Psalm 35 (Conflict is Inevitable)

Opening Prayer and the Church at War

Portugal last night our worship leader Michael Stockland and his family are there and he said that the conference had about 60 people attend to learn how to lead worship and so he was very nervous but he said it went exceptionally well.

He was very excited about the people were very open and the mission trip is going well. Brendan had gotten sick on the plane ride and was sick for the first couple days but now he is completely healed.

So all five how many kids they have now. Five six however many they have a bunch of kids they're all doing good and things are well on the mission field for them. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father we are so privileged to be able to come into this house on this Sunday morning the Lord's Day the Curia Hemera the day of the Lord the day that Jesus rose from the dead.

And now we can gather almost 2 ,000 years later every Sunday morning to open this bread this food which is your word and to receive from it. So we pray that you would make our hearts open and ready help us to receive to be strengthened by it Lord God.

We pray that your word would go forth with power today and change the way we are in Jesus name. We pray amen. One of my primary jobs as a preacher is to fight my own tendency for comfort and to fight your tendency for comfort.

One of my jobs is to arouse us to work and to remind us again and again that we are in a battle. I didn't mean to do that by the way that was just underscoring the point we are in a battle and sometimes we get complacent in that battle and we tend to think that we're on a cruise ship instead of a warship.

But the truth is we are on a warship when Boko Haram in Nigeria is kidnapping Christians by the hundreds and killing Christians by the thousands reducing the overall population of Christianity in Nigeria by killing.

We are reminded that we are in a war. War is inevitable for the Christian. I don't have a particularly fond place in my heart for strict pacifists. I understand pacifism and I respect it but strict pacifism which would say even when someone like Adolf Hitler arises on the scene were to just not fight.

I'm thankful for those who are willing to go and lay down their lives on the beaches of Normandy and across the South Pacific to defend those who are oppressed and those who are taken unjustly. Last night and at about six seven o 'clock in the afternoon evening a man in Fort Worth was driving by and saw an eight-year-old girl with her mother and stopped the car and ran and grabbed the eight-year-old girl and threw that girl into the car.

The mom fought and got into the car but then was thrown out of the car by this violent man. When something like that happens it's a time to fight. And my wife went to war in a different way. She wasn't in Fort Worth to help with the physical fight but for hours she knelt before the Lord praying and as Psalm 77 says we pray sometimes through the night.

This is what she was doing until she got a piece in the wee hours of the morning and went to bed. We woke up to discover that the girl was rescued. The girl is safe. But sometimes as Christians we are called to war and that war doesn't look like bullets and guns and bombs in World War two.

It looks like knees to the ground and prayers to heaven calling on the name of the Lord. Part of our war that we are in. And maybe the most active part of our role is to preach on Sunday mornings. That's what I do and for the rest of the week that's what I hope that you go and do to proclaim that Christ has conquered that Christ has risen from the dead and he is alive.

To proclaim the risen Savior. We go out preaching and this is the substance of our war. We defeat Satan by preaching the Word of God so that hearts can be changed. People can be changed from the inside out which is the only hope for this world.

Salvation through Jesus Christ. Main idea. Today a wartime mentality is necessary given this present darkness in which we live. But we do not fight using the weapons of the world. Let's turn now to Psalm 35 and we see David the King David the warrior the one who slew Goliath.

The one who fought many battles against the Philistines. The one who ran for his life and fought enemies for the course of his life. David writes what is really a wartime Psalm. We've been studying through the Psalms and many of them have different themes.

And Psalm 104 we delight in the glory of God in creation. I have to say after having preached that message I think Psalm 104 was most of all for me because I had forgot forgotten to look at the glory of God in creation.

And since Psalm 104 penetrated my heart I'm now seeing things that I haven't seen before. I get genuinely happy when I see my raspberry bush growing. That's partly because every other effort to grow something has resulted in the death of said vegetation.

But now I'm seeing some success and I'm delighting in the creation of God. It's fun. Other Psalms like 103 are praise and worship and joy. Psalm 91 was a warfare Psalm. Do you remember that that my grandfather read on the battlefield after Normandy and after the Battle of the Bulge when he saw dead bodies everywhere and he fell to his knees he read Psalm 91.

