Please take your Bibles and open them up to Psalm chapter 35 this morning.
! Psalm chapter 35. We're continuing on with our series this summer, walking our way through the Psalms.
And we found our way to Psalm 35.
And so when you found that, if you would, let's please stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.
David writes,
Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help.
Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers.
Say to my soul, I am your salvation.
Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek my life.
Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me.
Let them be like chaff before the wind with the angel of the Lord driving them away.
Let their way be dark and slippery with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
For without cause they hid their net for me.
Without cause they dug a pit for my life.
Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it.
And let the net that he has hid ensnare him.
Let him fall into it to his destruction.
Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord, exalting in his salvation.
All my bones shall say, O Lord, who is like you?
Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him.
The poor and needy from him who robs him.
Malicious witnesses rise up.
They ask me of things that I do not know.
They repay me evil for good.
My soul is bereft.
But I, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth.
I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with my head bowed on my chest.
I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother.
As one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.
But at my stumbling, they rejoiced and gathered.
They gathered together against me.
Wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing.
Like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth.
How long, O Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their destruction.
My precious life from the lions.
I will thank you and the great congregation.
And the mighty throng, I will praise you.
Let not those who rejoice over me, who are wrongfully my foes.
And let not those who wink the eye, who hate me without cause.
For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land,
they devise words of deceit.
They open wide their mouths against me and they say,
Aha! Aha! Our eyes have seen it.
You have seen, O Lord.
Be not silent.
O Lord, be not far from me.
Awake.
Rouse yourself for my vindication,
for my cause, my Lord, my God.
Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
according to your righteousness.
And let them not rejoice over me.
Let them not say in their hearts, Aha!
Our hearts desire.
Let them not say we have swallowed them up.
Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether,
who rejoice at my calamity.
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor,
who magnify themselves against me.
Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad
and say evermore,
Great is the Lord who delights in the welfare of his servant.
Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all the day long.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God endures forever.
Would you pray with me once more?
Our Father, as we prepare to hear from you,
from your word this morning,
we ask, would you empower the preaching of your word by your spirit?
And would it bear much fruit in the hearts of all who hear this morning?
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may be seated.
Twelve years ago in Brooklyn, New York,
Larry Thompson was at his home when he heard a knock on his door.
And to his surprise, when he opened it up,
he saw police officers and emergency workers.
They were there to inspect and also to provide medical care
for his one-week-old daughter,
who, according to their sources, had been severely abused.
What Larry didn't know was that a mentally ill relative
had mistaken diaper rash for abuse
and had alerted the authorities.
To make matters worse, when he opened the door
and simply asked what was going on
and whether or not they had a warrant to enter his home,
the officers then aggressively forced their way in.
They tackled him to the ground.
They handcuffed him.
They arrested him.
And they threw him into jail.
Now, of course, the medical exams very quickly,
immediately proved that Larry was innocent.
No abuse had taken place.
But to cover their own tracks,
the officers then charged Larry
with obstructing governmental administration
as well as resisting arrest.
Larry spent three days in jail.
And then it took three months for the case
to reach the courts,
by which time the prosecution dropped the case
because they had no case to make.
Everyone knew that Larry was innocent.
But even so, in cases like this,
the social impact remains.
His name had been smeared.
His reputation was ruined.
So what did Larry do?
Well, he decided to turn around
and instead sue the officers
for malicious prosecution.
He appealed to the Court of Justice
to right this wrong
and bring consequences on those
who had borne false witness against him.
And now this process lasted eight years.
As court after court after court
rejected Larry's case
until finally in 2022,
Larry Thompson stood before
the Supreme Court of the United States
and in a landmark decision,
the Supreme Court ruled in Larry's favor,
clearing the legal hurdles
so that he could finally receive justice.
I wonder,
have you ever been wrongfully accused?
Have you ever had someone speak lies about you?
Have you ever been betrayed
by someone that you trusted?
Have you ever needed justice
and not been sure how to get it
or even where to turn to find it?
Where should God's people seek justice?
In our passage this morning,
Psalm 35,
King David is dealing with a similar situation.
Here in Psalm 35,
King David is dealing with false accusations.
He is dealing with betrayal of loved ones.
He is dealing with gross injustice.
And in light of his suffering,
he bypasses all human courts
and he takes his case all the way up to the top.
He brings his case and makes his plea
before the judge of all the universe.
And in doing so,
he shows us how we can respond
to injustice that we face as well.
The comfort that we share with David
is that because our God is just
and he cares deeply about justice,
we can call on him to act justly.
