PSALMS 36
We will begin this lesson by giving the 35th Psalm in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 35
verse 1 "Lord plead my cause against my foes, Against them fight that
fight with me; With shield and buckler them oppose, stand up
and my defender be."
verse 2 "Draw out the spear, and close the way Against the men that
me oppress; And to my soul, in mercy say, I am thy Saviour
in distress."
verse 3 "Ashamed, confounded let them be, That to destroy my soul
have sought; Brought to confusion let them flee, Turned
backward to me plot."
verse 4 "Jehovah's angel, in his wrath, Drive them like chaff before
the wind; All dark and slippery make their path, His angel
pressing hard behind."
verse 5 "Without a cause a snare they laid, Within a pit which they
prepared, A pit which without cause they made, In which my
soul may be ensnared."
verse 6 "Let him with sudden ruin meet, And let him struggle in the
snare, Which he had spread for other feet; Yea, let him meet
destruction there."
verse 7 "Then shall my soul in God rejoice, in His salvation joyful
be, And all my frame shall lift its voice, And say, Lord,
who is like to thee?"
verse 8 "Who is like thee, who dost defend The needy poor against the
strong; Who to the poor dost help extend, To save from him
that would him wrong?"
verse 9 "False witnesses against me stood; Of things I knew not,
charges made. They me rewarded ill for good; To rob my soul
they ill repaid."
verse 10 "But I in mourning garb was clad, When they in sickness
suffered pain. I made my soul with fasting sad; My prayer to
me returned again."
verse 11 "As one for friend's or brother's woes, So I for them went
sadly on; As one for mother mourning goes, So I with grief
went bowing down."
verse 12 "But they rejoiced in my distress; To mock, the abjects
gathered were; Unknown to me, around did press; With
ceaseless slanders did me tear."
Verse 13 "With hypocrites at feasts that mock, They with their teeth
have gnashed on How long, Jehovah, wilt thou look; me. How
long wilt thou their raging see?"
Verse 14 "My soul from their destructions guard; My darling from the
lions bring; Then in the great assembly, Lord, among the
people, praise I'll sing."
Verse 15 "Let not my causeless foes, elate With joy, o'er me
triumphant cry; Nor they who me unjustly hate, With secret
scorning wink the eye."
Verse 16 "They speak not peace, but falsehoods Against the quiet ones
devise; they Make wide their mouths at me, and say, "Aha!
we've seen it with our eyes.""
Verse 17 "This thou hast seen, thy silence break! Lord, be from me not
far away. Stir up thyself, my God, awake To judgment; nor my
cause delay."
Verse 18 "Judge me in righteousness O God; Let them not triumph over
me; Nor from their hearts proclaim abroad, "Aha! our soul's
desire we see."
Verse 19 "Let them who glory in my fall, not say, "we have him
swallowed quite!" Dishonor, shame, confound them all, Who
rise against me in their might."
Verse 20 "But let them shout, let them rejoice, Who long to see me
justified; Yea, let them say, with ceaseless voice, The
Lord, the Lord be magnified."
Verse 21 "The Lord who loves his servant's peace, To him prosperity
doth give. My joyful tongue shall never cease To praise thy
justice while I live."
We will begin now the verse by verse study of Psalms chapter 35.
Psalms 35:1 "{ [A Psalm] of David.} Plead [my cause], O LORD, with
them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me."
We see a troubled David, whose enemy wants to utterly destroy
him. We know that the enemy of all believers is our adversary, the
devil. The devil may try to accuse us to the Father, but we have an
advocate {Jesus Christ the Righteous}. Jesus pleads our case, every
time the devil tries to accuse us. We read in the previous lesson, how
the Lord will send angels to encamp around us, and keep us safe from
our enemies.
Psalms 35:2 "Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for
mine help."
The only true meaning that I can get from this is that, Almighty
God stands between us and any danger. He protects us. He is our
shield, and He builds a hedge around us to keep us from harm.
Psalms 35:3 "Draw out also the spear, and stop [the way] against
them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I [am] thy salvation."
The salvation of our soul is in belief in Jesus Christ as our
Saviour and Lord. Draw out the spear, means that He will hold them at
a distance, and will not let harm come to His own. No harm will come
nigh unto the chosen of God.
Psalms 35:4 "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."
This reminds me of the confusion that went on when Gideon with
300 choice servants of God confused, confounded, and actually drove
away thousands of the enemies troops in terror.
Psalms 35:5 "Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the
angel of the LORD chase [them]."
