Psalm 35:9-16 “My soul shall be joyful in the LORD. It shall rejoice in his salvation. All my bones shall say, ‘LORD, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?’ Unrighteous witnesses rise up. They ask me about things that I don’t know about. They reward me evil for good, to the bereaving of my soul. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I afflicted my soul with fasting. My prayer returned into my own bosom. I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother. I bowed down mourning, as one who mourns his mother. But in my adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together. The attackers gathered themselves together against me, and I didn’t know it. They tore at me, and didn’t cease. Like the profane mockers in feasts, they gnashed their teeth at me.”

Do we see what is behind the believer eventually being comfortable calling for God’s vengeance against enemies? It doesn’t start out that way. We call out for God’s mercy and care for others. We mourn and fast for their afflictions. And what happens? They ridicule, attack, and speak evil of us. At some point we just cry out for justice, just as we see happen at the end of all things in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 6:10 “They cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ ”

In the midst of it all we rejoice that God loves us, God hears us, God saves us, and God will ultimately vindicate us. If not in this life, then in the future.

For additional worship: Psalm 35 – CONTEND (Sons of Korah)

Psalm 35:1-8 “By David. Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help. Brandish the spear and block those who pursue me. Tell my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’ Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded. Let them be as chaff before the wind, the LORD’s angel driving them on. Let their way be dark and slippery, the LORD’s angel pursuing them. For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul. Let destruction come on him unawares. Let his net that he has hidden catch himself. Let him fall into that destruction.”

This is a humble plea for God to bring upon the persecutor the destruction he wants to bring upon the persecuted. What a prayer for the persecuted church, or any individual who believes they are unjustly persecuted! We should also note the reoccurring theme of God’s angelic protection. It seems that there are always unseen events going on in the spiritual world around us.

For additional worship: God Help Me (Unspoken)

Psalm 34:15-22 “The LORD’s eyes are towards the righteous. His ears listen to their cry. The LORD’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. He protects all of his bones. Not one of them is broken. Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. The LORD redeems the soul of his servants. None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.”

“Out of them all.” Strong words. We recognize that is God’s ultimate plan, while understanding that life on this earth does bring some hard times. Even then God is always with us, always watching over us, always helping us, always listening to us, and yes, even always protecting us. He makes sure that His own are His own forever, and we never have to fear being separated from Him!

“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.” While this should provide immense comfort for us, we understand that it is perhaps the most true when we are saved. When our hearts are broken and contrite because of our sin and we turn to God, that’s when He saves us!

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

For additional worship: The Lord is My Salvation (Keith & Kristyn Getty)

Psalm 34:9-14 “Oh taste and see that the LORD is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Oh fear the LORD, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Who is someone who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking lies. Depart from evil, and do good. Seek peace, and pursue it.”

How can we know how good the Lord is if we don’t try to follow Him? And how do we follow Him? We don’t engage in slander or lies. We keep from evil and do good. We seek peace and pursue it. If we do those things, we can expect God’s blessing. Israel, as a nation, could expect physical blessings from the Lord. While we can receive physical blessings in the new covenant, our blessings are primarily spiritual, with the physical blessings promised in the future.

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”

Revelation 21:3-4 “I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, ‘Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.’ ”

For additional worship: Blessings – Laura Story [With Lyrics]

Psalm 34:1-7 “By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the LORD at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth. My soul shall boast in the LORD. The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh magnify the LORD with me. Let’s exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The LORD’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.”

1 Samuel 21:10-13 “David arose and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. The servants of Achish said to him, ‘Isn’t this David the king of the land? Didn’t they sing to one another about him in dances, saying, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?” ‘ David laid up these words in his heart, and was very afraid of Achish the king of Gath. He changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down on his beard.”

