Psalm 119:78 | “Let the insolent be put to shame, because they have wronged me with falsehood; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.”

The psalmist asks God to act with justice toward the insolent. They twisted the truth. They slandered him. They worked to harm his reputation and bring him down. He does not take matters into his own hands but entrusts the proud to the Lord, praying that God would put them to shame for their lies. Instead of dwelling on retaliation, he fixes his mind on God’s precepts. Spurgeon wrote, “He would leave the proud in God’s hands, and give himself up to holy studies and contemplations. To obey the divine precepts we have need to know them, and think much of them, hence this persecuted saint felt that meditation must be his chief employment. He would study the law of God and not the law of retaliation. The proud are not worth a thought. The worst injury they can do us is to take us away from our devotions; let us baffle them by keeping all the closer to our God when they are most malicious in their onslaughts.” May we learn from the psalmist’s example. When wronged, entrust justice to God and cling even more tightly to his word.