Let’s be honest. Life is already hard, and the people we sometimes must deal with don’t make life much easier. How do you respond as a believer when someone challenges or even hurts you?

As Psalm 38 opens, we find David in excruciating agony as he deals with the guilt of his sin. As he describes it, the pain is a debilitating disease bringing him close to death. Furthermore, as it manifests itself externally, David’s sin drives his family and friends to the point of avoiding him. If life wasn’t difficult enough, David is now isolated to process through his rejection. He’s alone. No one understands, nor does anyone try to. It appears as if David is drowning while others in a nearby lifeboat simply watch rather than throwing him a rope.

Then, when it seems that things couldn’t get much worse, David’s enemies applaud his demise. They eagerly await, if not encourage, his defeat. David is confronted with a group of people who strategize his downfall. While his family and friends are guilty of complacency, his enemies are charged with treachery.

Have you been there? Have you experienced a point where you have felt attacked by both friends and foes? What do you do? What do you say?

You do nothing. You say nothing. Like David, you choose not to listen; you choose not to respond. There must come a point when you believe God stands in your defense. However, the choice to remain silent isn’t some lofty, religious aspiration. The choice is natural confidence in the ability of the one who promises to save. Silence is the automatic reaction in the believer’s life—the believer that absolutely trusts in their God. The believer who trusts in God trusts him absolutely to defend and correct (because sometimes we need that too).

When you deal with difficult people, how do you respond? Do you react with anger, frustration, or bitterness? Do you find yourself trying to defend your position or prove why you are right? Don’t. Stop. Because when you attempt to prove you’re right, you’re wrong. Have confidence in your defender. Trust God fully to answer on your behalf.