Let's take a look.
And we'll see the psalm this morning in three parts.
This will be our outline.
If you're taking notes,
this will help you to follow along.
We see the plea of the accused king
in verses 1 through 10.
We see the problem of the accused king
in verses 11 through 18.
And we see the praise of the accused king
in verses 19 through 28.
First, let's take a look at verses 1 through 10.
Here we see the plea of the accused king.
Look, they're starting in verse 1.
Now, we don't know the exact circumstances here.
We don't know exactly what's going on,
but it must be fairly intense.
You notice David frames this whole situation
with wartime language.
In verse 1,
he calls upon the Lord to contend
with those who contend against me,
fight against those who fight against me.
Now, you know, David is a warrior himself.
He's strong.
He's experienced in battle.
He's capable of handling these sort of violent interactions
in his own strength.
But you notice he doesn't take matters
into his own hands here.
Rather, he calls upon the Lord
to go to war against his enemies.
He wants God to be his defense.
In verse 2, he says,
take hold of shield and buckler
and rise for my help.
This is David asking God to protect him
on all sides from all types of attacks.
In the ancient world,
a warrior would use different types of shields
for different purposes.
In the sanah,
that's the shield here in verse 2,
that's for long-range defense.
This type of shield is a full body,
a massive shield is made of wood
and is covered up in leather.
And a warrior would anchor this shield down to the ground
and then hide behind it
so that he would be totally protected head to toe
from flaming arrows
that the enemy would shoot from a distance.
This is long-range defense.
The buckler, on the other hand,
that's probably what you think of
when you think of a shield.
It's a smaller shield.
It's rounded.
It's more mobile.
You strap it on your arm.
You carry it with you into battle.
And you use the buckler
to keep you safe from close-range attacks
like the dagger
or like the sword.
David's using this military language here
to call upon the Lord
to be his total defense
from attacks from afar
as well as attacks at close range.
Be my defense.
But it's not only a defensive prayer, is it?
He also prays that
God would go on the attack.
Verse 3.
God, draw the spear and the javelin
against my pursuers.
Say to my soul,
I'm your salvation.
Tell me you've got my back.
Tell me that you're going to defend me
and destroy my enemies.
Assure me that you're going to take care of this for me.
He wants his enemies to be shamed and dishonored.
He wants those who devise evil against him
to be turned back and disappointed.
Let them blow away like dust,
like chaff in the wind.
In fact, God, let the angel of the Lord
chase them away down a dark and a slippery path.
David prays that his enemy would be
held back in verse 2,
turned back in verse 4,
and driven back in verses 5 and 6.
And he calls upon God to do it.
In fact, he calls for a sort of
cosmic justice here.
Some people call it karma, right?
We know better.
He calls on God to bring their own schemes
back onto their own head.
He doesn't just want relief.
He wants a full reversal here.
He wants their sin to find them out.
Verse 7.
He says,
Isn't it interesting?
Goliath was beheaded by his own sword.
Haman was hung in the gallows
that he had prepared for Mordecai.
Pharaoh, after he orders the Hebrews
to be drowned in the Nile,
well, guess what?
Now his entire army is eventually
drowned in the Red Sea.
The officials who came up with the law
to have Daniel thrown into the lion's den,
guess what?
They are eventually thrown in themselves
and consumed by the lions.
The destruction of the Son of God
is at the same time
the destruction of the great enemy, Satan.
God often works in this way.
David prays,
God, would you bring the schemes of the wicked
right back on their own head?
And the natural question is,
can we pray like this?
Right?
When we face enemies,
can we pray like this?
When we face injustice,
can we pray like this?
Didn't Jesus tell us to love our enemies?
Didn't he tell us to pray
for those who persecute us?
Is there any place
for God's people to pray
that God would take up a spear
and chase our enemies
down a dark and slippery path?
Apparently David thinks so.
But we have to realize,
for one thing,
that this isn't just anyone praying this.
This is the anointed king.
This is the one, King David,
to whom God had promised
that the forever king,
King Jesus,
the Messiah,
would come from his line.
And so in one sense,
we need to understand
that these attacks against David
were not just attacks against David.
These are satanic attacks
against the Messiah
who will come from David's line.
But even so,
we also face the same great enemy.
We also live in a world
where the dark kingdom
would seek to destroy us
and deceive us
and separate us
from the love of God
if that were possible.
So what about us?
Is there a place
for God's people
to pray like this?
I think the answer
is yes.
