In many languages, words can have different meanings depending upon the time in which we live. For example, if we say that someone is well-preserved, we are saying that over the years that person shows a minimal amount of aging despite the years that they have been on this earth. If we say that food is well-preserved, we’re saying that it is unspoiled and safe to eat. But in the Old Testament, the Lord often uses the word preserve to say that He is defending someone and protecting that person from harm.

That is how the psalmist David used that word in Psalm 140, where he was in a very difficult and dangerous situation, with many people who were stirring up hatred all around him. The Lord was preserving him and keeping him from being destroyed by his enemies.

David turned to the Lord in his distress and asked to be delivered from the fierce, unrelenting attacks against him by ungodly men who sought to destroy him just because he belonged to God. Even though his defeat seemed to be imminent, he looked to God. David knew that He would give him victory over his enemies. Those who are ungodly seem to continually stir up confrontations and disagreements, designed to do the most harm to the children of God.

Our enemies are like an army, who are totally committed to achieve their objectives. They sharpen their tongues and twist the truth, and with stinging effectiveness they lash out with words that are like the fangs of a serpent. They attack with the venom of a viper under their lips, causing us pain and sorrow by their slander.

Let us reflect on those words for a moment. Are we guilty of that kind of behavior and of that kind of hatred that inflicts pain and suffering on others?

Sometimes the attacks against us are subtle. Sometimes they are obvious and come in like a flood. At other times, only the Lord can see the evil that is in the hearts and in the minds of those who seek to destroy us.

Those who exalted themselves had secretly hidden a trap for David, so that without warning, he might fall into it and be held captive by their lies. They spread a net for him near his friends. They set traps with bait that were designed to entice him. They were ready to distort his words and question his motives, to condemn his actions, to flatter him, to deceive him and to deceive others concerning him.

We need to be on guard for the same attacks, and to turn to the Lord for help, and to turn to the Lord for wisdom. David acknowledged that the Lord was his God and his master. His hope was in God alone. He knew the Lord was the strength of his salvation and his deliverance. His victory would come through God alone.

David remembered that the Lord had covered him with a shield of protection in the past. He asked for God to stop his enemies in their tracks so that they might not be exalted in triumph in their sin, and become even more confident and arrogant in their ungodly ways.

Consider the God whom we serve. He will not allow the ungodly to go any further than He decides they should go. And what He allows in our lives is in the end, for our good, for our growth, for our correction, for our direction, and for His glory.

So, David prayed that the unjust words of their lips would overwhelm them, that they be cast into the fire that they have kindled, into the deep pits of their own making from which they cannot rise again. May the slanderer whose tongue torments the people of God on this earth not be established and give the impression that their words are reliable and true.

David was confident that the Lord would maintain the just cause of the afflicted, for He was their defender. He would vindicate them from their enemies’ lies and bring justice for the poor. God will slay the wicked and save the oppressed people who belong to Him. This is the confidence that we have in Christ.

Along with David, the righteous in Christ will give thanks to His holy name. The upright in heart will dwell in His presence forever, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.