A Passionate Prayer for God’s Help

Transcript

GRM 1229
11/24/2019
A Passionate Prayer for God's Help
Psalm 35
Gil Rugh


We sing of the indescribable, amazing God and how amazing it is that this awesome, indescribable God has chosen to speak to us, to give us His Word that we can open it up and look into it and see what God has to say. He has chosen to speak to us, speak to us in a way that we can understand, using language as He created for us to communicate to one another, so He communicates to us. We can look and see what the eternal, indescribable, amazing God has to say to us.

We are going to Psalm 35. It made sense since we did Psalm 34 last time we would do Psalm 35 this time. I didn't plan any particular order, I picked out Psalm 34 and as you are aware the Psalms are a collection and they don't flow together like the letters of the New Testament or something like that or some of the history portions that are developing the history. So one psalm is not necessarily connected to the other psalm around it, but I thought we would move to Psalm 35. Then I started reading Psalm 35 and I thought this is one of the psalms that causes believers difficulty, maybe we will skip it. Then I was convicted and I read one of the commentators who said some pastors just go and pick out favorite psalms to preach and leave the rest, so I repented and we are going to look at Psalm 35.

Some of you are familiar with the expression, the imprecatory psalms, the word ‘imprecatory’ just means a curse. And these psalms present special challenges for us as believers because in effect the psalmist is asking God to curse his enemies, destroy them, shatter them. We think, that's not nice, how does that fit with grace? Don't we love our enemies? We first need to back up and remind ourselves, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says all scripture is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction in righteousness, instruction in righteousness so that the man of God may be perfect, complete, equipped to do every good work. And these psalms are just as much a part of the Word of God as others. Sometimes they are misunderstood, like we found when we worked through the book of Ecclesiastes. Sometimes if you misunderstand a portion of the Word and misinterpret it, you miss the blessing of it. I think these psalms like Psalm 35 are here for our blessing, our encouragement, and our instruction.

The psalmist, like we love so much about the psalms, pours out his heart to God, but it's recorded. You'll note the title of this as we have it in our Bibles, “A Psalm of David.” And we noted that word ‘psalm’ could be translated “A Song of David.” So this just wasn't for David, this is David under the direction of the Spirit expressing himself to God but in such a way that we as God's people are to join in, benefit from it, identify with it, and be moved to praise because of it. Some people say Old Testament like these kinds of psalms, that's Old Testament… eye for eye, tooth for tooth, but now we live in the church age under grace and we have a different standard to live to. But I don't think that is correct in looking to this psalm because I find the same thing is said in the Old Testament and then said in the New Testament.

Come back to Leviticus, we're not going to look at a lot of verses, but just as a sample, Leviticus 19:18, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.” That's a standard from God for His people, and you are aware that is repeated in the New Testament, love your neighbor as yourself, Jesus says the two commandments, love God and love your neighbor. And then we have some of these repeated in the New Testament.

Come over to Romans 12, we'll read another couple of verses that are referred to in the New Testament rather than just look at Old Testament verses and to save time we won't go back and forth. Romans 12, we're in the book of Romans (for the evening messages) so we will get here eventually. And as Paul instructs the Roman believers in the church in verse 19 he says… verse 17, “Never pay back evil to anyone,” down in verse 19, “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.” And he is quoting and you have a marginal reference to Deuteronomy 32:35. Very similar to what we read in Leviticus 19. So it's not that there are different expectation or different requirement. He goes on in verse 20, “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him.” And you'll note by the capitalization setting this off, it is a quote from the Old Testament, from Psalm 25:21-22. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing so you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” So Paul didn't see a different standard in the Old Testament than the New Testament, he uses the Old Testament as support for the instruction he has given. God told the people in the Old Testament in Leviticus 11, you shall be holy for I am holy, and then Peter writes in 1 Peter 1 and tells the believers that he is writing to, you be holy. Why? Because God said you shall be holy for I am holy, same standard set down for Old Testament and New Testament.

