Against the Wall: Where not to look

When your back is against the wall you know have to know not only where to look (to God) but also where not to look — and the psalmist explores that in vv. 155, 157-158. Here are his words:

155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek your statutes.
…
157 Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
yet I do not swerve from your decrees.
158 I look at the faithless with disgust,
because they do not keep your commands.
The psalmist has enemies who neither know the Torah nor respect God. They are out to get him and put him to death. In fact, they’ve got him cornered as he writes this prayer to God.
He names them for what they are: “wicked” (reshaim), “persecutors” and “adversaries,” and he sees them as “faithless” (from bagal — treacherous, deceitful).
He knows their behaviors: “they do not seek your statutes” and “they do not keep your commands”.
He knows what he must do — stay the course by looking to God, trusting in God, and observing the Torah and avoid the course of action his enemies have chosen.