#715 At My Calamity

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;

fight against those who fight against me!

2 Take hold of shield and buckler

and rise for my help!

3 Draw the spear and javelin

against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

“I am your salvation!”

4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life!

Let them be turned back and disappointed

who devise evil against me!

5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the Lord driving them away!

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 life.

8 Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!

And let the net that he hid ensnare him;

let him fall into it—to his destruction!

9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,

exulting in his salvation.

10 All my bones shall say,

“O Lord, who is like you,

delivering the poor

from him who is too strong for him,

the poor and 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;

my soul is bereft.

13 But I, when they were sick—

I wore sackcloth;

I afflicted myself with fasting;

I prayed with head bowed on my chest.

14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;

as one who laments his mother,

I bowed down in mourning.

15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;

they gathered together against me;

wretches whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

16 like profane mockers at a feast,

they gnash at me with their teeth.

17 How long, O Lord, will you look on?

Rescue me from their destruction,

my precious life from the lions!

18 I will thank you in the great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

19 Let not those rejoice over me

who are wrongfully my foes,

and let not those wink the eye

who hate me without cause.

20 For they do not speak peace,

but against those who are quiet in the land

they devise words of deceit.

21 They open wide their mouths against me;

they say, “Aha, Aha!

Our eyes have seen it!”

22 You have seen, O Lord; be not silent!

O Lord, be not far from me!

23 Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24 Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and let them not rejoice over me!

25 Let them not say in their hearts,

“Aha, our heart's desire!”

Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”

26 Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether

who rejoice at my calamity!

Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor

who magnify themselves against me!

27 Let those who delight in my righteousness

shout for joy and be glad

and say evermore,

“Great is the Lord,

who delights in the welfare of his servant!”

28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all the day long. Psalm 35 ESV

After I read this Psalm I could see there was nothing in the title that alluded to a particular time that I could cross reference in other OT books about David's life, but much of his life in dealing with Saul and even later with Absalom resonate well. It also reminded me of C. H. Spurgeon, so I chose his commentary on the passage as my companion. Spurgeon stood up for God's word in a time where people pressed more and more to be entertained, unsatisfied with sound doctrine and ever desiring to water down the gospel. He was accused of many things, of lacking love and even being out of date in his approach, but he continued his work in defending the gospel, in looking for the Author's intent and holding it above the opinions and fancies of men, including his own. It is discouraging work for men, sad toil, to have to stand up against the so called church in order to defend the beauty of Christ's gospel. The honor of God is well worth our anxiety here, the glory of Christ brought down should cause the saints to stand up, and trust God that He will deal with our accusers.

Contend - Lord, I have not provoked, and I have wished no evil to begin with or even now, but I am chased by the hounds of hell, so I call upon You, Who is most just. Please defend me against those who maliciously attack. If they lie then show them for liars, if they wound then come to my aid. Remember when the Psalmist had every opportunity to end Saul's life and with that also his reign, but he refused to touch God's anointed? We have an accuser always that never ceases from pointing out our flaws, and he will gladly uphold that we deserve this, every lie and every mean rebuke, but we have an Advocate also, Who has paid our debt in full.

Turned back and disappointed - Let those who seek my ruin be disappointed, let them cease or find their own instead. We should never wish Godspeed to those who attack the people of God, or to those who intend to do anything against God.  

Angel of the Lord - The messengers of God have long been persecuted, and the Messenger of God Himself was most unjustly treated and falsely accused. It is the way of this present world to be politically correct, never call out any injustice against God, but rather to call God unjust for His claim of the moral high ground. Some will become uneasy at the thought of judgement, of using the word "enemy", but if a person hates the things of God then He is the enemy of God, and I am God's child. I will pray for that man to no longer be in rebellion against God's right nor against sound reason, but if he remain His enemy then he is my enemy as anyone who is against the gospel. I will plead with that man, reason with that man till we die, for I am his fellow human being, but the face of God will forever and rightfully be against sin, so will His final judgement.

Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge His people.”…Hebrews 10: 28-30

Their net for me - I have heard people say, "he had it in for me," and sometimes they spoke the truth. Men don't need for you to throw the first punch, to wrong them, an unjust man will go after a man better than himself purely for the sake of his own ego. He may hate you for the car you drive, that you get along well with your wife or are esteemed by others. He may even hate you for telling him the truth, or anything that he envies. It takes little for men to justify such in their minds, and they will lay a trap for you, hoping that when you fall in it every evil they have spoken of you will be seen as true.  

Rejoice in the Lord - Spurgeon quote:

I shall rejoice in his salvation. We do not triumph in the destruction of others, but in the salvation given to us of God. Prayer heard should always suggest praise. It were well if we were more demonstrative in our holy rejoicing. We rob God by suppressing grateful emotions. - C. H. Spurgeon

Things that I do not know - The accusations they make are foreign to my knowledge. They invent treason and try to place my mouth as it's source, to give to Saul an excuse, that he may pretend to be at war with a traitor rather than with God's anointed. They accused God's Son of blasphemy. David put on sack cloth for these same men, weeping as they wept and mourning over their sickness, Christ healed the sick, fed the poor that his accusers neglected. If we pray this for ourselves thus far, remembering the grace given unto us, let us ask ourselves have we wept over their sin, prayed for their repentance, lamented their falling away.

At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him. 32 But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?” 33“We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God.”…John 10: 31-33

How long - I know You see this, that You see all and that You can do anything. When is it enough? What are You teaching me? Please rescue me, and all I have to offer in return is to praise You. 

Aha, Aha! - Spurgeon quote:

"Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me." As if they would swallow him. Uttering great lies which needed wide mouths. They set no bounds to their infamous charges, but poured out wholesale abuse, trusting that if all did not stick, some of it would. "And said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it." Glad to find out a fault or a misfortune, or to swear they had seen evil where there was none. Malice has but one eye; it is blind to all virtue in its enemy. Eyes can generally see what hearts wish. A man with a mote in his eye sees a spot in the sun. How like a man is to an ass when he brays over another's misfortunes! how like to a devil when he laughs a hyæna-laugh over a good man's slip! - C. H. Spurgeon

We have swallowed him up - David lived in the time of the law, before the Son of David came, a time when death was, to the mind of many, the thing to be escaped. I see myself at the end of the line, the lure for that great fish, and just as her mouth is about to close and forever seal me in, I am pulled clear of the water, away from her grasp. For the Christian, we can now rejoice, there is no need to wait for the outcome, praise God now, for death has been swallowed by victory. There is nothing left that can separate us from the love of God. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.