The soldier Psalm that the arrows that fly by day and the pestilence that stalks at night will not come near you. And he took courage. That's a soldier Psalm. Right there. The soldiers actually have that sometimes on the inside of their vest or sometimes in a little card that they're given the soldier Psalm.

Today's Psalm 35 is a soldier Psalm. So get your warfare mindset because we are in a war and we need to be aware of it. Let's begin. So the first three verses recognize that the battle belongs to the Lord but we must also prepare for battle.

Psalm 35 1 to 3 contend oh Lord with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help. Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers.

Say to my soul I am your salvation. The prayer is that God would be fighting for David. Now in practice what does that look like. Does that mean that David takes his weaponry off and asks that God would supernaturally pick up that sword to fight Goliath.

Not at all. There is a preparation for battle. Remember when David went to fight Goliath he first of all saw King Saul who stood a head taller than everyone else. He was the king of Israel. He should have led the troops into battle.

He should have faced Goliath instead he was cowering unwilling to face the giant. David came in willing to fight. But Saul said to David put on my armor. Put on my armor. And David tried it on but then said I can't go into battle.

1st Samuel 1739. He tried in vain to go for he had not tested them. He had not tested Saul's armor. He wasn't used to. It didn't fit right. It didn't feel right. David was prepared to face Goliath when he was a shepherd in the field fighting bears and lions.

His weapon was a slingshot. And when a bear had tried to steal a sheep he had slung that stone and killed the bear. He had fought off a lion and a bear using the slingshot the thing that he was prepared to fight with.

So when the time to fight the giant came he didn't just lay down his slingshot. He took up the weapon of his warfare. And yet he prays this kind of prayer contend Oh Lord with those who contend with me.

In 1st Samuel 1747 David reminds us of these famous words. It's very important for all of us who are in a battle. The battle is the Lord's. The battle is the Lord's. So there is a both-and happening here.

David is praying that God would fight his battles and yet he takes up the slingshot. He goes into war. We have an active part in spiritual warfare and sometimes in physical warfare to rescue those who are taken unjustly.

The battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hand. That's what David says to Goliath. So continue on in Psalm 35 verse 4 through 8. Now notice that David turns violently against the oppressor.

And this is what's called an imprecatory Psalm. He's asking for God to bring judgment on an enemy. He's harsh. He doesn't want the ghost got free. In fact he wants judgment. Think about that we saw that earlier and so I think it was Psalm 42 when we studied the cry for God to bring justice on those who oppress others.

But after we read it I want to take this out of the physical realm which is where David was operating into the spiritual realm realm which is where the New Testament directs us. We are not to pray imprecatory Psalms against our physical enemies but we sure can desire the crushing of Satan's head and the destruction of demons and the binding of demons and throwing them to hell.

So as you read this as you hear these words begin to think we're not just talking about flesh and blood. Our struggle is not ultimately against flesh and blood but against angels and powers of this dark present world.

So four through eight let them be put to shame and dishonor. Who seek after my life let them be turned back and disappointed. Who devise evil against me let them be like chaff before the wind. In other words blow them away Lord with the angel of the Lord driving them away.

One of my favorite verses here let their way be dark and slippery with the angel of the Lord pursuing them. For without cause they hid their net for me. Without cause they dug a pit for my life. Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it and let the net that he hid and snare him let him fall into it to his destruction.

He prays an imprecatory curse upon the enemies that are pursuing him. The last verse verse 8 reminds me of Haman's gallows when Haman had laid a plot to destroy all the Jews. And this has happened time and again in the history of the world.

Hasn't it. 1940s was probably the most notorious but it happened in 1492 with the Spanish. The the Russians did a similar thing under Stalin. And throughout the history of the world in the book of Esther we read about the plot to destroy the Jewish people.

Haman built a gallow to kill Mordecai but the pit that he dug for Mordecai became his own noose. Didn't it. He was hung on his own gallows. In verse 8 let the destruction come upon him when he does not know it and let the net that he hid and snare him back.

