Calling on God as a Mighty Defender: Psalm 35
“1) Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; Fight against those who fight against me. 2) Take hold of buckler and shield And rise up for my help. 3) Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me; Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; 4) Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me. 5) Let them be like chaff before the wind, With the angel of the Lord driving them on. 6) Let their way be dark and slippery, With the angel of the Lord pursuing them. 7) For without cause they hid their net for me; Without cause they dug a pit for my soul. 8) Let destruction come upon him unawares, And let the net which he hid catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall.” Psalms 35:1-8
Altogether, this Psalm has twenty-eight verses. David makes a contrast between the way he extended good to people only to have them turn their back and abandon him. Some plotted his death.
Rather than take his own vengeance, David called on God to stand up as a mighty warrior and defend him. He asked God to do the fighting for him with strong, mighty and even deadly weapons.
In the New Testament, Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. (See Matthew 5:43-45) A case could be made that David as king was acting in national defense versus a personal vendetta.
Either way, David looked to God as his defender. Because he maintained a clear conscience and walked with God, he understood that God was the defense of his life. He expected God the rise up and act mightily on his behalf.
This happened again and again as King Saul sought to destroy him. David refused to put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and take his life. Instead, he consciously turn Saul over to God. Saul’s eventual demise was sad and tragic. God did indeed fight against him.
I see God as a mighty warrior. He can and does defend the upright. In 2 Thessalonians 2:5-8, Paul looked at the return of Jesus in a very similar way as David in this Psalm.
Revelation 14-20 is a picture of the end time wrath of God on anti-Christ and the ungodly earthly rulers aligned against God. The climax is Revelation 19:11-16 with Jesus coming back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to lay claim to this earth. This could be seen as the ultimate fulfillment of the prayers of David.
So how should we live and conduct ourselves in this present age? We should treat all people with respect and dignity while sharing the gospel with them. We pray for mighty conversions like Saul who became the Apostle Paul. We live with forgiveness and a clear conscious. But there is more!
We expect government to defend truth and justice. (Romans 13:1-7) We preach and live an uncompromised gospel. (2 Timothy 4:1-8) We do warfare against the true and unseen enemy of this present evil age while standing in the full armor of God. (Ephesians 6:10-20) We focus on walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh. (Galatians 5 and Romans 8) And, we aggressively engage in the Great Commission to reach this lost world with the gospel while expecting God to work in miraculous ways to confirm His Word. (Acts 4:28-31, Hebrews 2:4)
This may sound simplistic, but when believers and the church fulfills this calling, amazing things begin to happen. Revival, awakening and reform can and does happen in this present age. Our God wants people to be saved, forgiven, changed and transformed. That’s why He sent His Son to die for a lost and broken world.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
“1) Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; Fight against those who fight against me. 2) Take hold of buckler and shield And rise up for my help. 3) Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me; Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; 4) Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me. 5) Let them be like chaff before the wind, With the angel of the Lord driving them on. 6) Let their way be dark and slippery, With the angel of the Lord pursuing them. 7) For without cause they hid their net for me; Without cause they dug a pit for my soul. 8) Let destruction come upon him unawares, And let the net which he hid catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall.” Psalms 35:1-8
Altogether, this Psalm has twenty-eight verses. David makes a contrast between the way he extended good to people only to have them turn their back and abandon him. Some plotted his death.
Rather than take his own vengeance, David called on God to stand up as a mighty warrior and defend him. He asked God to do the fighting for him with strong, mighty and even deadly weapons.
In the New Testament, Jesus calls us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. (See Matthew 5:43-45) A case could be made that David as king was acting in national defense versus a personal vendetta.
Either way, David looked to God as his defender. Because he maintained a clear conscience and walked with God, he understood that God was the defense of his life. He expected God the rise up and act mightily on his behalf.
This happened again and again as King Saul sought to destroy him. David refused to put out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and take his life. Instead, he consciously turn Saul over to God. Saul’s eventual demise was sad and tragic. God did indeed fight against him.
I see God as a mighty warrior. He can and does defend the upright. In 2 Thessalonians 2:5-8, Paul looked at the return of Jesus in a very similar way as David in this Psalm.
Revelation 14-20 is a picture of the end time wrath of God on anti-Christ and the ungodly earthly rulers aligned against God. The climax is Revelation 19:11-16 with Jesus coming back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords to lay claim to this earth. This could be seen as the ultimate fulfillment of the prayers of David.
So how should we live and conduct ourselves in this present age? We should treat all people with respect and dignity while sharing the gospel with them. We pray for mighty conversions like Saul who became the Apostle Paul. We live with forgiveness and a clear conscious. But there is more!
We expect government to defend truth and justice. (Romans 13:1-7) We preach and live an uncompromised gospel. (2 Timothy 4:1-8) We do warfare against the true and unseen enemy of this present evil age while standing in the full armor of God. (Ephesians 6:10-20) We focus on walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh. (Galatians 5 and Romans 8) And, we aggressively engage in the Great Commission to reach this lost world with the gospel while expecting God to work in miraculous ways to confirm His Word. (Acts 4:28-31, Hebrews 2:4)
This may sound simplistic, but when believers and the church fulfills this calling, amazing things begin to happen. Revival, awakening and reform can and does happen in this present age. Our God wants people to be saved, forgiven, changed and transformed. That’s why He sent His Son to die for a lost and broken world.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
