Psalm 35 vs 1-5
1 Contend O Lord with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!
2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help!
3 Draw out also the spear and javelin and close up the way of those who pursue and persecute me, Say to me I am your deliverance!
4 Let them be put to shame and dishonour who seek and require my life; let them be turned back and confounded who plan my hurt!
5 Let them be as chaff before the wind, with the Angel of the Lord driving them on!
The bible records this as a Psalm of David. It might be the only one in which the first five sentences all end with an exclamation mark. In other words, a shout!
Anyone thinking the Psalms are a series of sweet songs about God, David playing gently on his harp on a rock in Israel somewhere, hasn’t seen the whole picture. Many of them are like the open pages of a diary, where the personal thoughts (of David) are laid bare for all to see.
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And in many instances it’s not pretty. It’s rough, raw emotion, with brutal honesty and open desperation.
Sometimes, as Christians, you kind of sum up David’s life as Jesse’s favoured child anointed by Samuel, knocked over Goliath, ran from Saul. Then became king, defeated more Philistines. Becomes great.
Later he gets distracted, falls for Bathsheba, gets her pregnant, has her husband murdered and then gradually sees his family fall apart. At some stage his son Absolom tries to take the kingdom from him by force, but ends up being killed in battle.
Yet somehow David survives all these things and keeps going.
God’s purpose still prevails in David’s life – mainly that from his line the Messiah would come – despite all his many mistakes. The Psalms vividly and sometimes shockingly describe his feelings at various stages in his life.
David has a way of always turning the focus on, or to, God. Sure, he pleads for his life often, for protection and safety and guidance. Like all of us, at times he’s scared, maybe terrified. Yet, he’s also not shy to ask – almost demand – of God to step up in a big way when he feels his life is really under threat.
He asks God to fight for him, because he knows he cannot do it in his own strength. You still get the feeling that it is not necessarily for his own good, but for God’s plan to succeed. So, if you are in a battle, call on God like David did.
It’s not difficult to get a picture of him perhaps in the desert or in a forest, crying out to God at the top of his voice.
Shouting.
Yes, there were times when he played the harp and sang, but this occasion was straight from the heart.
Trust God to give you the relief you need, or the answers you require.
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