We should pray
that God would both
deliver and destroy.
That God would both
save us
from the schemes
of our enemy
and bring his schemes
back on his own head.
That God would destroy
and deliver God's people.
But if,
if and only if,
we share David's perspective.
Look at what he says
in verses 9 and 10.
See, David is not
praying ultimately
for his own sake,
is he?
Although he certainly
gains from God
acting on his behalf.
David's not praying
vengeance on his enemies
for his own pleasure
and his own benefit.
Why does David pray
the way that he does?
He prays this way
because his heart
is consumed with zeal
for the glory of God.
He's not praying
to destroy his enemies
for his sake
and his kingdom.
He's praying
for God's kingdom
to be established
for God's sake
and God's glory.
So Christian,
can we pray like this?
Yes, we can.
We ought to pray
for God to act
and to chase back
and even to destroy
every enemy
that stands in the way
of God's kingdom
here on earth.
whether that be
sin in our own lives
or even against
false teaching
as Paul does
in Galatians.
You remember what he says?
If anyone preaches
another gospel,
may they be accursed.
That's an imprecatory prayer.
Or against obvious
acts of wickedness
and injustice
in the world around us.
I mean,
how should God's people
pray about the abortion
industry that kills
millions of unborn
children every year?
How should God's people
pray against
militant Muslims
who want to wipe
off Christianity
from the face
of the planet?
It is not wrong
for us to pray,
God,
protect your church.
Draw them into
your church
if at all possible.
Please, God,
would you save
your enemies?
But God,
would you bring
justice swiftly?
Would you put an end
to their wickedness?
And in fact,
do you realize
every time we pray
come quickly,
Lord Jesus,
we pray
an imprecatory prayer
against the wicked?
Do you realize
every time we pray
for the Lord
to come back,
we are praying
for a moment
that will bring
swift judgment?
It's okay to pray
as David prays here,
but only if
at the center of it all.
It's not our own
selfish desire
for vengeance.
Rather,
it is a desire
for God
to be glorified
in bringing justice.
This is what he says
in verse 9.
He says,
Then my soul
will rejoice
in the Lord,
exalting in his salvation.
All my bones
shall say,
O Lord,
who is like you?
Delivering the poor
from him
who is too strong
for him,
the poor and the needy
from him
who robs him.
God is pleased
to answer prayers
like this.
Christian,
when we face injustice
and when we
see injustice
in the world,
we are invited
on the basis
of God's own
desire for his glory
to ask him
to take up arms
and act.
This is what David does.
This is the plea
of the accused king.
Second,
we see the problem
of the accused king.
We see this in verses 11
through 18.
Do you wonder,
what in the world
has David so upset?
What could be going on
in his life
that's causing him
to use such harsh
and severe language here?
What is the injustice
that he's facing?
Well, we see it here
in this second section.
Verse 11,
he says,
malicious witnesses
rise up.
They ask me
of things
that I do not know.
In other words,
they are saying
such ridiculous things
about David
that he's got
no answer to give.
He's at a loss
for words.
He doesn't even know
what to say.
He doesn't even know
what they're talking about.
Have you ever had
that happen to you?
Or someone's just saying
something so ridiculous
about you
that you're just stunned?
You don't even know
how to give a response?
I have.
In fact,
I'll tell you
a quick story.
Shortly after we
were married,
we arrived in Charlotte,
Amanda and I,
and we lived
in this apartment complex.
I haven't thought
about this in years.
We had a neighbor
named Rodney
who knew
that I was preparing
for ministry
and so Rodney
liked to try
and talk about
spiritual things.
But at the same time,
Rodney liked to drink
and so that made
for some interesting
interactions
that we would have
and one day
I was coming
to our apartment
and Rodney met me
at the stairs
and he told me
that he was a prophet
and I thought,
okay,
Jesus Christ
is the last prophet
but I'll humor you.
You can share with me
what's on your mind
and so he looked me
in the eye
and said,
the woman
that you're living with
is not your wife.
I didn't know
what to say
and so I just
pointed at my wedding ring
and I said,
I'm sorry,
try again
but I wondered,
who else is he
sharing that prophecy with?
It wasn't true
but sometimes
it doesn't even matter
whether it's true
or not.
Could you imagine
the damage that would do
if other people
in that apartment complex
thought,
hey man,
this guy who's training
to be a pastor,
he's living with somebody
that's not even his wife.
What's going on here?
These accusers
are just making things up
about David.
He doesn't even know
what to say
and these little accusations
and rumors,
these are like flaming arrows
that are shot
from a distance.
