Faithful on Fridays Blog

Psalm 35:11-28

Have you ever been in a situation when you proved you were a good friend, however, your friend turned against you anyway? You know you didn’t do anything wrong, you didn’t deserve the harsh treatment, but regardless … it happened. King David felt that way, as we close this lament (vs. 11-16), and grieved that he was being lied about and laughed at: it wasn’t fair. When those troubles arise your best bet is to begin your warfare, like David, by being honest with God. He already knows your circumstances, but He wants to hear it directly from you.

This king knew better than to hide his feelings from God, so he admitted his depression and simply asked, “How long?” That’s the million-dollar question and it’s a good one, however, God doesn’t usually give you a timeframe. He’s looking for faith and trust in His decisions for your good. Can you do that? You can, and it’s vital that you do, since every time we have to trust God with circumstances outside our ability to change them, it builds our faith. It’s not fun, it’s not enjoyable, but sometimes God deems it necessary.

Last week I explained the phrase, “let them”, which David used 15 times in this Psalm, to mean an intense and commanding desire for God to do something. He now (vs. 19-25) changes his perspective, “don’t let them”, in other words, “Here’s what I don’t want.” In case God didn’t understand what he wanted, he clarified it with the negative: what he doesn’t want. 

When David gets to the heart of the matter his desire is actually vindication. He wants to be cleared of accusations, blame, or doubt from his people. He wants to be justified in his actions as king, and only God can do that. In His righteousness, the LORD will defend David and put others to shame for their unjust treatment. You don’t want to be on the opposite side of God because it’s a spiritual principle that you will harvest what you plant, or in our vernacular, ‘what goes around, comes around’. 

So David closed this lament with hope that his people will delight in his righteous ways and decisions, and be glad that his enemies didn’t win. That’s a good attitude for us as well. We can rejoice with people who are finally vindicated and declare, like David, “Great is the LORD, who delights in blessing His servant with peace!” David ends with promising God that he’ll give his testimony of His righteousness whenever and wherever he can. He’ll shine the light on God and boast of His divine character he’s now experienced in a different way. Isn’t that just like God? Inexhaustible in goodness and care for His people.

This has been a different kind of warfare Psalm written at a low point in David’s life, and yet so transparent into David’s soul. May we all experience God’s vindication when we need it and testify of His love.