God's Protection

Pour out your unfailing love on those who love you; give justice to those with honest hearts. Don't let the proud trample me; don't let the wicked push me around. Look! They have fallen! They have been thrown down, never to rise again. Psalm 36: 10-12 NLT

Have you ever been in a really big crowd where you are being pushed around by all the bodies shoved up against you? If you have, you will know that it is a scary, panicky feeling. You know that you are helpless in the sway, push and pull of others. If you fall, you will most likely be trampled. And all you want to do is get out.

That is the visual that comes to me when I read these verses. The psalmist is in a crowd composed of the proud and the wicked. They are surrounded. They are being pushed and pulled, always with the threat of being pulled down and trampled upon.

Their plea to God is to remember those who love God. Provide justice to those who are honest. The psalmist is the one who loves God. The psalmist is the one who has an honest heart. It is up to God to save them from the crowd.

Then the psalmist sees that the wicked and the proud have stumbled and fallen. They are the ones who are being trampled and conquered. Their own actions have been turned against them.

God, sometimes we feel overwhelmed by the ones around us, the proud, the wicked, the unfaithful. We ask for your protection. Remember us, Lord! Help us to continue to love you and keep ourselves honest. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Copyright 2011 Amelia G. Sims