God is our Shield

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I studied engineering in college. My freshman year was tough. It was the weed-out year, the year where every Professor in every class I took said some version of, “look to your left, look to your right; at the end of this semester, one of you won’t be studying engineering.” While a bit dramatic, they weren’t that far off on their claims. Towards the end of that school year, in one of our hardest classes, we were notified of a potential scandal undergoing investigation. A group of students had cheated and copied significant portions of each other’s code. Panic set in, and accusations were quickly cast. Everyone felt under attack, and unsure of how this would play out. The only proof we had was our work—our individual code we had written for the assignments. If accused, students would turn in their work as their witness, their vindication for their conduct. I hadn’t cheated or copied anyone, my work was my own. So I turned in my code with confidence knowing it would prove my innocence. 

That’s what the Psalmist says here. He’s been accused and is pending investigation. Instead of turning in his code, he turns to God and says, “O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge.” God was his Witness, his shield (v.10) and his righteous judge (v.11). If our hands are clean, no matter what rises up against us, God will be our best source of comfort and exoneration. His Word and His approval are all that we need. If we have that, we can feel at ease leaving the rest in His capable hands.