The God Who Rescues Me
[Psalm 35:9-16]
Pastor Charles Spurgeon once said, "When the world raises a hammer of iron to strike, Christians must be the anvil that bears the blow." The “iron hammer” he refers to here is symbolic of many things. It could be insults, persecution, suffering, slander, curses, and so on. Satan uses his children to constantly attack the saints, striking them with various kinds of “iron hammers.” In such a situation, what should we do?
In today’s scripture, Psalm 35:9-16, we see David being struck by various kinds of “iron hammers” from the children of Satan. Despite this, David confesses, "My soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation" (v. 9). What is remarkable is that this confession was not made after David had already been saved, but while he was still enduring trouble and persecution from his enemies. How is this possible? It is only possible through faith. Furthermore, in verse 10, David makes this confident declaration in faith: "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?'" Here, David acknowledges God as the Savior, the One who rescues him.
Today, under the title "The God Who Rescues Me," I would like to meditate on the fact that God rescues us from four types of dangers, based on Psalm 35:9-16. My prayer is that, like David, we too can confess, "My soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation" (v. 9).
First, "The God Who Rescues Me" is the God who saves us from those who question and accuse us unjustly.
Look at Psalm 35:11: "False witnesses rise up; they ask me things that I do not know." The "false witnesses" mentioned here refer to "liars who accuse innocent David of things he did not do." These false witnesses came to David with accusations that he was unaware of, attempting to charge him with a crime (Park Yun-Seon). Why did these false witnesses try to accuse David unjustly? The reason is that these false witnesses sought to harm David "without cause" (v. 7).
The children of Satan try to harm the children of God unjustly.
Just as they did to David, they come to us and bring up things we are unaware of, attempting to falsely accuse us. Their goal is to lead us into a life centered around sin, causing us to be overwhelmed by guilt and self-condemnation. We must be on guard against this. We must not become entangled in the accusations of the unjust witnesses. Especially, we must not let thoughts that resemble the accusations of these unjust witnesses dominate our minds. The false witnesses prevent us from relying on the merits of Jesus' cross and instead keep us focused on our own human efforts. When this happens, we shift our attention from trusting in Jesus to focusing on our actions. We begin to suffer under the guilt we impose on ourselves, preventing us from living a life of true faith.
When I think about the word "accusation," I recall the passage in Acts 4:14 where Peter and John, having healed a man, were confronted by their opponents, who found they had "nothing to say in reply." Why was that? The reason was that there was clear evidence. The miracle of the lame man walking again in the name of Jesus stood as undeniable proof. Peter and John stood there with the man, and their opponents had nothing to accuse them of. This is our responsibility. Often, we live in a gray area where we're not quite sure of our faith. In this space, we give false witnesses the opportunity to accuse us. If our lives displayed clear evidence, how could the false witnesses accuse us? However, even when, like David, we provide reasons for the unjust witnesses to accuse us due to our weaknesses, we should not lose heart. Rather, we must, like David, long for the grace of God's salvation. We must seek the grace that rescues us from our guilt. God saves us by allowing us to look to Jesus, who died an innocent death on the cross. Through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross, God rescues us from the emotion of guilt by the truth that we have been justified.
Secondly, "The God who rescues me" is the God who saves us from those who make our souls feel lonely.
Look at Psalm 35:12: "They repay me evil for good, making my soul desolate."
An amazing fact is that David, the psalmist, loved his enemies and did good to them. But those enemies repaid his kindness with evil. At that moment, David felt loneliness. What was the good that David had done to his enemies?
(1) David prayed for his enemies.
Look at today's passage, Psalm 35:13: “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, and my prayer would return to my own heart.” David prayed even with fasting when his enemies were sick, but his enemies were so wicked that they rejected David, who was praying and grieving for them (Park Yun-Seon).
(2) David cared for his enemies.
Look at Psalm 35:14: "I behaved as though he were my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one who mourns for his mother." The phrase "bowed down heavily" refers to deep sorrow. In other words, David was troubled by the illness of his enemies (Park Yun-Seon).