So I don't think the reason we have these songs that ask for judgment on the enemies of the psalmist are contrary to the New Testament. What he is really reflecting, as you come back to Psalm 35, there is a relentless war going on, a war between God and the devil, between the people of God and the people of the devil, there are no neutral zones in this war. Like Jesus said, he who is not with Me is against Me. We'll look at some other verses later, time permitting. This is a warfare, these psalms remind us of the seriousness of the warfare. Why did God preserve it for us for these 3,000 years? It reminds us and shows us how to deal with the conflict that we are in. And he is going to use military pictures as Paul does when he writes to the Ephesians in Ephesians 6 and says you must put on the whole armor of God so that you can stand against the strategies of the devil. Sometimes we as believers, especially if we live in a context where overt opposition doesn't seem so strong, we can settle down and be comfortable and think I don't want to rock the boat. I know I make some of you hold your breath when I start saying some things, you say I hope he doesn't go there, hope he doesn't say that. I had somebody, a dear couple, I said something about a Presbyterian church in town and wouldn't you know they had brought their friends who attended that church and they were somewhat offended, so I did go talk to the pastor. But we oughtn't to be afraid if it is the Word.

What David says here is true for everyone of us. It shows how intense the opposition to God's people is. There are only two groups, the whole world, doesn't matter nationality, doesn't matter location, where in the world; there are only two kinds of people in the world, children of God and children of the devil. Children who have come to be redeemed by the provision of God's grace in the giving of His Son and have believed in that provision, they are the children of God. Everybody else is the children of the devil. That's the division the scripture makes, that's the position we are in, that's the battle we are on, God loves, God hates; God shows mercy, God pours out wrath. We don't want to compromise one, we want to be clear and biblical on both sides and on both issues.

This psalm has three divisions, let me give you those since they don't stand out quite as clear, it is broken down into sections. But the first division is verses 1-10 and there David will pray for God to vindicate him and protect him. Then in verses 11-18 David will tell God how unfairly he has been treated and ask God to intervene. And then in the third section, verses 19-28, David prays for justice against those who are attacking him. As we move through this you will see he is not talking about a literal, physical war, he is talking about a spiritual battle and the weapons are tongues and accusations and so on. David was an experienced military man. He couldn't build the temple because he had so much blood on his hands, he was a man of war. Well, here there are conflicts that will require the intervention of the Lord. One thing else I want you to note, each of these three sections ends on a note of praise to God, verses 9-10 close the first section, verse 18 closes the second section (you can connect verse 17 with that if you want), and then verses 27-28 close the third section. So in all of this you have David coming to God with his request, his burden, calling on God to intervene, but it all keeps coming, this is to redound to the praise and honor of God. So what he is asking is consistent with the character of God, with the way of giving Him honor and praise in our worship. Basically what David wants God to do, deliver me from my enemies and destroy those who have tried to destroy me.

Now first you'll say where is the grace in that? Let's move through and see what he has to say. The first three verses, and we'll move rather rapidly because it's almost self-explanatory. Doesn't take as much detail to explain it as much of the Old Testament follows a similar line. “Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.” David crying out to God, God intervene on my behalf, stand up for me, fight against those who are fighting against me. Now again this is taking place not on a military battlefield with a physical battle going on as we see. He asked God to “take hold of buckler and shield, and rise up for my help.” Again, you can see he is using pictures here. God doesn't need a literal shield, but the picture comes from David's experience in battle. Two kinds of shields here, one is what we call in later times the door shield, it was a shield that covered your whole body, and then the other is that shield that was much more maneuverable. What he wants God to do is get prepared to take David's place, stand as the defender of David, ward off the enemies. “Rise up for my help. Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me.” I mean, this is serious conflict and the picture he comes to God with, he takes it seriously.

One thing of note when we go through this prayer of David which turned into a psalm, David is serious. Remember Jesus told the parable of the woman who came to the judge and she persisted and persisted. David comes with passion. Sometimes our prayers are Lord, please take care of this and then we go on and forget about it. There are times when I have short prayers, but David is really intense about this. God, this is a battle and I am under siege, I need you to rise up and step in with the shields to protect me, and then take the spears and the battle-axe and go after them. These are serious weapons of war that are intended for destruction.

“Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’ ” I love it, David is not taking anything into his own hands, although he is a man who would have capability of doing that. God, I want to hear from You, Your will, do what only You can do for me, I want to hear You say to me, I am your salvation. And He is the one that David is looking to, so this pervades it, keep that in mind as he talks about these enemies. He's not talking about it in a way that would be inconsistent with what God would want for him to do. He is calling God to do this, he is not taking his own vengeance, he's not looking to get even in a personal way like we might talk about, he's asking God. Do you think God will intervene and do the wrong things? No, David is asking Him to intervene and do what is the right thing because He is God and David belongs to Him.

In verses 4-6, these evil people are attacking him and he wants God to intervene and really a devastating judgment. Verse 4, “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.” David has theology in his prayer, he recognizes the evil for what they are, they are not only his enemies, they are the enemies of God, and the reason he is under attack is because he belongs to God. That's the relentless war that is going on. He wants them to be ashamed and dishonored, not so he can get all the glory, that's why each of these sections will end in a praise to God. This will demonstrate the greatness of the God that I serve and the crushing of the servant of God can be used to discredit the testimony for God. That's why there is such an attack on believers, such attack on the church, because it is a testimony of the living God, it's the pillar and support of the truth. The devil is a liar, he has been a liar from the beginning, he hates the truth. What do you think he does? Sit as an observer? Not at all.

He has a picture here. “Let them,” verse 5, “be like chaff before the wind.” You are familiar with it, John the Baptist used the same picture. When the Messiah comes He will have His winnowing fork in His hand, that fork they used, they throw the grain up in the air and the wind would blow the light chaff away, and then it was gathered up and burned, it is worthless, that's the picture. Now these evil people attacking him are chaff. That's the same picture John the Baptist used in preparing to introduce Christ, the wicked are like the chaff and when the Messiah comes He will sift them out and they are just fit for burning. And remember we studied Revelation, we don't want to get soft in the wrong sense, we want to have a love and a concern for the lost, but the lost are not my friends, friendship with the world is enmity against God James 4 tells us. That doesn't mean I treat my neighbor who is an unbeliever unkindly, that would be contrary to God's character. But I don't want my vision to get blurred that I never understand where the line is drawn, because when we lose that we begin to put friendship, family relationships above faithfulness to God. Remember what Jesus said? Do you want to be My disciple? You have to love me more than father or mother, brother or sister. That's what he is talking about. So don't go out and say, Gil preached we can go ahead and be mean to our neighbor and any unbelievers we treat like scum. No, that's not what he is saying and that's not what the Old Testament says or the New Testament. But I don't want to be deluded, the nice unbeliever is at heart an enemy and unbelievers will express that. And that's what he is dealing with when that animosity becomes open.

“The angel of the Lord driving them on.” You know who the angel of the Lord is, it's the pre-incarnate Christ. We saw the angel of the Lord back in the previous chapter, Psalm 34:7, “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and rescues him.” Same kind of verse that fits here. In fact the angel of the Lord is mentioned three times in the Psalms, once in Psalm 34 that we just read, and then once in verse 5 and once in verse 6 of Psalm 35. The only times He is mentioned. I'm not saying these are the only times He is present, but mentioned by name. The angel of the Lord driving them on, what is He doing? He is going after the wicked, the chaff. He is not just defensive in protecting David, He is going after the enemies of David to destroy them. And he wants it to be a complete destruction. Verse 6, “Let their way be dark and slippery with the angel of the Lord going after them.” They are trying their hardest to get away, I pray it will be worst of conditions—in the dark so they don't where they are going, wet moss covering the stones so they slip and slide and can't make any progress as the angel of the Lord, if you will, runs them down. Because He is the protector of David, that's what he believes. I believe, I belong to the Lord. I believe He protects me and keeps me, you believe that. We must not forget it and we ought not to be surprised or taken back or unsettled when attacks come.

