SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
1/30/2012 8:21:36 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2
Psalm 35
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
35
Message
of the verses: Just a little
reminder from the first part of the commentary on Psalm 35 I will repeat the
quote from Dr. Wiersbe: “David made
three requests of God, and eventually He granted all of them.” We will now look at the second request.
Reward
Me (vv. 11-18): “11 Malicious
witnesses rise up; They ask me of things that I do not know. 12 They repay me
evil for good, To the bereavement of my soul. 13 But as for me, when they were sick, my
clothing was sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, And my prayer kept
returning to my bosom. 14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother. 15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and
gathered themselves together; The smiters whom I did not know gathered together
against me, They slandered me without ceasing. 16 Like godless jesters at a
feast, They gnashed at me with their teeth. 17 Lord, how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul from their ravages, My only life from the lions. 18 I will give
You thanks in the great congregation; I will praise You among a mighty throng.”
We mentioned yesterday that Psalm
35 was an imprecatory psalm and in verses 4-8 we see why it is called and
imprecatory psalm, and that is because in these verses we saw that David asked
God to; well let us just say to be unkind to the men of Saul, and for good
reason. We see in this section that
David had prayed for these men in a good way, but the Lord would not answer
David’s prayer for them because they were evil men. However David would receive a blessing from
the Lord for his faithful prayer even though God did not answer it. David’s prayer would be rewarded. These evil men would be like court jesters
and talk bad about David when they were eating their meals, and all of this
broke the heart of David for he cared for them, but not for the lies that they
were spreading about him.
I know in my heart a little of what
David went through by praying for someone to come to know the Lord for over
thirty years and then near the end of their life tell me that they did not want
to hear about this. My wife and I
wondered about all of the prayers that we sent heavenward, and what was done
with them, but it seems to be answered in the commentary of Warren Wiersbe when
he writes: “David received a blessing
because he prayed,” however God did not
answer our prayers and that was a painful experience.
Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of
this section these words, “David knew that God would eventually reward him for
his faithfulness, but he didn’t know when.
His first praise to God (vv. 9-10) was personal, but the second
expression of praise (v.-18) is in the congregation with the saints.”
Vindicate
Me (vv. 19-28): “19 Do not let those
who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me; Nor let those who hate me
without cause wink maliciously. 20 For they do not speak peace, But they devise
deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land. 21 They opened their
mouth wide against me; They said, "Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!" 22
You have seen it, O LORD, do not keep silent; O Lord, do not be far from me. 23
Stir up Yourself, and awake to my right And to my cause, my God and my Lord. 24
Judge me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness, And do not let them
rejoice over me. 25 Do not let them say in their heart, "Aha, our
desire!" Do not let them say, "We have swallowed him up!" 26 Let
those be ashamed and humiliated altogether who rejoice at my distress; Let
those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me. 27 Let
them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; And let them say
continually, "The LORD be magnified, Who delights in the prosperity of His
servant." 28 And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness And Your
praise all day long.”
We know from David’s story that
he was on the run from Saul for ten years and that the men whom he was friends
with and fought with against Israel’s enemies were now against him and
spreading lies and rumors about him that we hurtful to David. We also know that eventually Saul was killed
and for the next seven years David was king over Judah but not over all of Israel,
for one of Saul’s son’s, who was really a puppet king, ruled of the Northern
tribes of Israel. David would then
become king over all of Israel which would fulfill what the Lord had planned
for him when he was anointed by Samuel many years earlier. David was exercising patience in his dealings
with Saul and his men and this can be seen in this 35th Psalm, and
yet David was brokenhearted over how he was being treated, but through all of
this was learning more and more to lean on the Lord because David’s cause was
just and it was also God’s cause (v-26).
In verse 26 we see the same prayer that David prayed in verse 4, and
asked the enemy be shamefully defeated, which it would be as seen in the last
chapter of 1Samuel. The very thing that
God asked Saul to do and he did not do fully was when we see that Samuel told
Saul that because of his disobedience God has chosen another man to be king
over Israel. Saul was told to kill all
of the Amalekites, and in the end because he disobeyed God an Amalekite would
tell David that he killed Saul.
Dr. Wiersbe writes at the end of his
commentary from this section these words:
“The word translated ‘prosperity’ (V. 27 KJV) is the familiar Hebrew
word ‘shalom—peace,’ which means much more than a mere cessation of
hostilities. It carries the idea of well
being in every aspect of life, including peace with God, with others, with
yourself, and with the circumstances of life.
“David’s experiences reminds us of
Jesus Christ, the Son of David, who was also hated without a cause (John 15:25)
and falsely accused and attacked by those for whom He had shown nothing but
kindness and live. God delivered David
from his enemies, but the ‘Father’ spared not his own son’ (Rom. 8:32) but willingly
gave Him to die for the sins of the world.”
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I know
that David went through a lot of trials and tribulation from his own people
during this ten year period, but I also know that God was with him and lead him
all of the way. Reading these types of psalms
increases my faith and for that I am thankful.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Continue to trust the Lord each
and every day knowing that His plans are the best plans for my life.
2. Continue to learn contentment
through life’s circumstances.
1/30/2012
9:35:52 AM
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