Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me

Psalm 35:1-16 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Prayer for Rescue from Enemies.

A Psalm of David.

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.”
⁴ Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life;
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.

⁹ And my soul shall rejoice in the Lord;
It shall exult in His salvation.
¹⁰ All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like You,
Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him,
And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”
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.

The psalmist says:  Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.  Take hold of buckler and shield
And rise up for my help.  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; Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.  Let them be like chaff before the wind, With the angel of the Lord driving them on.  Let their way be dark and slippery, With the angel of the Lord pursuing them.  For without cause they hid their net for me; Without cause they dug a pit for my soul. Let destruction come upon him unawares, And let the net which he hid catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall.   In Deuteronony 31:6 God’s promise and encouragement for us is:   “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”  Romans 8:31;38-39 says:  If God is for us, who can be against us? …  I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Godthat is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”   So, we too, like the psalmist can have the confidence to ask the Lord to deliver us from the people and situations that come against us. In Matthew 28:20 Jesus says:  “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

The psalmist says:  And my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; It shall exult in His salvation.  All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like You, Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”  Malicious witnesses rise up; They ask me of things that I do not know.  They repay me evil for good, To the bereavement of my soul.  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. I went about as though it were my friend or brother; I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother. 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.
Like godless jesters at a feast, They gnashed at me with their teeth.  There are some things we see about the character of the psalmist in these verses. First he is a man of faith, thanksgiving and praise. The difficult circumstances do not keep him from rejoicing and exulting the Lord or from having confidence in Him. He says:  They repay me evil for good, To the bereavement of my soul.  Like the psalmist we should not be surprised that the world would repay good with evil.  In John 15:18-25 Jesus says: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.  Whoever hates me hates my Father as well.  If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.  But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’”  The psalmist continues:    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. I went about as though it were my friend or brother; I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother. But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together. The psalmist fulfills Jesus commandment from Matthew 5:44:  “I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  Romans 12:14-21 says:  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. 

We too then can have confidence in the Lord despite the circumstances and situations. Hebrews 12:1-3 says:  Let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.    If we will focus on Jesus, we will have confidence that we will overcome whatever comes against us because we will see Him as the risen Savior and King who has conquered even death. We will also see and hear Him on the cross, saying of those who were His enemies: “Father forgive them.”  In Christ, by the power of the cross and the resurrection, we too can bless those who persecute us. We can overcome evil with good.

Thank You heavenly Father for the words of the psalmist which encourage and exhort us to be like Jesus. Thank You Jesus for the example You gave us. Even more thank You for the overcoming power of the cross and the resurrection. Thank You Holy Spirit that You live in me so that I can live like Jesus.  Amen.