Psalm 35 We Wrestle NOT....

Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.

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Psalm 35
A psalm of David.

1 O Lord, oppose those who oppose me. Fight those who fight against me. 2 Put on your armor, and take up your shield. Prepare for battle, and come to my aid. 3 Lift up your spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Let me hear you say, “I will give you victory!” 4 Bring shame and disgrace on those trying to kill me; turn them back and humiliate those who want to harm me. 5 Blow them away like chaff in the wind— a wind sent by the angel of the Lord. 6 Make their path dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. 7 I did them no wrong, but they laid a trap for me. I did them no wrong, but they dug a pit to catch me. 8 So let sudden ruin come upon them! Let them be caught in the trap they set for me! Let them be destroyed in the pit they dug for me.

9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be glad because he rescues me. 10 With every bone in my body I will praise him: “Lord, who can compare with you? Who else rescues the helpless from the strong? Who else protects the helpless and poor from those who rob them?”

11 Malicious witnesses testify against me. They accuse me of crimes I know nothing about. 12 They repay me evil for good. I am sick with despair. 13 Yet when they were ill, I grieved for them. I denied myself by fasting for them, but my prayers returned unanswered. 14 I was sad, as though they were my friends or family, as if I were grieving for my own mother. 15 But they are glad now that I am in trouble; they gleefully join together against me. I am attacked by people I don’t even know; they slander me constantly. 16 They mock me and call me names; they snarl at me.

17 How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing? Rescue me from their fierce attacks. Protect my life from these lions! 18 Then I will thank you in front of the great assembly. I will praise you before all the people. 19 Don’t let my treacherous enemies rejoice over my defeat. Don’t let those who hate me without cause gloat over my sorrow. 20 They don’t talk of peace; they plot against innocent people who mind their own business. 21 They shout, “Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we saw him do it!”
22 O Lord, you know all about this. Do not stay silent. Do not abandon me now, O Lord. 23 Wake up! Rise to my defense! Take up my case, my God and my Lord. 24 Declare me not guilty, O Lord my God, for you give justice. Don’t let my enemies laugh about me in my troubles. 25 Don’t let them say, “Look, we got what we wanted! Now we will eat him alive!”
26 May those who rejoice at my troubles be humiliated and disgraced. May those who triumph over me be covered with shame and dishonor. 27 But give great joy to those who came to my defense. Let them continually say, “Great is the Lord, who delights in blessing his servant with peace!” 28 Then I will proclaim your justice, and I will praise you all day long.

~ Lena’s Journalin’~
2 Cor 10 says, 3 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4 [We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. 5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 6 And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.
This is a pivotal NT scripture. We are reading an OT Psalm today, which shows us a man crying out to God to help him, to rescues him. The Psalm tells God to destroy the man’s enemies, and it seems like men, are his enemies. It always seems that way here, if we look naturally.
BUT God is a spirit and we who worship Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24

1 Cor 2 says, 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

So, we do not wage war with or as humans do, fighting, and arguing, being angered and irritated with people, not even reasoning things out to agreement’s sake, but we fight against principalities and powers of darkness, those who oppose Christ, we oppose. Yet we do not contend with them in the natural realm, but in the spirit realm we absolutely do. We shoo off vulturous creatures in the spirit, those who use people, deceiving them into opposing God! (Might want to read that again)
David cries out for rescue, and God brings an answer to His cry. David was a prophet in the Psalms, he was a representative who was in tune with the heart of man and the heart of God. He expressed the earth’s deep cry for it’s Savior and Lord. He was bold enough with God to express the depth of his and God’s heart for salvation. He expressed how deep the need for salvation is against a horrid enemy, the enemy of man’s soul, and of man’s eternal spirit.
God answered the cry. He sent His Son to die for all mankind. Man had lost his God- given power and authority in the garden of Eden, Adam (man) willingly handed it over to God’s enemy. Man needed help to get it back. God sent His Son, Jesus, to get it back and hand it back to any man who would take it, and use it to fight.
The cry of David was for the restoration of power and authority. Only God could rescue man this way, giving him this power back. Man was helpless without it.
Man is not helpless anymore. He may be ignorant or choose to be ignorant, but he’s not helpless, he’s responsible to go get his authority and power and use it right to fight against the enemies of our spirit and souls.
Those who do not know this cry as David cried, thinking men are against him, men are his problem, men are who he opposes.
It is time to awaken to the understanding that we have all we need, we have been given our authority and power back. Its execution is waiting the cry of our mouth. Not hoping or wishing we were able, or helped, but knowing Him who has helped and executing His power in the earth.
It is time to stop fighting people and become their “saviors”, to stand in the gap and shoo off their enemies in prayer. Not wishful prayer, forceful militant prayer. Prayers of faith, not hope, but insistent faith.
Matthew 11: 12 says, And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.
Hebrews 11: 6 says And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
That’s not wishful thinking, it’s not hoping God loves me enough to deliver me. It’s faith in the finished work of His beloved Son, who shed His own blood to die for me to have my authority, power and responsibility back. Will I take it back advancing forcibly, or will I hope God will do what He’s already done for me? It is my move. I must connect with the power source. Yes, it is only by God’s power and might that I can conquer, but if I do not connect, there is no power over anything. Waiting for God to move does not work. He moved already. It is now our move! If you wait for God, you’ll be waiting a very long time and will have missed the boat.
Step forward, take responsibility. You have inside of you the ability to rise up and make a proper response to God. Everyone who has ever prayed to receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord is responsible before God to live for righteousness and engage in the warfare for the souls of men. This is not a casual trial of sorts. This is a new life lived for Christ. If you’re not in church, in His word, in Bible Study and prayer, you are not His. He bought and paid for you, but you have not truly accepted the invitation to become a functional family member.
It is not based on what you say about yourself. Jesus is looking at your actions way more than your words. He’s looking for fruit and that only comes from being planted, rooted, watered, and growing. If you said a prayer and never got planted, rooted or grew up from there, it is time to now. The days of casual observing are over. Over.
You’ve gotta serve somebody.
We must realize we already are. We serve either, the god of the world , which is evidenced in the service to self, or we serve Christ in God, which is evidenced by our love for His people, His house and His lost and dying world.

Daily Thought to Ponder -
“Oh Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good!”