They're these little whispers
of false accusation
that have caught David
completely off guard
and so David asks God
to be his shield
because these arrows
are flying all around
and he has no clue
how to even answer them.
But it's not just
the flaming arrows
you remember.
It's also the close strike
of the dagger.
Look there at verse 12.
He says,
they repay me evil
for good.
My soul is bereft
but I,
when they were sick,
I wore sackcloth.
I afflicted myself
with fasting.
I prayed with my head
bound down on my chest.
I went about
as though I was grieving
for my friend
or my brother
and my mother.
I bowed down in mourning.
When these people
were down and out
and when they were sick,
David poured out
his heart for them.
He fasted.
He prayed.
He mourned.
He grieved.
He genuinely cared
about them.
We don't know
the exact scenario
here again
but it's hard not
to think of how
David and Saul
interacted.
When Saul was sick,
what did David do
for him?
He played his instrument.
He soothed him
with music.
When Saul needed
a warrior
to go and fight
his battles,
David was there
ready to go to war.
He loved God's
anointed king
and yet,
when the tables
turn,
what happens?
Verse 15.
At my stumbling,
they rejoiced
and gathered.
They gathered
together against me.
Wretches whom
I did not know
tore at me
without ceasing.
Like profane mockers
at a feast,
they gnash at me
with their teeth.
David has been
betrayed by those
he loves.
He's been stabbed
in the back
with a dagger.
This is heartbreaking.
David asks God
to take up
his buckler
because he's been
stabbed in the back.
So he prays,
God, I know
you see this.
Would you betray me
too?
How long
will you see
this happening
and not do
anything about it?
Would you rescue
me from destruction?
Rescue me
from the mouth
of the lions.
Would you bring me
justice
and bring it quick?
Y'all,
a miracle happened
the other day.
I don't say that lightly,
but this never happens.
I was driving down
Highway 17
right down here
and right as I got
to where the 7-Eleven is,
someone pulled out
right in front of me
coming from that street,
side street on the right,
just right out in front.
They didn't even bother
to realize
that I was coming in
about to smash
into their car
and if I wasn't
paying attention,
that's exactly
what would have happened
and so I did
what you do
in that situation.
I pressed my palm
firmly into the horn
of my vehicle
and then a few more times
as I passed by
just to let them know
you almost died today
if I wasn't attentive,
but then I couldn't believe it
as I laid on the horn.
I passed by,
I looked
and there were two cop cars
sitting right there
in the median
and I was so riled up,
honking on my horn,
that as I drove by,
I actually made eye contact
with one of the officers
and threw up my hands
to say,
will you please
do something about this?
I know you saw it.
Go get them!
And the guy turned on
his lights
and I worried
that he was coming
after me,
but instead,
both cop cars
zipped out of there
and went after that guy.
They saw what happened
and they went
to bring justice.
It was an immediate response
to my plea.
You and I both know
that it usually
doesn't work out
that way,
does it?
And more often than not,
we have to wait
for justice
to come.
Larry Thompson
waited eight years
for his case
to even make it
to the Supreme Court
before he finally
got the justice
he deserved.
Sometimes justice
comes slowly
and the hard truth
is that sometimes
on this side
of eternity,
justice never comes
at all.
And there are Christians
all over the world
in hard places
that are being persecuted
for professing
the name of Christ.
There are people
that are being slaughtered
for worshiping
Jesus Christ
and we cry out
for justice.
Lord,
when will it come?
I know you see this.
I know you see
what's going on.
Will you please
bring justice
quickly?
The hard truth is
here on this side
of eternity,
justice often
comes slowly,
often comes partially,
and sometimes
it comes not
at all.
But even so,
the comfort
that we share
with David
is we can pray
with confidence
knowing our God
is just
and He
will bring
justice.
Maybe not now,
but soon
and very soon
at the return
of Christ.
God
is
just.
Everything
He does
is just.
And so we can pray
with David,
God,
I know you see this.
Would you please
act in accordance
with who you are?
David
believes this
with all his heart.
He believes that this God
cares about my affliction.
He sees this wrongdoing.
He does know
what's happening
to me.
He does see
the wrong
that I'm enduring.
And David believes
that one day,
and we pray
one day soon,
one day
this God
will bring
justice.
And in that day,
I will give you
thanks in the midst
of the great congregation
of the righteous.
And in that day,
I will praise you
in the mighty throng
with this chorus
of voices
from every corner
of the world
of those who sing,
this God
has delivered me.
