Rise Up Oh Lord, And Rescue Me (Psalm 35)
The deep pain of David’s life is oftentimes found within the psalms. And that is what we find in Psalm 35. Psalm 34 and Psalm 35 are a pair of psalms that deal with the same situation, which is David’s escape from Saul (1 Samuel 21:10-15). Psalm 34 is a celebratory psalm concerning David’s miraculous escape from Saul and the Philistines. Psalm 35, which comes after, is not celebratory at all. In fact, he is pleading with the Lord to finally rescue him after so many injustices have been falling upon him.
Here is 1 Samuel 21:10-15.
“And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”” (1 Samuel 21:10-15 ESV)
David was running from Saul and trapped among the Philistines. He pretended to have lost his mind and he was allowed to go free. Psalm 34 celebrates that. But what happened in Psalm 35.
In Psalm 34 David was celebrating a major victory, but all was not over. Saul was still chasing him. People were still doing him wrong. And this led him to say, “How long, O Lord, will you look on?” (Psalm 35:17 ESV) “God, how long will you watch me suffer in this situation?” David had done nothing to deserve this treatment. And so he asked, “How long will you allow these people to do this to me?”
That is a question that all of us have likely asked God at some point in our lives. And if you haven’t, then you have likely asked yourself why the storms keep coming. I know that I have.
And in those situations, it is good and right to plead with the Lord to rise up and rescue us.
Part of the beauty of the psalms is that it teaches us how to pray and think through many of the emotions we have in this life. And here we see how to pray and think when the storms keep coming and our hearts are crying out, “How long, O Lord?”.
Lord, Be My Shield (1-10)
David is here pleading with God to avenge him and uphold the cause of righteousness. And the picture of rescue here is not subtle, but quite violent. That is seen clearly in the weapons that are pictured in this rescue. David tells God to get weapons of war for the rescue. We all know what a shield is, and it is a defensive weapon that a person might bring to a fight. He then lists the buckler, which is a small shield and is also a possible defensive weapon for a fight, thought it could be used more offensively than a shield. He then asks the Lord to “draw the spear and javelin” (Psalm 35:3). A spear was larger and held. A javelin was a small spear meant for throwing at enemies. He is asking God to go on the warpath and defend him (Psalm 35:1-2). And through this, say to him, “I am your salvation!” (Psalm 35:3 ESV).
David then begins to discuss what is happening and why he is asking for the Lord’s help. There are people plotting against him, and I believe that we have all probably faced situations where people were attempting to do us harm. So, I think that we can feel the deep pain of David at this point. And here he asks the Lord to destroy those who are seeking after his life. He desires for those who are plotting against him to be put to shame and to be dishonored (Psalm 35:4). He desires for those who plot against him to be turned back and disappointed (Psalm 35:4) David wants them to end up like chaff that is driven away by the wind, which is a visual from harvesting grain. A person would use a pitchfork like object to throw the grain in the air. The lighter chaff would fly away, and the grain would be left. And he wants the angel of the Lord to chase them away. And he wants their path to be filled with peril with the angel of the Lord in hot pursuit of them (Psalm 35:6).
This is a long series of visuals that help us to understand that David is praying for the Lord to bring about the downfall of the people who are bringing him harm. He wants the Lord to come to His protection and to bring them to ruin.
And David had good reason for feeling this way. These people sought his destruction though he’d done nothing wrong. So, David wants destruction to fall upon them (Psalm 35:7-8). Therefore, if God would do this, it would be cause for great rejoicing (Psalm 35:9-10).
Consider what was happening here carefully. We always think of David as being mighty. And, he was a mighty and celebrated warrior at this point in his life. But David was weak in comparison to the king. And at this point he was without hope, lest the Lord save. The king was definitely too strong for him.
When it feels as if all the world stands against you, go to the Lord. The Lord is our protector. And we go to Him. We trust in Him for our redemption, our salvation. And so we go to Him.
