Psalm 35

Praying  for Help

We are not facing life all alone, as an orphan would. The Holy Spirit is with us continually – living with us. When we need help He is always near, waiting for us to call on Him for His help.

 

A Psalm of David

      ¹      Lord, battle with those who battle with me. Fight against those who fight against me.

²      Pick up the shield and armor. Rise up and help me.

³      Lift up your spears, both large and small, against those who chase me.

 Tell me, “I will save you.”

⁴      Make those who want to kill me be ashamed and disgraced.

 Make those who plan to harm me turn back and run away.

⁵      Make them like chaff blown by the wind as the angel of the Lord forces them away.

⁶      Let their road be dark and slippery as the angel of the Lord chases them.

⁷      For no reason they spread out their net to trap me; for no reason they dug a pit for me.

⁸      So let ruin strike them suddenly.  Let them be caught in their own nets;

               let them fall into the pit and die. 

⁹      Then I will rejoice in the Lord; will be happy when he saves me.

¹⁰     Even my bones will say, “Lord, who is like you?

 You save the weak from the strong, the weak and poor from robbers.”

¹¹      Men without mercy stand up to testify. They ask me things I do not know.

¹²      They repay me with evil for the good I have done, and they make me very sad.

¹³      Yet when they were sick, I put on clothes of sadness and showed my sorrow by fasting.   But my prayers were not answered.

¹⁴      I acted as if they were my friends or brothers.  I bowed in sadness as if I were crying for my mother.

¹⁵      But when I was in trouble, they gathered and laughed;

         they gathered to attack before I knew it. They insulted me without stopping.

¹⁶      They made fun of me and were cruel to me and ground their teeth at me in anger.

          ¹⁷      Lord, how long will you watch this happen?  Save my life from their attacks;

save me from these people who are like lions. 

¹⁸      I will praise you in the great meeting. I will praise you among crowds of people.

¹⁹      Do not let my enemies laugh at me; they hate me for no reason.

   Do not let them make fun of me; they have no cause to hate me.

²⁰      Their words are not friendly but are lies about peace-loving people.

²¹      They speak against me and say, “Aha! We saw what you did!”

²²      Lord, you have been watching. Do not keep quiet. Lord, do not leave me alone.

²³      Wake up! Come and defend me!  My God and Lord, fight for me!

²⁴      Lord my God, defend me with your justice.  Don’t let them laugh at me.

²⁵      Don’t let them think, “Aha! We got what we wanted!”  Don’t let them say, “We destroyed him.”

²⁶      Let them be ashamed and embarrassed, because they were happy when I hurt.

  Cover them with shame and disgrace, because they thought they were better than I was.

²⁷      May my friends sing and shout for joy. May they always say, “Praise the greatness of the Lord,  who loves to see his servants do well.”

²⁸      I will tell of your goodness and will praise you every day.

 

    

This is one of the more difficult Psalms to read and understand.

        King David had many enemies. He was a man of war fighting against men and nations whom did not follow the Lord God of Israel.  David put his faith in our Lord. He constantly and consistently asked our Lord for His will: "What do I do" with matters of political or military significance.  

         In the New Testament also read, Romans 15:18 – 19. 

 18     “If the world hates you,  know that it has hated Me before it hated you.

 19     “If you were of the world, the world would love its own—but I chose you out of the world,  because of this the world hates you. 

 

 23   “He who hates Me hates My Father also.  

 

 26   “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,  He will testify about Me,  27  and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning. 

 

When the Paraclete [or comforter] comes, whom the Father will send, He will guide you into all truth.

The Comforter [or Paraclete] is the Holy Spirit, and He takes the Word of God, and makes Jesus known to us. The Holy Spirit does not speak of Himself, but He points us to Jesus by coming along side of us, and indwelling us. The Holy Spirit seals us until the day of redemption, and testifies to us that we are the children of God. 

 

Reading from Romans 8:1-17,

1  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life, in Christ Jesus—has made us free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, [in that it was weak through the flesh] God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, on account of sin: He condemned sin…  4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh [but according to the Spirit].

 5   Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded [of the flesh] is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is an enemy against God…  8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit…  Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 But if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin—but the Spirit is life because of righteousness (justification). 11 The Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you…

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs -- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

In these verses, Jesus is giving His farewell speech to the disciples before he ascends into heaven for the last time [after His resurrection from death on the cross]. He comforts them (14:16-17) with the promise of the coming Spirit, the Helper. He tells the disciples (14:25-26) how the Holy Spirit will teach them and bring what He had taught to their remembrance.

Jesus also challenges (15:1-11) the disciples to bear fruit. Christ will be glorified by this. Jesus speaks these truths to bring joy to their lives. Moreover, He commands (15:12-17) the disciples to love one another.  As they love each other and bear fruit, to be in God’s will for their lives—God will answers their prayers and give them what they ask.

Jesus tells them ill be conflict. Having drawn his followers into the circle of love which he shared with the Father (15:1-7), Jesus now invited them into the arena of conflict which He also shared with the world.  As followers they would be privileged to identify with Jesus not only by bearing much fruit, but also by bearing up under much persecution. We must understand this will happen as flowerers of Christ and the Holy Spirit will always be there to fight our battles for us. All we need to remember to do is to remain calm and let Him do His work.  This is a great testing of faith and patience... we learn to wait, we learn to persevere.