(Psalm 35) O Lord, Fight Against Them That Fight Against Me Series

October 9, 2014

Tom Lowe

Title: O LORD, Fight Against Them That Fight Against Me.

A psalm of David.

Part 1 verses 1-10

Part 2 verses 11-16

Part 3 verses 17-28

Psalm 35 (KJV)

Part 1 (vs. 1-10)

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 mine 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 deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?

Introduction

It is nothing new for righteous men, and the most righteous cause, to encounter enemies. This is a fruit of the old hostility in the seed of the serpent against the Seed of the woman. David in his afflictions, Christ in His sufferings, the church under persecution, and the Christian in the hour of temptation, all implore the Almighty to appear in their behalf, and to vindicate their cause. We are likely to justify the uneasiness caused by the injuries men do us, by asserting that we have never given them any reason to treat us so bad; but this should make us comfortable, for then we may expect that God will plead our cause. David prayed to God to reveal himself in his trial—Let me have inward comfort under all outward troubles, to sustain my soul. If God, by his Spirit, witnesses to our spirits that He is our salvation, we need desire no more than that to make us happy. If God is our Friend, it doesn’t matter who our enemy is. By the Spirit of prophecy, David foretells the just judgments of God that would come upon his enemies for their great wickedness. These are predictions that look forward, and show the doom of the enemies of Christ and His kingdom. We must not desire or pray for the annihilation of any enemies, except our lusts and the evil spirits that would plot our destruction. A traveler overtaken by darkness while on a bad road, symbolizes a sinner walking in the slippery and dangerous ways of temptation. But David having committed his cause to God, never doubted his own deliverance. The bones are the strongest parts of the body. The psalmist here proposes to serve and glorify God with all his strength. If such language may be applied to our religious performance, how much more will it apply to heavenly things in Christ Jesus!

Commentary

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

Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me

“Plead my cause O Lord”—The word “plead” means to argue in support of a claim, or against the claim of another; to urge reasons for or against; to attempt to persuade one by argument or appeal (here appeal is made by prayer); such as, to plead for the life of a criminal, that is, to give reasons for why he should be acquitted or pardoned; and then, to earnestly implore in any way. The Hebrew word used here means to contend, strive, quarrel; and then, to argue the case before a judge, to manage or plead a cause. The idea here is that the psalmist desires that God would take upon Himself to defend his cause against those who had risen up against him, as if it were debated before a tribunal, or before a judge, and with God as the advocate.

Plead is commonly used as a legal term, as in Job 13:6—“Hear now my reasoning, and hearken to the pleadings of my lips”; but here it means “forcible coercion.” It denotes strife or striving of any kind, but the imagery of Psalms 35:1-3 is entirely military, showing that things had passed beyond the limits of argument and reason, and nothing would settle it now except power in the form of judgment. The psalmist cannot embark on such a course, so he appeals the matter directly to God