Psalm 35: Contend

At first read, this is a difficult psalm. David wrote things that we don’t expect to hear. He prayed for God to help him, but then, in what appears to be against the command that Jesus would later give us, he prayed against his enemies rather than for them. David prayed for God to fight against his enemies, to put them to shame and dishonor and then in verse 8, he prayed what might be the most difficult of all the statements to read, “may ruin overtake them by surprise”. In essence, David prayed a curse over those who cursed him, again, the opposite of what Jesus later commanded us in Matthew 5:44. What are we to make of this? Paul told Timothy that all Scripture was useful, so how do we use this? What can we learn from David’s prayers that seem to oppose Jesus’ commands, if not His character?

First, we must remember, that many of the psalms, including this one, were written personal poems. They were adopted for worship, taken by the community and definitely inspired by the Holy Spirit, but they began as personal conversations between men and God. They are often honest, emotional, highly charged, and if we are honest, incorrect. You may ask, “How could they be inspired and incorrect?” I’ll try to explain. In this psalm, David was pouring his heart out to God, he was sharing his hurts, his anger, his fears and his frustration. He was unburdening himself. He was being more honest than careful. He was more careful with being vulnerable than correct. I’ve done the same, haven’t you? I’ve asked God to do things that I knew where not His character or His desire. I’ve hoped for people to get what they deserved, to be found out, to be punished, even to be judged. I have given God the truth of my inward parts even when my inward parts were far from the truth. Sometimes Scripture shows us who we are so that it can remind us of whose image we were created to bear.

The first word of the psalm sets the stage for the rest of it, David asks the LORD to “contend.” That word, in the Hebrew, means to strive, either physically or with words. It can mean to conduct a legal case or to bring a suit against. It can also mean to quarrel. Before David empties his heart to God, He submits himself to God as his defender. David says “God, please, fight this battle for me.” And then he shares how he would fight the battle if he himself was God. David wants vengeance, but he’s working to trust God with it. He desires retribution, but he’s choosing to believe that God will be just in His actions. He believes that His enemies deserve punishment, but he’s willing to entrust God’s will even if it doesn’t suit his desires. This psalm is David entrusting the outcome to God, but at the same time, honestly and vulnerably telling God his desire.

While not speaking against His enemies, Jesus did a similar thing in the Garden of Gethsemane. His soul was troubled, His heart was weary, His mind was probably racing, and He shared the truth of His inward parts with His Father: “If You are willing, take this cup from Me”. We often wonder what we should do with this. It sounds like Jesus didn’t want to die, didn’t want to go to the cross, didn’t want to become sin and bear the weight of the wrath of God. I believe all of that to be true. As a man, and Jesus was fully God and fully man all at once, Jesus’ flesh cried out to be rescued from the cup that had been poured for Him. But in His brokenness, Jesus like David before Him, didn’t simply ask God to answer His request, He submitted Himself to trust God’s will: “Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.” This was not a battle between the flesh and the spirit as we sometimes make it, as if Jesus’ spirit won the war. This was all from Jesus’ humanity. He honestly poured His heart out, “if there is another way please take it”, but then He submitted His heart to trust God’s character, God’s love and God’s will, “but however You lead, I will follow”. The most important word in all the Bible might just be, “Nevertheless”, where Jesus made Himself vulnerable and then made Himself obedient.

Psalm 35 teaches us that true vulnerability is found in complete submission. David could share his full heart with God, the good, the bad, the ugly and even the wrong, because he had already submitted his whole heart to God. David didn’t have to worry that if he prayed the wrong thing God might do the wrong thing, as if God is moved by anything other than His own character. He didn’t have to be afraid about telling God something that He didn’t already know. He didn’t have to measure his words or apologize for his heart. I don’t believe this teaches us that we can simply say and pray whatever we want. I believe it teaches us to share our hearts so that God can change them. Most scholars believe that if this psalm was indeed written by David, that Saul was the “enemies” that David wanted freedom from and punishment for. When David got word that Saul was killed in battle with the Philistines, he wept bitterly, he mourned and led the nation in mourning for their fallen king, for David’s bitter enemy. He went from cursing him to mourning over him. How did this happen? David submitted and then exposed his heart to God and God, rather than rebuking him or judging him, changed him. What I am learning is that God does not simply contend for us, He contends with us—He’s more interested in confronting our hearts than He is in condemning our enemies. Once we put our hearts and our lives in God’s hands, He goes to work changing us, not changing things for us. Today I encourage you, be honest with God, pour the truth or your heart out to Him, but first, trust the One who desires to contend for you to contend with you. Tell him your way, but let Him have His way.