Ungodly men have no root within, and any wind could blow them
away. We see an example from the following Scripture just what the
angel of the Lord can do all by himself. Isaiah 37:36 "Then the angel
of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a
hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in
the morning, behold, they [were] all dead corpses." You can see just
how serious it would be for this angel of the Lord to be fighting
against you. David is asking, in the verse above, for this angel of
the Lord to chase his enemies.
Psalms 35:6 "Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the
angel of the LORD persecute them."
Not only will this angel of the Lord be persecuting them, but
David is saying, make their path dark where they can not see, as well.
Psalms 35:7 "For without cause have they hid for me their net
[in] a pit, [which] without cause they have digged for my soul."
David is saying, that without any provocation on his part, these
evil people have tried to set a trap for him. This undoubtedly is a
hole in the ground with a net stretched over the top. When Joseph went
to see his brothers, they threw him into a pit. Joseph had not really
done anything bad to these half-brothers of his, either. You remember
they sold Joseph to some merchants passing through. Joseph was sold
into slavery in Egypt. This sometimes is the way it is now. The more
you try to help some people, the more hurt they try to cause you. The
problem in all of these cases is, the devil is influencing these
people and causing them to do evil things.
Psalms 35:8 "Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let
his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let
him fall."
We know from the story in Genesis about Joseph that, this is just
what happened to Joseph's brothers. They were caught in their own net
of deception. They had told their dad that Joseph had been killed by
wild animals, but in the end, they had to tell their dad of their
lies. To keep their families from starving to death, they had to go to
Joseph for help. When a person sets a trap for someone else, he
usually gets caught in the trap himself.
Psalms 35:9 "And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall
rejoice in his salvation."
This is a complete change of thought from the previous verse.
David feels that God has rescued him, and he is rejoicing in his
salvation. Notice, that David is not rejoicing at the destruction of
his enemy, but is rejoicing in the fact that he had been saved. We
should not rejoice in the problems of others, even if they have tried
to do us wrong.
Psalms 35:10 "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?"
David is saying, everything within me praises God, who delivered
me from my enemies, who were much stronger physically than me. The
Lord cares for those who are weaker and the poor.
Psalms 35:11 "False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge
[things] that I knew not."
David was accused of trying to kill Saul, when, in fact, David
could have killed him and didn't. This has been the same all through
the ages. The accusers of Jesus were false witnesses, as well. The
same is true today. If you are trying to live for God, there will be
false accusers who try to tear your reputation down. We should
rejoice, when they accuse us falsely, because they did the same thing
to Jesus.
Psalms 35:12 "They rewarded me evil for good [to] the spoiling of
my soul."
David felt the hurt in his soul that had been done by these evil
ones he had been loyal to. The evil one has never changed his ways, it
is the same now. It seems the more you try to help someone, the more
they try to do harm to you. We need not worry about these things. God
will take care of it for us, just like He did for David.
Psalms 35:13 "But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing
[was] sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer
returned into mine own bosom."
This again, has not changed from David's time. We fast and pray
for them, and God heals them, and a week later they have forgotten,
and are telling terrible tales on you. The devil's tactics never
change, the players are just a different group.
Psalms 35:14 "I behaved myself as though [he had been] my friend
[or] brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth [for his]
mother."
Even though this was an enemy of David's, he prayed and cried
before God in behalf of him. Jesus told us to do just this thing in
the following Scripture Matthew 5:44 "But I say unto you, Love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" We see
in the last Scripture, what we are to do. Now look in the following
Scripture, and see why we are to do it. Matthew 5:45 "That ye may be
the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and
on the unjust."
Psalms 35:15 "But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered
themselves together: [yea], the abjects gathered themselves together
against me, and I knew [it] not; they did tear [me], and ceased not:"
Abjects, in the verse above, means smiters. The world rejoices
when a Christian falls. In fact, it is front line news. The television
is full of it, as well. The sad thing is that, the Christian brothers
and sisters take no wounded, they kill their fallen brothers. The
wicked in David's time, and even now, rejoice when those trying to
live for God have problems. My own personal belief is, they believe
when someone falls, it makes them look better.
Psalms 35:16 "With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed
upon me with their teeth."
Jealousy causes this sort of thing. These mockers knew that David
was a better man than they were. They felt they would look better in
the eyes of Saul, if they said every ugly thing they could think of
against David. Some people have the idea that the way to the top is by
pushing others down. In reality, the best way to get to the top is by
building others up.
Psalms 35:17 "Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul
from their destructions, my darling from the lions."
