Psalm 35

1 Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.

2 Take hold of shield and buckler and stand up for my help.

3 Draw out also the spear and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.

5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them.

6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them.

7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.

8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.

9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation.

10 All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which delivers the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoils him?

11 False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.

12 They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling 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 returned into my own bosom.

14 I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourns for his mother.

15 But in mine adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the subjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:

16 With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.

17 Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destruction, my darling from the lions.

18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.

19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hates me without a cause.

20 For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.

21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.

22 This thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me.

23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.

24 Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.

25 Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.

26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at my hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonor that magnify themselves against me.

27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long. (KJV)

The more I read the psalms the more I see Jesus. As I am studying the final week of Jesus’ earthly ministry on this earth (starting in Jericho and making the fourteen-mile trip to Jerusalem) I can see Jesus praying to God this psalm. Knowing that this trip would end in his death Jesus still made the journey. To set the stage for this journey we see Christ in Matthew chapter nineteen giving us the true meaning of a relationship with God which is different than being religious. The first was in reply to the Pharisees question “is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”. Marriage is the foundation of the most basic building block of our society (the family). Therefore, I believe the question they ask challenged Jesus to give a black or white answer on this issue. Christ answer was simple. He answered them by using Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24 and stating have not you read “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female, and said, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh”. He finished his answer with this phase” Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”.
But this answer did not address the issue that the Pharisee’s wanted answered. Their next question to him was really a challenge to God on why God’s purpose was changed. This is seen in their reply to his answer. “Why then, did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” In other words, Moses had to make provisions so that if a marriage did not work out the relationship could be ended. Man had to intervene, because God’s way did not always work. However, Jesus replied the problem was not God, but man. He stated, “Moses permitted divorce because your heart was hard, but that was not the way from the beginning.” which not only revealed issues about divorce, but all areas of living in society. The way of the Pharisee’s differed from the way of the Lord as pictured in Psalms 1 because of their harden hearts. We need to be careful therefore when asking the “Why then” questions concerning the basic truths found in God’s Word. As we study and look deeper into the issues of all the questions, we have we will usually find the answer to be in our own hardness of our hearts.

The second example that was given to us in Matthew chapter nineteen that help picture the true meaning of a relationship with God was that of a little child. Children trust their parents and depend upon them completely. This stands in contrast to the old saying “God takes care of those who take care of themselves”. It seems today that a lot of believers have traded their trust and dependence on God in for the trust and dependence on their own abilities. When reading a Psalm like this I realize that to be Christ-like is to surrender all your burdens and worries to Him. Like a child looks to their parents to take care of everything so must we look to God to take care of all our issues.

The third example that was given to us in Matthew chapter nineteen that help picture the true meaning of a relationship with God was that of the rich young man. The question was simple “Teacher what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”. The rich man was living a good life, but still felt he was missing or lacking something. That something was following God. Sometimes it hard to give up everything and to follow God completely; and it is only after you lose what you considered the most precious thing to you that you learn that the most precious thing to you is your relationship to God. Once you realize this then the words of the song, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, “and things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace” will start to take place in your life. You will then become one of those who in verse twenty-seven of this psalm will delight in God’s vindication and shout for joy and gladness; we will always say, “The LORD be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant.