Psalm 140

This Davidic psalm—part of collection of eight psalms of David near the end of the Psalter—is an Individual Lament. As is common in the psalms of David, we don’t know what occasion gave rise to the psalm or when the events he describes occurred. As a Middle-Eastern king in the ancient world, his life would have been filled with intrigue both from within his people and from the surrounding nations and tribes. This psalm focuses on conspirators who, out of sheer malice, seek his harm. He prays for them to be frustrated in their plans and for God to visit upon them the evil they have planned for him. As is usual with lament psalms, this one ends with an outburst of confidence in the saving power of God:

“I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy. Surely the righteous shall give thanks to you name; the upright shall dwell in your presence” (Psalm 140.13).

In my life I can’t think of anyone who “conspires” against me. I know there are evil people in the world. Like everyone, I experience strained relationships at times. Though I try to “live peaceably with all” (Romans 12.18) but periodically people get really angry at me. I can remember times in my life when I have felt so angry at someone that I wanted to hurt them in some way, though it has been a long time since I’ve experienced that. But all of these things make it difficult for me to relate to this psalm. How can a psalm that doesn’t relate to my life-situation speak to me and for me in worship?

I think there are two things to remember when we read a psalm like this one and feel that it is disconnected from our own experience:

First, we must recognize that not every psalm speaks for us but it does speak for God’s people somewhere in the world. We may only experience the kind of opposition of which this psalm speaks once or twice in our lives, but when we do, we can know “that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (1 Peter 5.9). A psalm does not have to speak for us to be useful in worship by God’s people.

Second, we must always remember that, under the new covenant, we know that our true struggle is not human and earthly but is spiritual and cosmic:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6.12).

Using tangible and earthly examples, the Old Testament portrays the nature of the life of faith in a fallen world. The New Testament tells us of the spiritual realities that activate the aspects of human fallenness we find in the Old Testament. For example, in the Old Testament God’s people were tempted to worship idols. In the New Testament we find that there is no reality to idols (though the Old Testament asserts this as well, see for example Psalm 115.5), but there are demons who use idolatrous worship to ensnare those who worship them (1 Corinthians 8.4–6; 10.19–20). We should never think false worship is unimportant simply because we know there is no reality to the god being worshiped. Nor should we allow our children to play the Ouija board or participate in séances—these are not just “childish games.” These things are used by the enemy of souls to capture the foolish and unwary.

This is why we are told that we should always be spiritually alert:

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5.8).

This is something we should always keep in mind when reading the Old Testament. Since we have an enemy of souls who is constantly seeking to subvert our faith and faithfulness, and since he uses false worship to entice people, and since he even “disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11.14), we know there is a true conspirator who seeks to harm us. This is not ‘spiritualizing’ the Old Testament; it is simply recognizing that there is a larger spiritual conflict involved in the Christian life than even David himself was aware of.