At this time when lions and bears and different vicious animals were terrorizing a village what they would do is they would dig a deep pit and they would lay a net across the pit and cover it with leaves with rope.

So when that lion came along it would fall into the pit and get grabbed by the net. And that's how they could defeat a lion the pit. But sometimes people would dig a pit for their enemies for their foes.

And David says let this pit that they dug ensnare them. He prays an imprecatory song against them. Ephesians chapter 6 verses 10 to 20 is crucial for us in the New Covenant. Because in the New Covenant our enemies are not first of all flesh and blood.

Israel's enemies were real people with soldiers and with with spears and javelins and they were coming against them. Our enemies listen to this church our three biggest enemies in our lives are the world the flesh and the devil.

And I was thinking about that the other day. Our enemies according to Ephesians 2 the world the flesh the devil that is a formidable foe when you think about it the world that means the entire world the systems of government and entertainment and art and media and nations they are twisted in some way to oppose us and to bring temptation into our lives.

The entire world is built this way the entire world. But if that were not enough there's also an unseen world spirits called demons that are bent to destroy us and their leader called the devil exists and seeks to do us harm.

He prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And you pause there and say okay that's a tough enemy. This enemy is strong. Read Isaiah 14 or Ezekiel 28 to get a picture of how gloriously powerful this invisible being really is.

But they're the least of our worries because according to James chapter 1 the biggest of our concerns is our own flesh that's where sin is conceived and through temptation by the devil and from the temptations of this world it gives birth to sin.

But our greatest enemy is within ourselves. We're born in Adam's sin and we're bent towards sin. We're lawbreakers and our hearts are constantly going astray. Our own righteousness is filthy rags compared to the holiness of God.

So these three enemies the world the flesh and the devil they're profound. How can we defeat our three enemies. Ephesians 6 10 to 20 it says that our weapons and our battle is not against flesh and blood.

We're not fighting each other. We're not fighting the people of this world although sometimes they are filled with Satan and they are filled with demonic spirits and do horrible things. Our real battle is against these spiritual foes.

And so we must take on the whole armor of God the helmet of salvation unless you are born again unless you have been saved that salve that healing that comes from God that deliverance. Unless you have the helmet of salvation you have no defense against your enemies.

You must be born again apart from salvation. You have no defense against your enemies. The belt of truth the breastplate of righteousness the sword of the Spirit the shield of faith these weapons of our warfare.

They're not carnal they're spiritual. Even in that weaponry we would stand and fall to the enemies. We have a champion whose name is Jesus. We have a victor whose name is Christ. And the the enemies that we face are all conquered foes because of what he has done on the cross.

So we're facing the world. Did not Jesus say take heart I have overcome the world. We're facing. The devil does not. First John tell us that the Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil. We are facing a battle against our own flesh.

And yet we're told in Colossians 1 that he nailed the list of our sins to the cross triumphing over them on that tree. Christ is the champion he is the victor. He is the David in our spiritual battle.

We can't face these Giants. We need a Savior and thanks be to God he provided one the victory through Christ Jesus the Lord. Romans 8 we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And so we must set our eyes on Jesus.

And that's how we overcome the world the flesh and the devil. So now returning to Psalm 35 we see this imprecation come from David where he's asking for God to do what he can't do conquer these foes. He's calling to God in prayer.

That's how we begin to pray against our spiritual foes. We pray against the demons that are tempting us. We call on our champion. We call on God to do what we can't do. Verse 9 and 10 answers the question of why God is allowing all this evil in the world.

One of the reasons is to glorify himself by providing the rescue for his people. Verse 9 and 10. Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord exulting in his salvation. All my bones shall say O Lord who is like you delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him.

The poor and needy from him who robs him. Warfare is included in God's plan to glorify himself. There was a tree in the Garden of Eden and mankind fell into sin. And all of us are born into that sin. And there are foes that are fighting us all the time.

