A prayer for protection. David is crying out this prayer. And I can’t help but think of all the people in Afghanistan also crying out for protection. The fall has happened in the last hours and may in the future someone is reading this, but this prayer is raw.
David had served those around him with great care (Ps 35:12-14).
“Yet when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting,
and my prayer was genuine.
I went about grieving as if for my friend or brother;
I was bowed down with grief,
like one mourning a mother.”
He showed the people his love and compassion, joined with them in their grief, and cared for them. Yet when he himself was bowed low, they became opportunists to attack (Ps 35:15-16).
But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
they gathered against me.
Assailants I did not know
tore at me and did not stop.
With godless mockery
they gnashed their teeth at me.
So this psalm is David, crying out to God for deliverance (Ps 35:23-24):
Wake up and rise to my defense,
to my cause, my God and my Lord!
Vindicate me, Lord my God,
in keeping with Your righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.
A recurring theme among the psalms of David is that he does not look to man for deliverance and hope, he does not look for military might to protect him, but rather he looks to the Lord. He prays and seeks the Lord night and day for deliverance.
And that’s a good thing. If he looked to man, he would be shattered by about now. Man disappoints. But God is able to deliver.
What’s remarkable here is that even though David is suffering greatly, he is being hunted and has been betrayed by the very ones he sacrificed to help, he still knows how key it is to worship (Ps 35:27-28).
Let those who want my vindication
shout for joy and be glad;
let them continually say,
“The Lord be exalted.
He takes pleasure in His servant’s well-being.”
And my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness,
Your praise all day long.
Note: He hasn’t been delivered yet. He just says to those who want his vindication that they should worship with shouts of joy based on the character and history of the LORD–that he cares for his servants. And then he himself proclaims he will praise Him all day long as well.
That’s truly remarkable in a context where the ones he cared for are literally trying to kill him (Ps 35:4). He is afraid for his life but still he will praise the Lord knowing how much the Lord cares.
Under great what is inside is squeezed out. And in the life of David, what comes out is praise and rejoicing.
That’s amazing.
