Toni’s Title
My God Is My Champion
ESV Title
Deliver Me from My Enemies
Literary Type
This is an individual lament.
Laments
More than 1/3 of the Psalms fall into the category of complaints to God in situations of limitation or threat. These laments were a form of prayer and praise based on the conviction that God is concerned about people and answers the human cry in ways surpassing human expectation or understanding. Israel’s laments out of distress were a way of praising God even when he seemed absent. The faith of the psalmists is founded on the good news that God intervenes in desperate situations to help those who are distressed. The psalmists share a deep confidence that God is compassionate, concerned, hearing his people and involved with them; God is faithful and trustworthy. A lament is an outcry to God from a responsive heart. Laments came from individuals or from the community.
Examples: Psalms 3-5, 22, 27:7-14, 42, 51, 69, 90, 130, 137 and many others
NT Prayer Guide
2 Tim. 3:10-17
Superscription
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David, when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
59
Eripe me de inimicis
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O God; *
defend me from those who rise up against me.
2 O deliver me from the evildoers, *
and save me from the bloodthirsty.
3 For behold, they lie in wait for my soul; *
the mighty are gathered against me, without any offense or fault of mine, O Lord.
4 They run and prepare themselves without cause. *
Arise therefore to help me, and behold.
5 Rise up, O Lord God of hosts, O God of Israel, to visit all the nations, *
and be not merciful to those who offend with malicious wickedness.
6 They go to and fro in the evening; *
they howl like dogs, and run about through the city.
7 Behold, they boast with their mouths, and taunts are on their lips, *
for they say, “Who will hear us?”
8 But you, O Lord, shall hold them in derision, *
and you shall laugh all the nations to scorn.
9 My strength I will ascribe unto you, *
for you are the God of my refuge.
10 God shows me his plenteous goodness, *
and God shall let me look in triumph upon my enemies.
11 Slay them not, lest my people forget it, *
but scatter them abroad by your might, and put them down, O Lord our shield.
12 For the sin of their mouth, and for the words of their lips, they shall be taken in their pride, *
because their talk is cursing and lies.
13 Consume them in your wrath; consume them, that they may perish, *
and know that it is God who rules in Jacob, and unto the ends of the world.
14 In the evening they will return, *
howl like dogs, and run about through the city.
15 They will run here and there for meat *
and growl if they are not satisfied.
16 As for me, I will sing of your power, and will praise your mercy early in the morning, *
for you have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.
17 Unto you, O my strength, will I sing, *
for you, O God, are my refuge, and my merciful God.