Who is Our Defender?

Psalm 35:22-24 (New Living Translation)

 ²² O Lord, you know all about this.
      Do not stay silent.
      Do not abandon me now, O Lord.
 ²³ Wake up! Rise to my defense!
      Take up my case, my God and my Lord.
 ²⁴ Declare me not guilty, O Lord my God, for you give justice.
      Don’t let my enemies laugh about me in my troubles.

It happens to all of us eventually. Someone misinterprets a situation and turns it against you. You are slandered and punished for something that wasn’t your fault. It happened to me last week. I was shocked and stunned to experience repercussions from an innocent misunderstanding. Someone felt they could only save face by passing the buck and pointing the finger at me, ending our collaboration.

I was crushed. Not because I lost out on a beneficial opportunity, but because my reputation had been tarnished for no reason. As the Psalm says, “Don’t let my enemies laugh about me in my troubles.” I got over it pretty quickly by God’s grace.

So how do we find a defense for the wrong done to us? We don’t always have any recourse. In my case, I did write a letter to the powers that be to explain the truth of the matter. But who knows if it will take the blame off me. My only real defender is the Lord. He has seen the situation from the beginning. He knew it would happen, and He is the only One who can raise the sword of defense. I have made my claim and can do no more. The rest is up to God.

We cry out for God to declare us not guilty, but He may not always rush to set things right. He may want to see how we react, behave, pray and grow from the incident before He takes up our case. When we submit to his will for our lives, He will make things right—his way and in his time.

My ultimate goal is to do what Jesus would do. He knows what false accusations feel like. He knows what it is like to have to wait for the Father to rescue. Ultimately, He wants to see our character changed to be more like him. This is not our home, and someday all our accusers will bow—not for what they did to us, but in recognition of the Lord who is our defender.

Lord, please come to our rescue. But mold me in the process. Help me to know You will take care of any situation that distresses me. Thank you for defending me.