Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me

Psalm 35 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
² Take hold of buckler and shield
And rise up as 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 they hid their net for me without cause;
Without cause they dug a pit for my soul.
⁸ Let destruction come upon him when he is unaware,
And let the net which he hid catch him;
Let him fall into that very destruction.

⁹ So my soul shall rejoice in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
¹⁰ All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like You,
Who rescues the afflicted from one who is too strong for him,
And the afflicted and the poor from one who robs him?”
¹¹ Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me 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,
But my prayer kept returning to me.
¹⁴ I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I bowed down in mourning, like one who mourns for a mother.
¹⁵ But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The afflicted people 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 people.
¹⁹ Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me;
Nor let those who hate me for no reason 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, Lord, do not keep silent;
Lord, do not be far from me.
²³ Stir Yourself, and awake to my right
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.
²⁴ Judge me, 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 May those be ashamed and altogether humiliated who rejoice at my distress;
May those who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and dishonor.

²⁷ May those shout for joy and rejoice, who take delight in my vindication;
And may they say continually, “The Lord be exalted,
Who delights in the prosperity of His servant.”
²⁸ And my tongue shall proclaim Your righteousness
And Your praise all day long.

David, a man after God’s own heart says: Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me; Fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of buckler and shield And rise up as 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 they hid their net for me without cause; Without cause they dug a pit for my soul. It is appropriate to ask the Lord to fight on our behalf. Romans 12:19 says: 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. Verses 20-21 instruct us as to what we should do rather than taking our own revenge. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; 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. In Luke 6:27-28 Jesus says: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”  That is how we overcome evil with good. In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus says: “If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  So, the burning coals we heap on the heads of our enemies are not for their destruction, but rather they are like the coal in Isaiah 6:6-7: Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” They are coals of forgiveness and cleansing.  

David says: Let destruction come upon him when he is unaware, And let the net which he hid catch him; Let him fall into that very destruction. The world says what goes around comes around, or that karma will repay a person for their deeds. Galatians 6:7-8 says: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. It is not the universe which evens things out and causes people to get what they deserve. It is a principle of God. Fortunately for us, concerning sin, God made a way that we would not get what we deserve, but rather He gives us His precious gift of grace. Romans 6:23 says: For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Again, we are not to wish for others to get what they deserve. If we believe that others should receive what they deserve for their actions, then why should we not also get what we deserve? In Matthew 7:1-2 Jesus says: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 

With the psalmist let us say: I will give You thanks in the great congregation; I will praise You among a mighty people…  Judge me, Lord my God, according to Your righteousness… May those shout for joy and rejoice, who take delight in my vindication; And may they say continually, “The Lord be exalted, Who delights in the prosperity of His servant.”  And my tongue shall proclaim Your righteousness And Your praise all day long. Amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.