So verse 7 he picks up, “For without cause they hid their net from me, without cause they dug a pit for my soul.” In other words these unbelievers have gone on the offensive against David, they are doing what they can to destroy him. Keep in mind we are talking about people within Israel. David writes these in the psalms and others are given to the choir director and these are to be sung by the people when they get together. He didn't write the psalms for the Philistines or the Moabites or the Assyrians. So this opposition is coming from within, the supposed people of God. It's like the prophets, the battles that they had. David is a prophet writing Scripture. “Without cause they hid their net from me, without cause they dug a pit.” We saw these kinds of pictures in Ecclesiastes. In other words they set up to trap him like they would an animal, for no reason. There is an irrationality about sin. Why do they hate people who are good, who are righteous, who are kind and thoughtful? “Let destruction come upon him unawares, let the net which he hid catch himself, into that very destruction let him fall.” In other words this is what they wanted to do to me, let that be their own trap that brings ruin to them.

And what would be the result of God answering this prayer? “And my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, it shall exalt in His salvation. All my bones will say, Lord, who is like you?” You note the intensity of David, life every fiber of my being is involved in here. He prays with intensity and he doesn't forget when he gets answers to prayer. He praises God with that intensity, “My soul shall rejoice in the Lord, it shall exalt in His salvation. All my bones will say.” I mean, how many times do you have to say this in how many ways. His bones, they pervade my being. It's like every ounce of my being, like we are instructed to love the Lord your God with all your soul, with all your heart, with all your might. You are just saying all your being. That's David here. Why? Who is like You? You “deliver the afflicted from those who are too strong for him, the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him.” Lord, you intervene on our behalf. David realizes, he is a great warrior, he is a king, he is a fighter. But the battles he is in are too great. When we forget that we begin to slide into maneuvering our thoughts as somehow sufficient in the battle and it ends up to be a corrupting of the Word of God because my ways aren't His. David's way, call on the Lord, exhort him, consistent with his character. I am your child, I have faithfully served you. They are attacking me for no reason. Lord, I ask you to intervene, go to war for me. And when all is said and done, it will result in praise to you.

Then he begins the next section and you'll note there is almost a cycle you go around because there is an overlap on what he says as he expands these things. He is going to tell God, and God doesn't need information but He wants us to come and tell Him, how unfairly he has been treated. This is not right, and so God please intervene. “Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.” False witnesses slander his character, they bring up things he doesn't know anything about. You've experienced that. Since I get to represent you, sometimes somebody has directed me to something on the internet and it has been about me or the church and I think, where did they get that? I said I've been here a long time, I never knew of anything like that happening. But it goes on, it goes on in your life. You wonder why do my neighbors or the people I work with have an attitude toward me. Because the devil has an attitude toward you. I'm not saying every unbeliever goes on the attack, God's common grace spares us many things, but it shouldn't surprise us when they do, and the more open our testimony, often the more things.

Malicious witnesses, they say such things. James talked about the tongue. We've had fires for example in California and you see something very small results in a fire that goes everywhere, that's what the tongue does. James 3 says it is the greatest weapon and it's the hardest to control and it does the most damage. And it is working against David. “They repay me evil,” verse 12, “for good to the bereavement of my soul.” Do you know what that means? He was isolated, the word ‘bereavement’ is literally the word ‘childlessness,’ I've been cut off, I've been left alone. These lies, these slanderous accusations, I did good and they repay me with evil. And you know it works, it works. And David says I am bereaved, I am left alone. “But as for me,” and this shows the difference in the way David functioned toward them and the way they functioned toward him, “But as for me,” verse 13, “when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth, I humbled my soul with fasting, my prayer kept returning to my bosom. I went about as though it were my friend or brother; I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.” When they were sick and in trouble it was like the most close family member I have. I prayed for them repeatedly. That's what he is saying, I think, when he says “my prayer,” the end of verse 13, “kept returning to my bosom,” he didn't just pray Lord, bless them, he kept praying for them. That prayer kept coming back and he kept offering it because it hadn't been responded to yet. That's the difference.

