Letting God Be My Defender

In review of Psalm 62:5-7 it reminds me that I should “I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God; he is my strong protector; he is my shelter” (GNT).

Today’s passage is Psalm 62:5-7. Within Psalm 62, I’m reminded that I should let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope should be in him. God alone is my rock and my salvation. He’s a fortress in which I won’t be shaken. All of my victory and honor will come from God alone. For he is my refuge, a solid rock where no enemy can reach me.

The benefit of knowing that God is in control, allows me to wait patiently for him to rescue me. But also, true relief does not come when the problem is resolved because more problems are still on the way! True relief will come from an enduring hope in God's ultimate salvation. Only then will all my trials be resolved. 

In this passage David expressed his feelings to God and then reaffirmed his faith. Prayer can release my tensions in times of emotional stress. Trusting God to be my rock, salvation, and fortress will change my entire outlook on life. So I must no longer be held captive by resentment toward others when they hurt me. When I am resting in God's strength, nothing can shake me.

There are always be people who will misunderstand me and even people who won’t like me. There will always be people who criticize, judge, attack, and spread rumors about me. 

When I’m misunderstood, my natural tendency will be to get in there and defend myself. When I feel attacked, my first reaction is often to attack back. When others criticize me, I will want to criticize back. When others insult me, I’ll want to insult them back.

I’m reminded this morning to not do this! Instead I need to let God be my defender. Every time I’m under attack, criticized, put down, or misunderstood, I have two choices: I can defend myself, or I can let God defend me. Which will it be? Who can do a better job of defending me?

I need to remember that I’m most like Christ when I say nothing in the face of attack, lies, and unfair criticism. I’m most like Jesus when I remain silent and leave it in God’s hands. “When [Jesus] was insulted, he did not answer back with an insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge” (1 Peter 2:23 GNT). Even Jesus did not fight back in the face of his unjust conviction and persecution. He trusted God to defend him when it mattered most and to have the ultimate justice.

Throughout the Bible, I see that King David was criticized and attacked his entire life. In fact, for most of his life, people wanted to kill him because they were jealous of him. In Psalm 62:5-7, David said this: “I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God; he is my strong protector; he is my shelter” (GNT).

I must keep in mind that a lot of people are going to be jealous of my success, and they’ll want to attack me for many different reasons. But like David, I need to let God be my protector, Savior, defender, victor, and my shelter. I just need to let God handle it and be my defense.

In summary, let all that I am wait quietly before God, my hope should be in him. All my victory and honor will come from God alone. The benefit of knowing that God is in control, allows me to wait patiently for him to rescue me. Prayer can release my tension in times of emotional stress. I must no longer be held captive by resentment toward others when they hurt me. When attacked, I know my first reaction is to often attack back. I need to let God be my defender. I'm also reminded that I'm most like Christ when I say nothing in the face of attack. Remain silent and leave it in God's hands. I need to let God be the protector he is and let him handle it.

Wow, this is quite a reminder. I have definitely had times recently when I felt I needed to immediately defend myself. I need to keep myself from my natural inclination and let God be my defender. I pray today that you will help remind me of this next time I feel the need to defend myself. I need to put all of my trust in you and let you handle it. I also ask Father for wisdom and guidance for today. I should not let the tension of the day drive me in the wrong direction but be of a help to resolve and keep things moving forward in a positive direction. I pray this through your Son Jesus name, amen.