But the great plan of God in the unfolding of history is that it would be shown that he is our rescuer. He is our salvation. Look at verse 3. I am your salvation. Jesus Yeshua Yahweh saves Augustine loved Psalm 34.

Psalm 35. Verse 3 one of his life verses say to my soul I am your salvation. It glorifies God to be the one who rescues needy sinners. He is our rescue and our salvation. So look now at verses 11 through 16.

How then do we live in this world. And I'll say we must not be like the vicious the malicious. Instead we repay evil with good. David will notice in this section that he was giving nothing but good to these people who turned on him.

They repaid evil to his good. But we must be willing to repay good to the evil of others. Verses 11 through 16. Malicious witnesses rise up. They ask me of things that I do not know. They repay me evil for good.

My soul is bereft. But I when they were sick I wore sackcloth. I afflicted myself with fasting. I prayed with head bowed on my chest. I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother as one who laments his mother.

I bowed down in the morning in mourning verse 15. But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered. They gathered together against me. Wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing. Like profane mockers at a feast.

They gnash at me with their teeth. Do you see. These were Judas's in David's life people that he had given to to and and loved. And how did Judas repay Jesus. He betrayed him with a kiss. David's friends when they were hurting he went about mourning and blessing them.

Romans 12 14. Bless those who persecute. You bless and do not curse them. Each of us in the course of our Christian lives will have times in it where people that we trusted people that we loved will betray us.

If it happens to Jesus what makes us think it wouldn't happen to us. In the case where you are betrayed. When you're hurt by people that you did nothing to you love them. When you're cursed you bless them.

And so you show yourself to be like Jesus who when reviled did not revile. When cursed did not curse. He gave his life. He gave his body his flesh and blood for those who hated him while we were yet enemies Christ died for us.

Romans 5 8. He did not just give his love to those who deserved it. If he waited to do that none of us would be redeemed. But he gave his love to those who hated him and spit upon him and put a crown of thorns upon him and a spear in his side.

And so we can be like him by loving those who tear at us. Notice in verse 13 he says. But I when they were sick I wore sackcloth. I afflicted myself with fasting. I prayed with head bowed on my chest.

Sometimes fasting can be a way to strengthen the prayers that we offer to show God that we're serious about what we're praying in the New Testament there are no imperatives to fast zero. In fact fasting in the New Testament is only mentioned three times in the synoptics.

You have three references in mark 915 Luke 535 mark 220 all the same reference where Jesus makes a comment that under the New Covenant with the new wine skin the new wine my disciples will fast. It's not a command it's just an observation.

They will fast. And then you see in Acts 13 verses 1 to 3 that when the first missionaries were sent out the church came together. The leadership fasted and prayed about who would be sent to the mission field and turned out to be of course Paul and Barnabas.

You see a third place in the New Testament in Acts 14 23 where fasting is included in the form of prayer. After that the New Testament is silent. Some think that second Corinthians 6 5 and 11 27 are about fastings.

Where Paul is listing his afflictions he says often without food. Some translations say often in fastings. But given the list of the afflictions that were coming upon him it's probably just that he was shipwrecked and he was all night in the water and so he was without food.

It wasn't a deliberate fast. What is the role of fasting in our spiritual war. There comes a time when you can fast. You're not commanded to. It's not an imperative but it is an indicative in these three places where fasting can be used as a form of prayer in a spiritual warfare situation to take ground as missionaries being sent out to the ends of the earth to fast as the bridegroom has gone back to heaven the disciples are called to do that.

There is a church movement that began in 1884 in Korea. Before that there were pretty much zero Christians in Korea. In 1884 the first Protestant Church was established. They were Presbyterians so so much for the frozen chosen they can actually be very aggressive evangelistically they went and planted the church in Korea.

Very little growth. Then within the last 50 years after the Korean War was fought the church grew to 33 of the South Korean population which is where it stands today per capita maybe the largest in the world 33

I worked with some Koreans and some Vietnamese and some different groups and one of the things that I've learned is that their devotion to prayer puts us to shame. These are people that wake up early in the morning before the Sun and pray to seek God's face.