Sometimes our effort and relying on God can go hand in hand. Resting in God and trusting in Him for help doesn’t mean we don’t do anything! As we saw in Psalm 33, we don’t just rely on ourselves. But that doesn’t mean we don’t do what we can while recognizing that God is in control, and understanding that our salvation and protection is up to Him. Here David realized that He was in trouble and feigned madness, but He realizes that God is the one who ultimately provided His salvation! The key is acting with humility, trusting in God, and praising Him when things work out.

How does it make you feel that “the Lord’s angel encamps around those who fear Him”?

Matthew 18:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”

For additional worship: Praise, My Soul, The King Of Heaven – Acoustic (Emu Music)

Psalm 33:13-22 “The LORD looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. From the place of his habitation he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions all of their hearts; and he considers all of their works. There is no king saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither does he deliver any by his great power. Behold, the LORD’s eye is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his loving kindness, to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine. Our soul has waited for the LORD. He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let your loving kindness be on us, LORD, since we have hoped in you.”

The Lord sees all. The Lord knows all. He is the ultimate source of help. We shouldn’t rely on our own strength or abilities. Instead, we turn to Him in awe and hope. Our souls wait for His help, and we trust in Him. In fact, we cry out for His loving kindness to rest on us because we hope and wait on Him, and we know that He will answer because His eye is on all those who revere Him!

For additional worship: O God Our Help In Ages Past | Reawaken Hymns

Psalm 33:8-12 “Let all the earth fear the LORD. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect. The counsel of the LORD stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.”

Who can do more than the Lord? No-one! Who can know more than the Lord? No-one! That’s why His Word is so important. It reveals who He is, what He’s done, and how He wants us to live. And His Word is eternal! Just as Israel was blessed because He revealed Himself to them, so we are blessed because He has revealed Himself to us.

Romans 11:33-36 “Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past tracing out! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counsellor?’ ‘Or who has first given to him, and it will be repaid to him again?’ For of him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.”

Ephesians 1:3-6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without defect before him in love, having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved.”

For additional worship: God of Our Fathers [Live] ft. Shane McConnell

Psalm 33:1-7 “Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous! Praise is fitting for the upright. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre. Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings. Sing to him a new song. Play skilfully with a shout of joy! For the LORD’s word is right. All his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the loving kindness of the LORD. By the LORD’s word, the heavens were made: all their army by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deeps in storehouses.”

Why praise God? Because His Word is right. Because everything He does is faithful. He is righteous and just, and He loves the same. The entirety of creation is an example of His love and kindness. He made the heavens and the stars by His Word, and gathered the earth and the sea together beneath. We need to give thanks with our voices. We need to sing praises to His name. We need to play music to His glory. We need to rejoice!

For additional worship: We’re Marching to Zion (Bill & Gloria Gaither)

Note: That He made everything by His Word means that He made everything out of nothing, or, as theologians say, God created ex nihilo.

Psalm 32:6-11 “For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found. Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him. You are my hiding place. You will preserve me from trouble. You will surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you. Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you. Many sorrows come to the wicked, but loving kindness shall surround him who trusts in the LORD. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!”

What a reminder: the godly will be able to withstand the floods of life! But we’ll be able to withstand them by following God’s teaching and counsel, which He provides through His Word and His Spirit. We’re warned to not be like a horse or a mule that needs to be compelled to obey. Instead, we need to trust and follow, which will result in incredible joy!

For additional worship: Like a River Glorious (Sovereign Grace Music)

Psalm 32:1-5 “By David. A contemplative psalm. Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me. My strength was sapped in the heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn’t hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.”

This is literally a “maskil” of David. Translated here as a contemplative psalm, the word most likely means a wisdom psalm put to music, or a passage for learning. This psalm teaches us the plight of unconfessed sin and the power of God’s forgiveness. God’s mercy sets us free! Both initially, when we first confess our sins and believe in Jesus Christ, and then daily as our confessed sin removes barriers that we have put up between us and Him.

For additional worship: Beneath the Cross of Jesus | Reawaken Hymns