(Note: The graphics are AI-generated.)

An old expression comes to mind when our attempts to do good have gone terribly wrong: “No good deed goes unpunished.”

Perhaps you’ve said it yourself. You volunteer to help, and somehow everything that goes wrong lands on your shoulders. You extend kindness, only to discover that the very person you helped has turned against you.

It’s a rather cynical expression, but I have to admit that sometimes it feels painfully accurate.

I wonder if David would have agreed.

In Psalm 35, David describes being attacked, falsely accused, and treated with hostility by people determined to bring him down. But what makes his situation particularly heartbreaking is that these weren’t simply people who disliked him. He had shown these people genuine compassion.

“But I, when they were sick—I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.” (Psalm 35:13)

When they suffered, David cared. When they were sick, he fasted and prayed. He mourned for them with the tenderness he would have shown his own family.

And what did he receive in return?

“They repay me evil for good.” (v. 12)

If ever there was a case of no good deed going unpunished, this was it!

What makes this kind of pain so difficult is that it comes from someone we never expected it from. It’s one thing to be mistreated by someone who has never cared for us. It’s quite another to be wounded by someone we’ve gone out of our way to help.

Have you ever wondered how someone I’ve treated so kindly could turn around and treat me this way?

I have.

And I’ve discovered that the hurt often brings another struggle: the overwhelming desire to explain myself.

I want the facts straightened out. I want the misunderstanding corrected. I want people to know what really happened. And, if I’m being truthful, I want them to know that I didn’t deserve the treatment I received.

David certainly understood that feeling. But rather than taking matters into his own hands, he brought his complaint to God.

“Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me.” (v. 1)

I hear David saying, “Lord, I need You to take up my cause. I need You to fight for me.”

His words throughout Psalm 35 are intense, sometimes even uncomfortable. David doesn’t disguise his anger or pretend that what happened was acceptable. He asks God to intervene, defend him, and bring justice.

And I appreciate that honesty. David reminds me that bringing my hurt to God doesn’t require pretending I’m not hurt. I can tell Him exactly what happened, how I feel, and how desperately I want things made right.

But I don’t have to become the one who makes them right. In fact, what strikes me most is how David ends his prayer:

“And my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.” (v. 28)

What a contrast! David begins by asking God to defend him and ends by declaring God’s righteousness. We’re never told that every problem has been resolved. His enemies may still be there. The accusations may still be circulating. The injustice may still sting.

But David has placed his cause in the hands of the One who judges rightly.

And that gives me something to think about. I cannot control how others react to my kindness, but I can choose what I do with the hurt. Will I continually replay what happened? Will I exhaust myself trying to convince everyone that I was right? Will I allow someone’s unkindness to make me less willing to be kind?

Or will I bring the matter before the Lord and trust Him with what I cannot resolve?

There’s one more truth I don’t want to miss. Just because someone failed to appreciate my kindness doesn’t mean my kindness was wasted. God saw David’s prayers, his fasting, and his compassion. He knew what motivated David’s actions, even when others repaid him with cruelty.

And God sees the same things in my life.

He sees the kindness that goes unacknowledged. The sacrifices nobody notices. The good intentions that are misunderstood. The love that isn’t returned.

None of it escapes His attention.

So perhaps the next time I’m tempted to say, “No good deed goes unpunished,” I need to remind myself of a far better truth: No good deed goes unnoticed by God. That makes all the difference, because how others respond to our kindness does not define its worth. God does.