This is exactly
what we see
in the final part
of the psalm.
Third,
here in verses 19
through 28.
Third,
we see
the praise
of the accused
king.
David
has stood
before the
supreme
court of courts.
He has presented
his case
before the highest
judge of all
the earth.
He's made
his plea.
And now,
David calls
for a final
verdict.
He says
in verse 19,
let not those
rejoice over me
who are wrongfully
my foes.
Let not those
wink the eye
who hate me
without cause.
For they do not
speak peace,
but against those
who are quiet
in the land,
minding their own
business,
they devise
words of deceit
and they open
wide their mouths
against me.
They say,
aha,
our eyes have
seen it,
but you have
seen,
O Lord.
Be not silent.
O Lord,
be not far
from me.
Awake
and rouse
yourself
for my
vindication,
for my cause,
my Lord,
my God.
Vindicate me,
O Lord,
my God,
according to
your righteousness
and let them
not rejoice
over me.
Now,
stop right
there.
Here's David
before the judge.
He's making
his closing
argument.
He's calling
for a decision
in his favor
against his
enemies.
And again,
we should ask,
on what
basis,
what confidence
does David
have to pray
such things?
How can he be
so bold as to
pray God's
judgment on
these wicked
people?
He's prayed
in light
of God's
power
and his
strength.
He's prayed
in light
of God's
desire
for his
praise
and his
glory.
He's made
it clear
that he's
acted in
righteousness
towards these
wicked men,
but now as he
calls for the
judge to give
his final
verdict,
on what
basis does
he ask
God
to act?
Look there
again to
verse 24.
He says,
Vindicate me,
O Lord,
my God,
according to
what?
Your
righteousness.
Now,
he could have
said,
according to
my righteousness.
And no one
is fully
righteous.
No,
not one,
not even
David,
but in this
situation,
in this
instance,
he has done
no wrong.
He's
innocent.
He doesn't
say,
Vindicate me
according to
my
righteousness.
What does
he say?
Vindicate me
according to
your
righteousness.
David knows
that our
holy,
righteous
God
will act
in
righteousness.
If it
is right
to judge
wickedness,
and it
is right
to defend
the helpless,
and it
is right
to set
right what's
been made
wrong,
then David
believes that
this just
and powerful
holy God
will do
it,
and for
his name's
sake.
The Puritan
George
Swinock,
he says,
people might
do justly,
but God
must do
justly,
because his
will is
his law.
God
will
exact
rule
of all
justice
and
righteousness.
Whatever
he does
is just,
because he
is the
great
supreme
and
sovereign
of all
the
world.
God's
actions
are
occasionally
mysterious,
but they
are always
righteous.
In light
of the
great
righteousness
of God,
David
prays,
God,
would you
look at
this
injustice
and
act.
Render
a public
verdict.
Don't
let the
wicked
rejoice.
Let them
not say
in their
hearts,
aha,
our hearts
desire.
Let them
not say
we've
swallowed
them up.
Let
them be
put to
shame
and
disappointed
altogether
who rejoice
at my
calamity.
Let
them be
clothed
with
shame
and
dishonor
who
magnify
themselves
against
me.
But on
the other
hand,
render
this
verdict
in my
favor
so that
those
who
delight
in my
righteousness
would
shout for
joy
and be
glad
and say
great
evermore
great
is the
Lord
who
delights
in the
welfare
of his
servant.
And then
my tongue
shall tell
of your
righteousness
and of
your praise
all the
day
long.
Can you
imagine
that
courtroom
scene
when Larry
Thompson
finally gets
justice
and his
family
after eight
long years
finally gets
justice.
The gavel
comes down.
The false
accusers
are condemned
while the
falsely
accused
is set
free.
Now that
whole
burden
shifts
from off
of Larry's
back
and firmly
onto those
who acted
in the
wrong.
There is
rejoicing
for the
righteous
when justice
comes,
but there
is grieving
for the
guilty
when justice
comes.
This is
what David
prays God
will do.
In his
suffering,
he appeals
to the
great judge
of all the
earth and
says,
God,
would you
be my
defense?
Would you
act for
your glory?
Would you
act according
to your
righteousness?
Would you
crush the
powers of
sin and
darkness?
Would you
defend the
cause of
the helpless?
Would you
be my
shield and
my defense?
Christian,
do you
realize we
can join
David in
this prayer?
And we
can pray it
with confidence,
confidence,
even more
confidence than
David?
