^{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!”

Psalm 35:22-25, NLT

Confusion and frustrations are cousins, that frolic and play in your yard. They fit very well with each accommodating the other.

David  is smack dab in the middle of these two. He is incredibly frustrated, and has become powerfully vulnerable. Each verse mitigates a certain disaster. “Maybe it is true, the light at the end-of-the tunnel may be an approaching train.”

David teaches us that life isn’t always easy. Quite frequently we are confused and can only cry out to God– one that sounds more like a groan than coherent words.

Commentary

V. 22, ^“O Lord, you know all about this.
    Do not stay silent.
    Do not abandon me now, O Lord.”

The Father is never caught off guard by an ignorance of our present moment. What He knows David knows. And God’s silence may suggest that David won’t be delivered. After all, there has been a whole lot of sin and unfaithfulness. These sins have only brought him confusion and despair.

“Do not abandon me now, O Lord.” Abandonment only seems logical after all. To have God “give up” on you is not an unreasonable issue. For Him to be faithful in spite of my continued sin and failure is actually the theological surprise. He has chosen not to relinquish us to the dark.

V.23, “Wake up! Rise to my defense!
    Take up my case, my God and my Lord.”

Imagine you have been arrested for a serious crime. You step into the courtroom and discover to your surprise, that your Father is your Judge. Your  attorney is Jesus, and He has fully paid your felonious crime.

It strikes me as a bit bold to tell God to “Wake up!” But there is an audacity in the life of a believer that we sometimes miss out on.

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

Hebrews 4:16, NLT

V. 24, “ Declare me not guilty, O Lord my God, for you give justice.
    Don’t let my enemies laugh about me in my troubles.”

“Either sin is with you, lying on your shoulders, or it is lying on Christ, the Lamb of God. Now if it is lying on your back, you are lost; but if it is resting on Christ, you are free, and you will be saved. Now choose what you want.”

Martin Luther

An old preacher once told me, that I really shouldn’t demand justice. But instead I should insist on mercy. The justice was poured on Jesus, and He has given forgiveness through His sacrifice.

V. 25, “Don’t let them say, “Look, we got what we wanted!
    Now we will eat him alive!”

From this point, this phrase in colloquial English would mean to “chew him up and spit him out.” It is an arrogant thing to say, and it is anchored in lot of pride. They are so sure of themselves, they feel pretty cocky.

ybic, Bryan

 

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