So we're not talking about treating unbelievers unkindly. But when you treat people kindly and lovingly and you care for them as David says he did, and then they turn against you and become vicious enemies, there is no explanation. And we say why. Why? And then if we are not careful we begin to think maybe it is us and we think maybe if our church did this, our church did that. And we lost sight of what the issue is. David was not a perfect man, but that's not an issue here. Basically he was a man who desired to honor the Lord, he had his stumbles but basically he tried to live a godly, righteous life. I try to treat them with as much kindness and thoughtfulness as I could.

Verse 15, “But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together.” I can't help but think of Jeremiah the prophet when he was under attack by the enemies of the Lord. And do you know what he said? All my closest friends waiting for my fall. What happened? I thought they were closest friends, like these that David was treating like family. But when he stumbled they are there, they go after him, “they rejoiced.” This is great. We all know sometimes we have slipped and looked at someone and they have stumbled and now I am glad. That's not what it is, David didn't do anything. “The smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me, they slandered me without ceasing.” I am amazed at how these kinds of people find each other. I sometimes wondered, how did they even know each other? But it's like they gathered together. The devil sends his people and if we get enough people joined together we will destroy them, we'll destroy that person, we'll destroy that church. The relentless attack, wear people down. And enough people get together and say it, people say where there is smoke there is fire, there must be something. And then they begin to be unsettled. Wait a minute, this is the way the godless work, endless slander, endless accusations. “Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed at me with their teeth.” The jesters they had, to bring them in, entertain the king. He doesn't say things that are true, he just puts on a show and says things that the king will want to hear, make him laugh. But these are more ferocious than that, they are like wild animals gnashing at their teeth, they want to tear them apart. Why? I treated them kindly.

Paul defended himself by saying my hands are clean from the blood of all men. I taught you the whole counsel of God. He had to tell the Corinthians, why am I having to defend myself against you? Something is unsettled here. This is what David is going through, it is disheartening, he is left alone here, the end of verse 12, ‘to the bereavement of my soul” and it won't stop. When will it settle down? When will they quit? Well, the devil is still going. Do you want to know how much “stick-to-it-iveness,” a good theological warfare term, he has? Remember the book of Revelation when he is bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years? A thousand years! He comes out, what's the first thing he does? Go after the people of God, attack God and His people. One of his greatest strengths is he is relentless. If I can't beat you head on, I'll just wear you down, wear you down.

Many people I've had tell me, good people, I'm just tired of the conflict, I know there is a place for conflict but I'm just looking for a place where maybe there is not quite so much conflict. Would I rather be like David? Or like the church at Laodicea, that they had found the way to settle in, be comfortable. We think David's language is strong, Christ, the head of the church, says it makes me want to vomit you out of my mouth, that's a disgusting picture, you're like vomit, you make me sick. Why? You think you are fine, you settle in but he praises the little church that is hanging on by its fingertips. I know you are under persecution and you are going to suffer more, but be faithful. Where do we want to be identified individually? And as God's church in this place?

So you come to verses 17-18 and what does he do? He calls for the Lord to intervene so that I can praise You. It's not all about David in the final sense, it's all about God and His honor. We don’t want to die on the battlefield, that's David here, he has not given up. He hasn't heard from God yet, look at verse 17. “Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages.” Lord, for some reason you have chosen not to do what I asked in verse 1, to contend, to fight, You are like an observer and You know what they are doing. “My only life from the lions.” What he is saying, like we saw in Ecclesiastes, this is the life you have, live it, take full advantage of it. And David says basically, if they get their way my life will be over, they are like lions, they gnash at me with their teeth, verse 16, their ravages. This is not a game. Remember the quartet used to sing that little ditty of a song, it's not a recreation room, brother, it's a battlefield. We forget that as believers, we get settled, we are comfortable, and all of a sudden something comes along and all of a sudden we are rocking back and forth. Wait a minute, remember the song, where duty calls or danger do not be wanting there. We are not observers in the battle and we need to understand.