Many times it appears to us that God is slow in punishing someone
for their evil deeds. We will see in the following Scripture that God
is giving them a time to repent. II Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance." When we were on the side of the
sinner, we were very thankful that the Lord gave us a few more days to
repent.
Psalms 35:18 "I will give thee thanks in the great congregation:
I will praise thee among much people."
This is very similar to giving your testimony in church today.
When God has delivered us, or David, from a terrible situation, we
need to go before the congregation and tell of the wonderful thing God
has done. To God be the glory!
Psalms 35:19 "Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully
rejoice over me: [neither] let them wink with the eye that hate me
without a cause."
This winking of the eye is a sign that you have tricked someone.
It, also, shows an arrogant satisfaction that you have defeated
someone. David does not want them bragging of a victory, they have not
won.
Psalms 35:20 "For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful
matters against [them that are] quiet in the land."
Those who are under the influence of Satan, then or now, sow
discord. A person who is under the influence of Satan has no character
himself and his greatest desire is to destroy someone else's
character.
Psalms 35:21 "Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, [and]
said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen [it]."
Our church is in a rural setting, and people were amazed that we
would come to such a remote area and start a church. Without even
knowing anything about us, the rumors began to fly. I really have to
chuckle at one of the things that was said. It was said that we must
not be the correct type of church, because we had church more than
once a week. Just as in the problem with David above, the tales they
are opening their mouths wide to say, need not make good sense. They
are claiming to be an eye witness, and nothing really has been done
wrong.
Psalms 35:22 "[This] thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O
LORD, be not far from me."
David is feeling very alone. He says, You know it is true what
they are doing Lord, because you have seen it Yourself. David needs
very much to know the presence of the LORD at this point.
Psalms 35:23 "Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, [even]
unto my cause, my God and my Lord." Psalms 35:24 "Judge me, O LORD my
God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over
me."
I am so thankful that the world is not our judge. I can say along
with David, You Judge me Lord. I have been washed in the blood of the
precious Lamb, and am covered with His righteousness. I have nothing
to fear from the righteous Judge.
Psalms 35:25 "Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we
have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up."
David is feeling the pain that the evil tongues around him have
brought against him.
Psalms 35:26 "Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion
together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and
dishonour that magnify [themselves] against me."
These evil people, who accuse the brethren unjustly, will stand
before the Judge of all the earth, and they will be ashamed. It is a
very dangerous thing to come against God's anointed.
Psalms 35:27 "Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my
righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be
magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant."
Christians should rejoice at the success of others who are
working for God. No jealousy should exist between brothers and sisters
in Christ. Any minister will tell you that his or her ministry is just
as successful as those who pray for them. The success of David should
be a rejoicing time for all of his followers. We all benefit when one
of God's children win a victory.
Psalms 35:28 "And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness
[and] of thy praise all the day long."
David is saying that, he will praise God from morning to evening.
We are told to pray without ceasing. There is no time more glorious
for the believer than when he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that
God has won the victory for him. We studied in chapter 34 of this
series that David said, "I will bless the LORD at all times: His
praise shall continually be in my mouth." Every Christian should join
David and praise God all the day long, for He has done marvellous
things for us.
Questions 36
1. Who is the enemy of all believers?
2. Who is our advocate, if we are believers?
3. What is the salvation of our soul?
4. What does draw out the spear mean?
5. What does the confusion, spoken of in verse 4, remind the author
of?
6. Why can ungodly men be easily blown away?
7. In the 37th chapter of Isaiah, how many of the enemy was killed
by the angel of the Lord?
8. The pit, in verse 7, is possibly what sort of a trap?
9. Who is a good example of someone, who did no harm, being
persecuted by his brothers?
10. When a person sets a trap for someone else, what usually happens?
11. In verse 9, what was David rejoicing of?
12. What kind of witnesses accused David?
13. How was this similar to the accusations made against Jesus?
14. What attitude did David have when his enemies were sick?
15. In verse 14 David said, he had treated them as if they were whom?
16. Quote Matthew chapter 5 verse 44.
17. Why are we to pray for our enemies?
18. What does the word abjects mean?
19. Who rejoices when a Christian falls?
20. What usually causes hypocritical mockers?
21. Quote 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9.
22. Where does David promise to praise God?
23. What is the winking of the eye a sign of?
24. What have the followers of Satan always sown?
25. Who is David willing to judge him?
26. Why do we believers in the Lord have no fear of being judged by
Jesus?
27. How should Christians react to the success of other Christians?
28. When should we praise God?
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