It said that in that that movement over the last 50 years in Korea 20 ,000 Koreans have completed a 40-day fast. Now what was the point of that fast for the advancement of the gospel in Korea. These are people that were praying in the Holy Spirit and had reached a place of maturity in their Christian walk where fasting was what God called them to do for a time not commanded but something that they did and God blessed it.

Martin Luther said this about fasting. Of fasting. I say this it is right to fast frequently in order to subdue and control the body for when the stomach is full the body does not serve for preaching for praying or studying or for doing anything else that is good.

Under such circumstances God's Word cannot remain. But one should not fast with the view to meriting something of it as by a good work. Martin Luther is sounding a very important note of caution. Fasting cannot merit anything from God.

Luther himself tried this for a period of time for four hours a day groveling before God when he was a monk and merited nothing and got nowhere in his spiritual life. But learning Habakkuk 2 4 and Romans 1 16 and 17 the just shall live by faith coming to God in faith trusting nothing of his works no fasting no work whatsoever.

He came humbly and received the forgiveness of sin and thus began the Protestant Reformation. From that place of faith and victory he would occasionally fast to strengthen his prayers to help him in preaching and in praying.

David prayed and fasted for his friends. In Psalm 35 verse 13 he says. He afflicted himself with fasting prayed with head bowed on my chest. This was a form of mourning. It was a form of mourning because his friend was sick and perhaps dying maybe he was grieving with someone who lost a loved one.

And that was the purpose of fasting. In the Old Testament it was always a form of mourning. But in the indicative of not of Matthew 9 when Jesus says after I go my disciples were fast will fast. The context is a new wineskin and a new wine.

Those who receive the Holy Spirit and are justified by faith now fast not to earn anything from God. Not as a sign of mourning but as a form of prayer to set apart missionaries to advance the kingdom to strengthen prayer to turn away from not necessarily food.

It could be worldly entertainment. Stop watching TV at night and devote that time to studying God's Word. That's what Luther said to do. And he was right because that's the new wineskin of Matthew 9 of Acts 13 of Acts 14.

And so the larger point remains. We are in a spiritual war. So continue now. In Psalm 35 17 and 18 we'll move quickly. Now how long Oh Lord will you look on rescue me from their destruction my precious life from the Lions.

I will thank you in the great congregation in the mighty throng I will praise you. David recognizes that very often the deliverance that we hope for from God doesn't seem to be coming. And brothers and sisters I would sound this note of caution in this church age we will not see utopia.

We will not usher in the kingdom. 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 tells us that there will be an apostasy a great falling away before the end times. And the way I read the book of Revelation you guys should spend a little time reading it.

The way I read it it doesn't look like the last seven years of this world ends very well. Does it. It's an understatement. Things go from bad to worse. Pre-millennial ism is a part of our theology which understands that there is yet to come.

So we're pre millennium. Pre-millennial ism says that there is coming a thousand-year reign of Christ on this earth. And in that time the lion will lay down next to the lamb and a little child will play with the snake and not be bit that coming of Christ will make all things right in this world.

And so until Christ comes the church labors the church fights the church advances the gospel. We leave it all on the field. We do everything that we can. But we have a realistic expectation that the church will not usher in the kingdom.

Post-millennialists think that the church will first take over the world and then Christ will come post the Millennium and the Millennium is this peaceful thousand years. It's not happening. The world will go from bad to worse.

And we will pray like David. How long Oh Lord will you look on. We'll see this injustice everywhere. We'll see Boko Haram. And and what's happening in Syria and North Korea the most oppressive of all the nations on earth.

Christians probably 20 ,000 Christians in prison for their faith in North Korea. As we sit here in the freedom of this country. And as we speak how long Oh Lord will you look on rescue me from their destruction.

There is coming a day of rescue. The catching up of Christians in the rapture and the return of Christ to earth. To judge this is real. This is coming. Read about it. Second Thessalonians 4. First Thessalonians 4 Matthew 24 verses 19 and following.

