6 I said to the LORD: "You are my God; Hear the voice
of my supplications, O LORD.

7 O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have
covered my head in the day of battle.

8 Do not grant, O LORD, the desires of the wicked; Do not
further his wicked scheme, Lest they be exalted. Selah

If there is one thing that we should learn from the life of
David that we can apply to our journey as believers, it is that before we can
wear the crown, we must experience the Cross. Jesus also exemplified this great
truth of the Bible. Suffering always precedes a greater experience of the
presence of God in our lives. The persecuted church leaders in China told us, “Don’t
pray that persecution will stop, but that we will have faith, patience and
strength to endure it. Persecution is good for the church; it keeps us
purified.”

Psalm 140 was born out of a time of intense suffering and persecution
in the life of David. For 15 long years after he was anointed to be the next
king of Israel by the prophet Samuel David experienced hell on earth as Saul became
jealous and sought to kill him. When David still tried to serve on Saul’s
court, he was surrounded by evil and violent men who hated him because of his
righteous life and pure motives.

In verses 1-5, we see what sinners will always do to those
who live righteous lives around them. They will hate them and attempt to remove
them. David was a light in the midst of great darkness and so are we today! Our
lives expose the evil intents of wicked hearts, and they can’t stand it. A sinner
will either repent or he will attempt deny even the existence of a holy God to
cover his evil deeds and to enjoy the temporary pleasure he receives from them.

The Bible says in Hebrews 11:7, “By faith Noah, being
divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark
for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world…”. A
righteous life condemns the wicked around us and they can’t stand it. Jesus
said that is why they hated Him and that we would be hated for the same reason.
My friend we are experiencing this in America today as the media, Hollywood,
and liberal politicians mock, deride and blame Christians for everything.

In verses 6-8, David first responds to this persecution by affirming
his faith in the LORD! We also must affirm our faith in the Lord and not be
ashamed to confess it openly. We must humbly ask Him for the help we need to
live and work among difficult people who hate us and want to see us fail.

Also, whenever David found himself in that kind of a
situation, he gave himself to prayer and asked God for the wisdom to know what
to do and the strength to do it. Here he asked God to put a helmet on his head
and protect him from deception and danger. This reminds us of Ephesians 6:17,
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God.”

He also prayed for his enemies, that their evil desires
would change, and their evil plans would not succeed. If they succeeded, they
would only become proud and go on to do greater evil. Our prayers for godless
people must focus on changing their character, and not just stopping their
persecution of believers. In the New Testament we are taught by Jesus to do
this: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do
good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and
persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Someone must have prayed this for Saul in
the book of Acts, and he became the great apostle who “turned the world
upside down” with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

May the LORD give us grace to respond in this way today!

God bless!