“I will give you thanks in the great congregation,” this is not something just personal for David, this is for the blessing of God's people. So it's a song to be sung, and when the people come to gather for worship at the temple they will join in praise. That's what our testimony should be, not to exalt self but to exalt the God who has operated and intervened and provided what only He could provide. “I will praise you among a mighty throng,” all for your honor, Lord. We don't tell the Lord, the Lord will… And some seemingly defeated with their martyrdom, but not defeated and their testimonies continue to encourage us today as we read accounts of their martyrdom. We realize God is in control. But I don't love the wicked who are attacking God, the Word, the people of God, the church, they deserve hell. We get to the book of Revelation, remember those who are going to be destroyed and spend eternity in hell, they are worthy. Do you think God gives them what they don't deserve? Now we have to be careful, we can misuse this in a wrong way, but in our comfortable society I fear we go the other way and we are embarrassed to talk about the wrath of God. God is a God of love and I don't want to minimize that in any way, but somebody says I believe God is a God of love. And I say, I believe that, too, I want to explain to you what God says is a demonstration of love, and I need to share with you as well what God says will be the result of your rejecting his demonstration of love. You are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, according to Romans 2 as we have seen. We become so soft and easy, we don't talk about wrath. I hope we don't talk about judgment, I hope we don't talk about hell, we want people to be comfortable in our church. We don't want the unbeliever to be comfortable here. I pray God will stir the unbeliever, prod him, prod her, convict their conscience that they will either bow or else they run. And we are in a war, this is not a game room, this is not a playground, this is not a place just to come and relax and then we get back to business at work. This is to prepare us to get out in the battlefield of the world.

Verse 19, what he is going to do in this third division, pray for justice against those who attack him. “Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me; nor let those who hate me without cause.” You see David can come with confidence to God because he is confident about himself. I have conducted myself honorably, properly, in dealing with them, I haven't cheated them, I haven't been dishonest, I haven't (fill in the blank). No. “Those who hate me without cause wink maliciously.” You see this secret thing that goes on. The internet is just an example today, a little easier, we don't just have to have word of mouth, people can put whatever they want out there, say whatever they want. They can attack you, they can attack me, they can attack this church, say whatever they want, slanderous lies that have no substance, that doesn't matter. Who is going to check it? You going to spend your life chasing it down? Maybe if you are in a certain position and have wealth. It goes on. Do you know what our answer is? Lord, intervene, don't let them accomplish their destructive purpose.

Verse 19, don’t let “my enemies rejoice over me. Let not those who hate me without cause wink maliciously.” This secret, underlying… People profess to be believers, can be so sneaky, and you have experienced it. Verse 20, “They do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.” Again, we ought not to be the disrupters. That's why I get concerned about believers jumping out in front of the political situation and make politics the issue. That's not the issue with me, I am no more in common with a conservative unbeliever as with a socialist unbeliever on the spiritual level. I may agree on certain practices but I ought to be careful, I'm not out there in a war on one side or the other. If you've made politics your life in certain things, then you do what you should do within that realm, but never lose sight of what the issue is. Conservative people go to hell, liberal people go to hell, the dividing line is not your politics, the dividing line is your relationship to Christ or lack of that relationship. I won't go there, I know some of you are thinking, well, don't you think if you are a believer you should do… well, go ahead.