The Bible tells us that we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Ephesians 2:10). That is, the responsibility of the saints is to do good works—even if that includes our enemies, as David did. However, the enemies who repay David’s good with evil are not just ordinary kinds of evil. Dr. Park Yun-Seon said, "Those who harm those who do good to them are those without conscience and guidance; they are relentless, enemies of God, and enemies of the saints." We are to do good, even for our enemies. We must intercede for them, care about their illness, and be concerned when they face suffering. But we must be aware that we can become discouraged when doing good. Especially when, despite doing good, the other person repays us with evil, we may feel disheartened. In such times, we may wonder, "Why do I have to do this?" and we may question how long we must endure and continue doing good. In such thoughts, we may experience spiritual loneliness. The reason is that we often do things that no one else notices. That is, we do things that only the Lord knows about. When we fall into this spiritual loneliness, we must look to the Lord's rescue: "O Lord, I am lonely and afflicted; turn to me and have mercy on me" (Psalm 25:16).
Thirdly, "The God who rescues me" is the God who saves us from those who rejoice in our suffering.
Look at Psalm 35:15: “But in my adversity they rejoiced and gathered together; attackers gathered against me, and I did not know it; they tore at me and did not cease.” When David’s enemies saw his suffering, they rejoiced, gathered together, and conspired to harm him even more. This shows the extreme wickedness of his enemies (Park Yun-Seon).
When we face adversity, there will be people who rejoice in it—those who, instead of comforting or helping us, are happy to see our downfall. They gather together, gossiping and rejoicing in our troubles. David knew of such gatherings, and even “the lowest of the people,” those despised and rejected by society, joined in to celebrate his suffering (see Job 19:18, 30:1) (Park Yun-Seon).
It is truly fascinating.
In the matter of opposing the children of God, the children of Satan, who were once enemies of one another, become friends (e.g., Herod and Pilate) and unite, regardless of their social status, whether they are low or high. Today's passage, Psalm 35:15, says "in my adversities," which means that even those whom David did not know—the lowest among the people—became connected and joined with David's enemies to rejoice and celebrate David's suffering. We also saw the phrase "things I did not know" in verse 11 of today's text. It seems that both David’s enemies and our enemies, as believers, question us about things we don’t even know, and are made up of people we are unaware of. In other words, people we don’t know are opposing us and making us suffer with things we don’t understand.
However, one thing is certain: they rejoice when we are suffering. The lesson we can learn here is that while our soul delights in the Lord and rejoices in His salvation (v. 9), our enemies rejoice in our suffering (v. 15). The reasons for their joy are completely different. Even though our enemies may gather and rejoice when we are suffering, mocking and slandering us as if tearing apart our dignity, we must still rejoice in the Lord and delight in His salvation (v. 9).
Finally, in the fourth place, "The God who rescues me" is the God who saves us from those who gnash their teeth at us.
Look at Psalm 35:16: “They mock me with feasting and gnash their teeth at me.” This verse shows that David's enemies, even at a banquet, mocked him—his benefactor—and were ready to attack him at any moment. A banquet should be a place where enemies are reconciled, but even there, they were jealous and tried to harm their benefactor, which reveals their hardened, unjust hearts (Park Yun-Seon).
These kinds of hearts are forming teams around us, often without us knowing, and are ready to attack and harm us. This is the plan of Satan. Look at what Acts 7:54 says: “When they heard this, they were cut to the heart and gnashed their teeth at him.” The people who opposed Stephen, after hearing his Spirit-filled sermon, were convicted in their hearts, but instead of repenting, they gnashed their teeth at him. Eventually, they stoned Stephen to death (Acts 7:59-60).
David, knowing that his enemies were gnashing their teeth against him, believed that God would rescue him from these people, and he rejoiced in the Lord and delighted in His salvation.
Personally, I realize that my prayer needs to change.
It is important to intercede for our beloved brethren, praying with our hearts, sharing their pain, and weeping together. However, I also receive the lesson that we should pray with faith, having assurance of our salvation. While remembering the grace of past salvation, even if our enemies are striking us with a "hammer of iron" in the present, I want to decide to look to God, rejoice in Him, and be glad in His salvation. Therefore, I hope that in the end, we experience the history of God's saving grace.
Praying, hoping, and waiting for God's salvation that rescues me with faith,
Sharing from Pastor James
(With a heart of gratitude for God's grace)