Because the
gospel of
Jesus Christ
teaches us
that our
God is
just and
he will
bring justice.
We may
get it here
and now and
we pray to
that end,
but we know
with confidence
we will get
it soon and
very soon at
the return of
our Lord
Jesus Christ.
The gospel
teaches us
that our
God is
powerful to
save and
to defend
his people.
And the
gospel teaches
us that our
God loves
to do so
for his
glory,
for our
good and
on the
basis of
his own
righteousness.
But should
we ever
doubt that
God cares
about
injustice?
Look to
the cross
of Christ.
Our God
has crushed
the powers
of sin and
darkness at
the cross.
If anyone
has ever
faced injustice,
it was
Jesus Christ.
Jesus was
the only
one who
was truly
completely
righteous,
not just
in one
scenario,
but inside
and out
for an
entire life.
And yet,
false witnesses
rose up
against him.
Wicked
men spread
lies about
him.
In fact,
he quotes
this psalm
in John
chapter 15
when he
tells his
disciples,
the world
hated me.
You should
expect that
they'll hate
you too.
If they
persecuted
me,
they will
also
persecute
you.
Why?
He says
it must
fulfill
their word.
They hated
me without
a cause.
Jesus
Christ was
hated,
reviled,
cursed,
beaten,
and betrayed
even by his
own disciples.
Judas kissed
him on the
cheek as he
handed him
over for
arrest.
Jesus knew
what it
was like
to face
the arrows
of accusation
and the
dagger of
betrayal.
And yet,
like David,
Jesus entrusted
himself completely
to the
righteousness
and the
sovereign justice
of his
God,
the Father.
Jesus knew
that true
justice must
be purchased
at the cross
for the good
of his people
and the glory
of God.
But because
he was totally
righteous,
and praise
God,
the perfect
Son of
God,
could not
remain in
the grave.
He rose
from the
dead as
the first
fruits of
those who
would believe
in him
for eternal
life.
And as
the assurance
that the
enemy,
in the end,
does not
win,
praise God.
That sin
does not
have the
final word.
That we
face evil
and darkness
and accusations
and all
sorts of
mess in
this sinful
world,
but Jesus
at the
cross
and the
empty
tomb
says,
all of
that
has been
conquered.
And one
day soon
and very
soon,
he will
come
and bring
us
justice.
Friend,
I ask you
again,
where do
God's people
look for
justice?
Look to
Jesus.
Christ,
our substitute,
has suffered
in our
place.
Christ,
our advocate,
stands to
plead our
cause before
the Father
and to
defend us
from all
accusations
of the
enemy.
Christ,
our warrior,
our defender,
our conquering
king,
has conquered
all our
enemies and
stands to
defend us.
And one
day soon
and very
soon,
Christ,
the righteous
judge,
will come
again to
put an
end to
all sin,
all evil,
and all
wickedness.
If you're
his enemy
now,
the invitation
is come
to this
king now
in faith
and you'll
find that
Christ,
the Savior,
stands ready
to receive
you and
to forgive
you and
to show
you mercy.
And until
then,
until that
day,
Christian,
Christ,
the friend
of sinners,
listens to
your cries,
hears your
prayers,
cares about
your distress,
and promises
justice will
come soon.
Charles Spurgeon
commenting on
this passage,
he says that
all that David
prays God
will do for
him here in
Psalm 35,
Jesus does
all this for
his beloved,
for them,
for us.
He is both
intercessor and
champion.
Whatever aid
they need,
they shall
receive from
him.
And in
whatever manner
they are
assaulted,
they shall be
effectually
defended.
Let us
not fail
to leave
our case
into the
Lord's
hand.
Vain is
the help
of man,
but ever
effectual
is the
interposition
of heaven.
What is
here asked
for as
a boon
may be
regarded
as a
promise
to all
the saints.
In
judgment
they shall
have a
divine
advocate,
and in
warfare a
divine
protection.
Let's pray.
Father,
we thank
you,
God,
that you
care about
our
distress,
so much
so that
you've sent
Jesus to
enter into
our distress,
and enter into
our weakness,
and to endure
the effects of
living in a
sinful world,
that Christ
himself was
betrayed,
and suffered
from the
false witness
of sinful
man,
and yet did
so willingly
for us,
that he
might bring
justice,
and might
bring relief,
and might
reconcile sinners
to a holy
God.
And we pray,
Lord,
would you come
quickly,
Lord Jesus,
and bring
justice in a
final way here
on earth,
we pray in
Jesus' name.
Amen.