Psalms Chapter 35: Verses 15-2 #PraiseHim #TheStormIsRaging #ShoutOut #Joy #Troubles #Jesus #IsYourHeartTroubles “We must wrestle earnestly in prayer, like men contending with a deadly enemy for life.” – J. C. Ryle (Unless otherwise stated all Scriptures in this devotional are from the King James Version of the Bible located on www.Biblegateway.com.)
They Want To Devour Me, God!
- 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:
- 16 With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.
Trouble surrounded David. He did not know why. His enemies “gathered themselves together [he did not understand why] “They did tear me, and ceased not.” This is reminiscent of Job’s situation in Job 16:9 ESV “He has torn me in his wrath and hated me; he has gnashed his teeth at me; my adversary sharpens his eyes against me.”
Could his enemies have been jealous of his relationship with the Almighty? Saul Certainly was!
- Psalm 37:12 (ESV) “The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him,”
- Psalms 112:10 “The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!”
- Lam. 2:16 “All your enemies rail against you; they hiss, they gnash their teeth,
they cry: “We have swallowed her! Ah, this is the day we longed for;
now we have it; we see it!”Cayce states
“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” (Cayce 2018, Psalms 35).
We know the end of David’s story! This is not a game that we are playing. The enemy is seeking to devour whomever he can, and he will use every weapon available to him to make his battle plan work. Do you know what the most effective one is, jealousy coupled with division! Note that David is expecting deliverance.
“17Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.” He did not ask God if he had forgotten him. He did not ask God what sin he had committed. WHY? BECAUSE he knew what Peter knew “2 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.”
He just asked to be rescued. We have several life parallels that we can draw here,
- When our health is out of control who do we turn to expecting relief to receive some sort of relief from whatever it is? Do we believe that He will make it happen? He made every cell in our bodies. He knows out blood type, DNA, and things about us that doctors have not figured out yet. So, yes cry out to him like David! No, I am not telling you that you cannot and should not visit a doctor. Know that every medication that we take has a side-effect. Healing does not. Go to your doctor and Ask God to cover you with His blood. Expect a healing expect and receive it now! It has already happened in the spirit realm. Then we will do what David is doing right now. He is giving thanks!
18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.
- 19Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
- 20For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.
- 21Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.
Have you ever had someone blatantly lie about what they claim you said? Then made a decision based on that lie? Then told everyone whom they could that you said “XYZ?” This is what is happening to David heren and he is tired of it. “19Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: [they have no reason to despise him] neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause. Cayce proposes that“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.” Has this ever happened to you?
Someone proposes something that you do not have a clue about. Before you know it they have bastioned support for their idea, and they give you a nod and a wink so to speak? YUP! David has been there.
And it continues “20For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.” A two-faced person who is looking for self-glory can never be trusted. With one side of their mouth they will speak peace, but with the other, they are making plans against their leader. David was still the King of Israel. Why did these people think it was ok to do this? This kind of behavior comes from the pit of hell and God will send it back to where it came from.
“21Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.” A clear lie. Scripture does not indicate that David did anything wrong here.
Ok, God! I Know that You are Seeing This! Do something!
- 22This thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me.
- 23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.
- 24 Judge me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.
Above we can see the urgency of the statements that David made to God. God, I know that you have seen this so why are you silent. “O Lord, be not far from me.” David is not saying that God has left him altogether. He is stating that he needs to experience “God’s presence of deliverance from his enemies. Right now we would be crying on our bed, sprawled out before the throne, “Get up God-rise up!. Judge my enemies.” Judge them God, not according to me,” [but]according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.” David knew that he was chosen by God. 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” God knew David’s heart before he anointed him as the King of Israel. Does God know our hearts? He has given us the most precious gift that anyone could ever receive, adoption into the Family of God AND the gift of eternal life.
- 25Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.
- 26Let 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 enemies of David were not playing around they wanted him destroyed. Just read verses 25. “5 Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.” Know this and know this well my dear friends. Fear, confusion, anxiety, fright, all come from the pit of hell. These are the weapons of warfare that the enemy uses to keep people away from God. David declared in verse 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.”
Many of us have family members who do not believe that we are fighting a battle of spiritual warfare. That is ok. Forgive them. Pray for them. Pray that they never have to fight this specific that you are engaged in. Obviously, they are not strong enough to take this type of ‘licking” and keep on praising God. God will remove the shame that anyone has brought against you! Please know this. The same unpleasant people whom the devil use to accuse you unjustly, will one day stand before the Supreme Court Judge of all the earth. Their shame will be evident as judgment is pronounced against them. Are you a child of God? Are you an anointed child of God? Then read on. Psalm 105:14-15 (ESV) “he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!” There is a time of reckoning coming. Just trust in the Lord. David once again ends the psalm with praises.
27Let 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. 28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.
References
Cayce, Ken. 2017. “Books of the Bible.” http://www.bible-studys.org/About%20Me.html. Accessed August 29, 2018
Longman, Tremper, III. 2014. Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. Accessed September 15, 2018. ProQuest Ebook Central.
You Are Not the Only One 