And now we're coming to a crescendo here guys this is where I call you to become prayer warriors and to remember that there is a clash of worldviews going on. Verse 19. Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes.

And let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause. For they do not speak peace. But against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit. They open wide their mouths against me. They say aha aha.

Our eyes have seen it brothers and sisters we will be accused of things we haven't done. Aha aha. You racist you bigot. Aha aha. The world will turn against Christians in the last days. Just this week the Congress of this country passed the so-called Equality Act.

Well it was only the house and I think the Senate will knock it down. And if not the president will most likely. But there's coming a time where something like this will pass and be signed into law. The Equality Act according to Nancy Pelosi says.

Tolerance is a condescending word to me. This is not about tolerance. This is about respect for our LGBTQ communities. This is about taking pride. While there was a minority of people with the leftist viewpoint it was all about tolerance.

But now that the majority is shifting away from a conservative evangelical biblical understanding of truth now it's openly and admittedly not about tolerance. The left as they take more and more of a majority will become more and more totalitarian.

And the Equality Act silences Christians making it illegal to preach exactly what the Word of God says. It's already happening in many of your workplaces. It's already happening in your schools. And the question is will you be silent when the totalitarians tell you what you're not allowed to say.

They'll wave their fingers. They'll wag their heads. Aha aha. Our eyes have seen it. John Adams was right in 1798 when he said because we have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion avarice ambition revenge gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution.

As a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. I love the Constitution but it cannot protect us.

We are in a war and we need a wartime mentality. We need a wartime mentality because unless we realize that Psalm 35 19 to 21 is the expected norm as it has been throughout the history of the world we'll be surprised when oppression comes.

Verse 22 to 26. But look at David's answer. The answer is prayer to pray and stand strong. So our enemies have no boast. Because although we know the end doesn't look good for seven years we know that Christ comes back and sets up his kingdom for a thousand years.

We don't know what happens between today in of 2019 and the return of Christ. It could very well be that God will grant us repentance. He could grant this nation a revival. He could grant this area a revival.

And so we need to pray like we're at war. So look he says verse 22 you have seen O Lord. And see the parallel there with what they say. Uh-huh. Our eyes have seen it. Verse 22 David says. You have seen you have seen.

O Lord be not silent. O Lord be not far from me. Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication for my cause my God and my Lord vindicate me O Lord my God according to your righteousness. And let them not rejoice over me.

Let them not say in their hearts aha our hearts desire. Let them not say we have swallowed them up. Verse 26. Let them be put to shame and disappointed all together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor.

Who magnify themselves against me. Jesus said and will not God vindicate his elect who cry to him day and night. Elizabeth Elliot said to pray thy will be done. I must be willing if the answer requires it that my will be undone prayer.

Prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie to our commander-in-chief. It's not an intercom system at our luxury hotel. Prayer is when we're in the thick of the battle preaching the gospel making Christ known.

We call on God to help us. Gregory of Nyssa from the fourth century described prayer this way we're winding down. I want you to let these words sink in because this is a call to pray. The effect of prayer is union with God and if someone is with God he is separated from the enemy.

Through prayer we guard our chastity control our temper rid ourselves of vanity. Prayer makes us forget injuries overcome envy defeat injustice make amends for sin. Through prayer we obtain physical well-being a happy home a strong well-ordered society.

Prayer is the seal of virginity and a pledge of faithfulness in marriage. It shields the wayfarer protects the sleeper gives courage to those who keep vigil. Prayer will refresh you when you are weary and comfort you when you are sorrowful.

Prayer is the delight of the joyful as well as the solace of the afflicted. Prayer is intimacy with God and contemplation of the invisible. Prayer is the enjoyment of things present and the substance of things to come.

And so this psalm ends in verse 27 and 28 with victory because that is assured. 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.

Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long. Our righteousness is nothing but the righteousness of Christ. It's his righteousness given to us and the victory is ours.

The victory belongs to us. In the end when Steve st. the son of fallen missionary hero Nate st. who along with Roger you Darian and Jim Elliot those five missionaries were killed on the banks of the curare River in Ecuador.