Great is the LORD; Who is like Him?

Introduction:

Psalm 46 - Anxiety

Psalm 42 - Depression

Psalm 35 - Persecution

How do we deal with these very real struggles of life? By looking to God’s Word to see His Character.

In anxiety, we have a God who is peace…in depression, a God who is hope…and today, in oppression, we have a God who is Sovereign. He has all power, knowledge, and is ever present to help His people when in need.

The Text:

Psalm 35 ESV

Of David. 1 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me! 2 Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help! 3 Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers! Say to my soul, “I am your salvation!” 4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me! 5 Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away! 6 Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them! 7 For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life. 8 Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it! And let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his destruction! 9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his salvation. 10 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?” 11 Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. 12 They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft. 13 But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest. 14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning. 15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing; 16 like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth. 17 How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions! 18 I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you. 19 Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause. 20 For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit. 21 They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!” 22 You have seen, O Lord; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me! 23 Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord! 24 Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me! 25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, our heart’s desire!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.” 26 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! 27 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!” 28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.

Prayer:

Genre:

Imprecation-

An imprecation is a prayer which invokes a curse from God upon an enemy. These Psalms are seeking the judgment of God on someone else and they are asking God to overthrow the wicked.

Two Responses-

Struggle to reconcile with the New Testament

Skeptically reject this Psalm and others like it

One of those skeptics is C. S. Lewis, a man whose influence is far greater than his reliability. He says about these Psalms and goes on for pages and pages about it in his book "Reflections on the Psalms," he says that these Psalms "are full of malice, pettiness, vulgarity, and vindictive hatred." He goes on to say that "ferocious, self pitying, barbaric men wrote these devilish cursings. The psalmist's reaction to injury, though profoundly natural, is profoundly wrong." That's no less a man than C. S. Lewis, again I say, whose influence is greater than his reliability.

How should we respond?

The Psalms are God’s Word

Romans 15:4 ESV

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

The O.T. warns against a vengeful spirit

Leviticus 19:17 ESV

17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.

Proverbs 24:17–18 ESV

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, 18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.

The N.T. has its own imprecations

Matthew 23:13–17 ESV

13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?

Matthew 23:29–33 ESV

29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Their Goal:

For God’s Glory

John Calvin said this and I quote, he said, "David did not allow himself recklessly to pour out his wrath, even as the greater part of men when they feel themselves wronged, intemperately give way to their own passion. He simply called upon God to exercise just judgment against the reprobate. It was not on his own account that he pleaded in this manner, but it was a holy zeal for the divine glory which impelled him to summon the wicked to God's judgment seat."

For God’s People

For Rebuking of Sin

Psalm 10:7–15 ESV

7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. 8 He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; 9 he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. 10 The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might. 11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” 12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. 13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”? 14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.

For Conversion of Sinners

Psalm 2:9–12 ESV

9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

I. Fight For Me (vv. 1-10)

God is OMNIPOTENT!

“1 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!

Legal - Plead my cause, my case.

2 Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help!

Defense - Full and sure.

3 Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers! Say to my soul, “I am your salvation!”

Offense - Full, absolute, in pursuit.

4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me! 5 Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away! 6 Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

7 For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life. 8 Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it! And let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his destruction!

Closing Praise:

English Standard Version Psalm 35

9  Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD,

exulting in his salvation.

10  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?”

Lord, I can’t do this on my own. Fight for me. Be my salvation!

II. Rescue Me (vv. 11-18)

God is OMNISCIENT!

“11 Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. 12 They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft.

13 But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.

14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.

This persecution is undeserved, at the hands of false and violent witnesses.

15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing; 16 like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth.

Friends and now strangers come together for his doom.

17 How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!

Divine Delay is added to Human Betrayal.

Closing Praise:

English Standard Version Psalm 35

18  I will thank you in the great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

Lord, it looks like the enemy will win. Rescue me from these wicked men and restore me to your congregation!

III. Vindicate Me (vv. 19-28)

God is OMNIPRESENT!

“19 Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.

20 For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit.

21 They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!”

22 You have seen, O Lord; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me!

The wicked see, but not like God. Not rightly, not truly.

23 Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24 Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me!

25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, our heart’s desire!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”

For God’s cause, for His sake, for His glory…shall David be vindicated. Not for worldly matters. This is again legal language.

26 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!

This is certain, though it may not come in this life, in man’s timing. The world celebrates when the righteous are destroyed, but the Lord shall utterly destroy the wicked in a great reversal on that day to come. They too will bow before the Lord and confess His sovereignty, not in love and gratitude and joy, but in fear and many tears.

Closing Praise:

English Standard Version Psalm 35

27  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!”

28  Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all the day long.

Lord, don’t let them get away with this. Vindicate me in your truth. Show their falsehood and cause them to fall in it. Show yourself in your fullness, your perfect righteousness!

Conclusion:

We are not David…he had to seek the welfare of God’s people as king.

We must evaluate ourselves first…where did we falter or neglect our duty?

We must practice restraint…we do not seek vengeance ourselves.

We must look to Christ...

John 15:18–25 ESV

18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’