We're in Psalm 35. “They opened their mouth,” verse 21, “wide against me; they said, ‘Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!’ ” We have abundant example of this, even the conflict that goes on between unbelievers in our government. You never know what is true or what is wrong; yah, I saw it, I have evidence. That's the way it goes spiritually, it's going on behind the back and undermining reputations, trying to destroy the people of God and the testimony of God. “You have seen it, O Lord, do not keep silent; O Lord, do not be far from me. Stir up yourself, and awake to my right and to my cause, my God and my Lord. Judge me, O Lord my God, according to your righteousness. And do not let them rejoice over me.” You get the idea this is like that woman in the parable Jesus told, she won't go away, she keeps beseeching the Lord. Lord, again I come, I pour out my heart to you, you are my Lord, don't keep silent, don't be far away, awake to my right, to my cause, you are my God, my Lord. Judge me, O Lord my God, according to the standard of your righteousness. Again, David is confident. He is not a perfect man, we know that. David is living in right relationship with God. I want you to judge me according to your righteousness, don't let them rejoice over me, it will be a defeat for righteousness. “Do not let them say in their heart, ‘Aha, our desire!’ Do not let them say, ‘We have swallowed him up!’ ” My prayer to God has often been, Lord, don't let them destroy this church, this ministry, don't let them destroy the people. Pray like that. The people have set their heart on destruction, I'm planning just as strong against them for victory, for the testimony of the Lord. And if it comes we end up getting marched out and martyred, we'll live in the end anyway. But I never want to lose the passion and understanding. We are in a battle and we represent the Lord. The song, who is on the Lord's side… Sometimes you get the idea, well, we're sort of… no, we're not sort of. If you can't step forward and say you are on the Lord's side, then you are not. It's clear, that's why Jesus' calls to discipleship were so clear and divisive, you come on My terms. Verse 26, “Let those be ashamed and humiliated together who rejoice at my distress. Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me.” You see he is asking God.

Then we have to close with this note of praise. “Let them shout for joy and rejoice who favor my vindication.” It's not all about David but David is the representative of God, he is God's spokesman, he is writing scripture. If you are doubtful about your faithfulness to God and representing Him, you better get that straightened out. David is confident that my vindication will encourage true believers in Israel. “Let them say continually, ‘The Lord be magnified,’ ” be made great. Remember we saw that, He gets honor, He gets all the credit. Look what the Lord did to intervene. Who but the Lord could do that. Then they say it continuously, this is to be the character of their life, “My tongue shall declare your righteousness and your praise all day long.” David wasn't in and out, he is in, all of him is in. And Lord, this battle, I represent You, and their attacks on me are because of my relationship to You. We don't want to lose sight of that, otherwise we are trying to come up, well, maybe if we did this differently, maybe we shouldn't say this. As long as we are teaching the Word, we want the Spirit to use it. I trust that is what you pray; I pray Lord, take the truth of the Word, impress it upon us, so it leads in praise.

Let me look at a couple of verses with you that just support what is going on in this psalm. Come to John 15, Jesus is preparing to leave His disciples and He wants to put some things clear. He has told them to love one another, but love is going to be in the context of hate. Verse 17, “This I command you, that you love one another.” Note verse 18, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” Now note this, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world,” now here is the issue, “but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” If you want the world to love you, you will have to deny that God chose you. The devil knows who you are, he knew Job when God brought him up in the conversation. Have you considered my servant Job and his faithfulness and his righteous life? I sometimes think, what about if in the courts of heaven God said to Satan, have you considered my servant Gil, my servant so-and-so. Yes, I've considered him, you treat him pretty good. Let me at him, we'll see how he does. We don't want to wilt, we expect to be hated. Why does the world hate me? I try to be a good person, I try to be a good neighbor, I try to be a good worker, I try to be a good testimony. Our church tries… You can't get over the stigma, it's all known in the spirit world that Christ chose you, therefore the world hates you. No matter how it is papered over, in God's common grace there is a certain restraint going on. We get to the Tribulation, we're finding it more and more open in this country. Do you notice how sin becomes more and more prevalent and an intolerance toward anything associated with the Bible? We've talked about it. Twenty or thirty years ago Jerry Falwell had the Moral Majority because even though people aren't saved they are moral. They are not, every thought of the intent of their heart is only evil continually.

So we need to keep this in mind, that's what David is talking about. He is hated, but it's not because of who he is or what he has done. So we want to live godly lives, we want to be good neighbors, we want to treat people properly. The forces are marshaled against us and the attacks come. The gloves come off, so to speak. Lord, You must intervene, they will destroy us, they will destroy me, they will destroy Your work, we must survive to be a testimony for You. If we don't we'll accept that as His will, but we're not going to sit down and let it go by.