Personally, I’m guessing that you have at one time or another really related to the hardships that David felt in this text. You have been hurt by others or betrayed. We live in a fallen and sinful world, and people do awful things to each other. And it is often without cause. It is not wrong to pray for God to come to our aid and overturn the plans of those who harm us.
I must argue with many commentaries concerning this idea. Most commentaries today do not see it as appropriate in light of the gospel, to pray for God to avenge us. But I do not believe it necessary or helpful to explain away the text. While I do think it is good and right to pray for the conversion of sinners, there is a place to cry out for God’s vengeance. There is a time and place to call upon the Lord to crush our enemies and to give us peace through His perfect justice.
So, we should be people who both pray for the conversion of our enemies. We pray for those who attempt to do us harm, for their conversion and for their eternal life. But there are times when we pray for God to come, weapons in hand, to destroy our enemies.
As the Church grows more and more hated, and it does, I expect more and more people to hate God’s people in America without cause.
Lord, Rise Up And Protect Me (Psalm 35:11-23)
The evil seems to be coming at David from every direction and at all times. People seem to rise up against him constantly. It just seems like the barrage won’t stop. It is coming from people he does not know (Psalm 35:11). It comes from people he has been incredibly kind to, but betrayed him anyway (Psalm 35:12). They were not unknown to him. He had genuinely loved and cared for them (Psalm 35:12-14). And now these people were rejoicing at his falling (Psalm 35:15). And while this was happening, those people that he didn’t even know were fighting and tearing at him (Psalm 35:16). The nightmare just wouldn’t stop.
Exasperated David went to the Lord. “How long, O LORD, will you look on?” (Psalm 35:17a ESV) He is pleading with the Lord to end the barrage that the Lord seems to just let continue. All of this is happening to him, and the Lord is doing nothing about it. The people are tearing at him like lions, and he just wants the Lord to intervene (Psalm 35:17). If the Lord would just rescue him, it would lead to praise of God’s grace and goodness (Psalm 35:18).
You can really feel the pain of David here. He is being torn apart by a whole host of different people. And the Lord has not yet intervened. They lie, they slander, they hurl accusations, and his desire is simply that the Lord would not let them succeed (Psalm 35:19-21).
And then, David calls upon the Lord to arise, as if God has been asleep through all of the madness. He feels that God has waited long enough, and he desires that God would arise and take action.
Sometimes it feels as if many dark days go by without the aid of the Lord. Sometimes the dark night can last a long time. And sometimes it can lead us to exasperation.
But we do not give up hope in the Lord. In that time we go to the Lord with more fervor. We plead with Him to arise. We plead with Him to come to our aid. And we plead with Him to vindicate us, to let the world see that we are on the side of righteousness.
We are God’s people through the finished work of Christ. God made a way for us to be His and has brought us to Himself. He is our adopted children. Therefore, we will not fear anything that comes at us.
When the accusations come, and the lies are hurled, let us pray for the Lord to vindicate us. Let us pray that the traps that people set for us fall upon their selves. Let us pray that God will arise and give us aid.
Lord, Vindicate Me (Psalm 35:24-28)
The vindication that David asks for here is to be cleared of accusation and wrong. He is asking for the Lord to prove that he was on the side of righteousness all along (Psalm 35:24-28). He asks for those who sought to do him evil be filled with shame, disappointment, and dishonor while those on the side of righteousness are filled with rejoicing and praise.
Isn’t this what we desire when people are wronging us? They make us feel like we are shameful and dishonorable when it is really the person behaving so horribly that is deserving of shame. Let those who sought to do us wrong be the ones who are filled with same, disappointment, and dishonor. And let the righteous rejoice.
When we are wronged, we long for it to be made right. We long for God to settle accounts. We long for Him to make things right.
Conclusion
Hard times will come. And sometimes those difficult days will be long. Sometimes it will feel as if God is not there. But He is. God is there. And we are to continually pound on His door until He rescues us. And the reason we are spending so much time in prayer before the Lord seeking deliverance is because we trust in Him.
R. Dwain Minor