Today we're back in Psalm 69, focusing on verses 19 through 29. In verses 1-18, David is telling God how much he needs God's intervention, and in this portion, David is praying against the individuals coming against him and asks for God to save and deliver him.

19 You know my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.
22 Let their own table before them become a snare;
and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.[c]
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.[d]
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high!

As shepherd leaders, we can feel similar to David when someone is slandering us or making our lives difficult. May we find comfort in knowing that God is listening. In fact, God is working — even if we can't see it or feel it. His divine provision, protection, and presence are perfectly at work in our lives. Trusting God is our job and that is what we must emulate for the sheep we influence. We must stand with them through hard times as God has stood with us.

May you live deeply into your calling this week.