John 17:14, same thing. God (Jesus) is praying to His heavenly Father and says, “I have given them your Word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” The church is the pillar and support of the truth, what do you think in the heart of the unbeliever is the attitude toward the church of Jesus Christ which is the pillar and support of the truth? When they hate the Word of God, and as the church tries to fit more into the world and adjust and do things that will be approved by the world and the world will think, “Good.” We're playing games and they are fighting a war. I mean, it's silly, but it's too serious. It is given God's Word, we are hated but I never lose sight of it. I realize at heart the kindest believer to me. Thinking that when I was sharing the Word with an unbeliever who is just a great person. But when I pushed on the gospel the pushback got stronger and there was some irritation beginning to show. And you realize at heart, we get along, we tried, but the tension is there.

We don't want to be like the church at Laodicea. Paul told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 16:22, we don't have time to look at more verses, but in 1 Corinthians 16:22 God says if anyone does not love Christ, let him be anathema. We talk about the imprecatory psalm, a psalm of curses. Do you know what anathema is? A curse. That's what Paul said in Galatians 1, I want to talk a little bit about some of this stuff with you tonight in an expanded Q&A time. Anybody who corrupts the gospel, I don't care if it is an angel of heaven, he's anathema, there is no middle ground on this, he is cursed to hell. Now that's about as strong as David. Where do we get this…(mumbling) um-m-m, well, I don’t know… No! And furthermore the attacks on the church come from within, the devastating attacks on our church and other churches. They don't come from outside, the Muslims haven't done us any damage, the Mormons haven't done us any damage, and on you go, name them. All the battles come from within. Here David is dealing with Israelites, Jews, the animosity stirred up.

Paul told the Corinthian church there must be division among you so those who pass the test become evident. He also warned, and I think it is interesting, in 1 Corinthians 3, do you know what he tells them? You the church, ‘you’ is plural there, are the temple of God, the place where God dwells. He dwells in us personally, He dwells in us corporately. If anyone destroys the church of God, God will destroy him. That's talking about writing to the Corinthians and they had divisions. Paul said let's clear the air here, and maybe in God's plan He allows that church to be destroyed, that those people are going to hell, God will destroy them. This is serious business, we act like we are playing a game, don't want to get too worked up about it. You don't want to go out on the battlefield and not know which side you are on. Some people profess to be believers but don't want to be identified. Can't happen.

We'll leave Jeremiah, I have a number of passages, I love the book of Jeremiah, he's the one I quoted, all my friends watching for my downfall. And he has some strong things to say, I wrote down Jeremiah 11, 12, 18, 20 just as examples. You can read Jeremiah, he calls the same kind of judgment down on the Jews that were opposing him. If you don't represent God, decide where you are. If those who are attacking God are attacking you, accept it. And that's where we want to be as a church, and we want to encourage one another, we want to stand with one another. And that's why Hebrews says we don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together because we are to provoke one another. But he uses it for good things. We provoke one another, but sometimes the wrong way. We are to provoke one another to love and good deeds, and we thank God that He has brought us together for that purpose.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word, the clarity of Your Word. Thank you for Psalm 35. Lord, it is easy for us as believers in a rather comfortable country, a comfortable situation with minimal overt opposition and persecution to become comfortable and become more concerned about our comfortable life than our faithful life. Lord, we want to be faithful to You. Thank you for your grace that has saved us. Lord, I am aware there can be people sitting here who are not on your side, have not come to the redemption that is in Christ, though they may be dressed up as a believer. But Lord, You are looking at our hearts, You are looking at us as we are. I pray that the truth of your Word will convict them and they realize You are a God of wrath, but You are a God of love, and in love You invite them to come and believe in the Savior, experience the inner cleansing that He gives to be made new. But also may they be aware that if they spurn that love, they are just building up further wrath to come on the day of judgment. May we who believe be faithful, may our lives be consistent, may we be able to testify with David that the accusations are not true, we are living righteously. We pray in Christ's name, amen.