. Rule over them from on high.
8 The Lord judges the nations. Declare me righteous, O Lord, for I am innocent, O Most High!
9 End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God.
10 God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right. 11 God is an honest judge. He is angry with the wicked every day.
12 If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.

13 He will prepare his deadly weapons and shoot his flaming arrows.
14 The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.
15 They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves.
16 The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads.
17 I will thank the Lord because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

Trouble isn't always our own doing...it's possible to be 100% in the right and still be plagued by those who seek to harm us.

Then what do we do? I'm used to being able to identify behavior on my part that brought trouble my way. It's not difficult to recognize that I need to go back and correct some actions or attitudes before I can count on any relief.

So...I get busy.

But David was completely innocent. He said "Lord, if I have done wrong or am guilty of injustice...then let my enemies capture me. Let them trample me into the ground and drag my honor in the dust." Its very rare that I have that level of confidence before God.

And his solution? "Lord, I come to you for protection." Why? Because "God is an honest judge".

So David went to God...an honest judge...for help. What did he expect? David expected God to be a shield...providing a sure defense from whatever weapons were arrayed against him. Then, He expected God to destroy those enemies.

But enemies are not always other human beings. It could be the economy. Your house is now worth less than the mortgage and you need to sell it...facing economic ruin. Your 401K has lost 75% of its value...just as you reach retirment age.

I could go on and on...

Will God (our shield) protect you from that? I think yes...

I'm bothered by the fact we often short-circuit God's solution by trying to fix things ourselves...generally compounding the problem.

I once noticed a sign at my mechanic's garage. It read:

Shop rates - $50/hr

If you watch - $75/hr

If you offer advice - $100/hr

If you tried to fix it first - $125/hr.

You may be facing trouble today that truly is not of your making. If that's the case, then there is nothing you can "undo" to find relief. My advice is...go straight to God for protection and count on Him to put things right. Don't try to help.

Live boldly out there today...