praying under fire

Let those who delight in my righteousness

shout for joy and be glad

and say evermore,

“Great is the LORD,

who delights in the welfare of his servant!”

Psalm 35:27

Sometimes those who do right are not appreciated for their obedience to the Lord, but quite the opposite, they are hated for it. David’s appeals to God in this psalm are a language of prayer to be used to help the righteous endure when the wicked attack them for being faithful. So here are some prayer observations from this psalm to help those enduring such persecution:

• Appeal to God to be the One Who acts on your behalf. David asks God to content and fight for him (Psalm 35:1). He asks God to use both defensive and offensive means to protect him (Psalm 35:2-3). He trusts that God knows and has seen and then calls God to vindicate him in his situation (Psalm 35:22-25).
• Trust that God’s honor defends the honorable. Dishonor will befall all those who do evil (Psalm 35:4-6). Their own plans to destroy the righteous will defeat them. God has a record of judgment through plans of the wicked backfiring (Psalm 35:7-8)!
• God defends the powerless! This should lead to rejoicing for the righteous when they are attacked, knowing no situation is too big for God (Psalm 35:9-10).
• Don’t hold anything back in pouring out the situation and how you feel about it to God. He hears our prayers. Articulating our need in detail helps us trust God with the details (Psalm 35:11-16), and it is a way to prevent our souls from turning bitter as we acknowledge even our most difficult feelings to the Lord Who will do something about it all.
• God can handle the hard questions of the afflicted. Turn them to God, so that your heart is not against God (Psalm 35:17-21).
• Trust the ending that God has already revealed in His Word: The wicked are ultimately put to shame. The righteous rejoice together with God forever (Psalm 35:26-28).