In order to deal with the enemies, you need to know who they are and their motivation. Can you classify them? Here in this psalm, David listed three kinds of enemy. See how David handled them.
Commentary:
This psalm has three different petitions to God. The first one is in verses 1 to 10. The second one is from 11 to 18. The last one is from 19 to 28.
Psalm 35:1. David is making a strong petition for God’s to be his champion. Instead of fighting for himself, he wants God to avenge for him. This is consistent for the admonition that Christians do not seek vengeance but that we should leave it to God to avenge for us (Rom 12:19).
Psalm 35:2. The buckler is a small shield worn on the arm, whereas the shield is one that can cover up the whole body. The language stresses the need of complete protection from the Lord.
Psalm 35:7-8. David wants to see retributive justice. The evildoer wants to catch David unawares. David petitions God to repay them by trapping them with their own schemes and brining it in a surprising fashion.
Psalm 35:9-10. The first petition depicts someone weak needing justice. God is the one who upholds justice for all people, especially for the needy and the afflicted.
Psalm 35:11-14. The second petition focuses on the innocent nature of the victim. The psalmist was falsely accused and was repaid evil for good.
Psalm 35:18. Confident of the rescue, David promised God that he would give thanks in the gathering of the whole nation.
Psalm 35:19-21. The last petition describes the bloodthirsty nature of the enemies. They go after the psalmist without cause. They motivation is to see other suffers. They enjoy the demise of other and taunt them. The word “aha” is an expression of joy.
Meditation:
David was under attack by strong enemies, by friends, and by bloodthirsty adversaries. He might have the strength or the opportunity to fight back, but he relied on God to avenge for him.
We may have similar situations. The enemies not only have gotten the upper hand, but were actually taunting us. It is only natural that we want to strike back, however useful or useless it may be. Can we wait on the Lord for avenging our loss?
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that you uphold justice. We pray that we will follow you and always be the light to shine darkness in this world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.