We begin our study of what is stated in the opening verses of the Psalm where we have in verses 1-4 the first division of the Psalm — An Appeal to God for help. 

The Psalmist’s first petition is: “Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal,” verses 1 & 2.

1. As Christ suffered wrongfully, so too do His people. Matt 5;11. That is what persecution is. Job 21:27; Ps 35:19, 119:86; 1 Pet 2:19.

2. In such cases, we cry for justice. David’s prayer is for justice. His very first words. “Hear the right,’ V 1. Right = Justice, righteousness. Persecution is always accompanied by lies and slander against the one persecuted. We must ask that the Lord hear what is right and truthful in the matter. As it was with the Saviour (“And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him,” Mark 14:57) so it has ever been with the child of God. This lying attack against Christ will increase in the last days.

3. Note that it is by God’s Word that we are preserved from self-destruction. “Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer,” verse 4. True believers seeks to keep themselves from sin BY the Word of God’s lips. Ps 119:9, 11; John 17:17.