6. Our Plea for Protection! Psalm 35:22-25

Text:  “Stir up Thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.  Judge me, O Lord my God, according to Thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.”
                                                                                                                Psalm 35:23-24.

Good morning, protected Christian!  The Lord God Who has sent His only begotten Jesus to suffer so infinitely in your place and mine is not about to give up on us; leave us destitute; or without His Divine protection when enemies beset themselves against us.  No!  The Spirit of God within us guides us to cry out a plea for much needed Divine protection, which is always given.  Praise God for His protecting hand!

Our Plea:  “Be merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.  Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O Thou Most High.”  (Psalm 56:1-2)

Our Guidance:  “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.  In God I will praise His Word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh (earthly enemies) can do unto me.”  (Psalm 56:3-4)   

Verse 23.  “Stir up Thyself, and awake to my judgement.  The Psalmist David, in his alarm at the opposition he is facing, seems to be speaking both to himself and to the Lord God.  He seems to be saying to himself, ‘Stir up thyself!  Call out immediately to the Lord God for His Divine help!’  At the same time he is asking the Lord to ‘Awake to my judgement.’, or in other words, ‘Lord, You have chosen me to be your servant and anointed me to be king of Israel – if You have thus saw fit to do so, and have already judged my sins, and declared me not guilty, then hear my plea and send me Your help in my time of need.’

“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all (all God’s chosen people.), how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”  (Romans 8:32)

Verse 23.  “My God and My Lord”  David, in the inspiration of God the Holy Ghost, is here setting forth a great mystery that would be repeated by the disciple Thomas when the Lord Jesus appeared to those gathered together in fear in the Upper Room.  Both David and Thomas are stating a profound theological fact concerning the dual nature of the incarnated Jesus Christ: Jesus was born at Bethlehem, but the Christ, the Word of God, has always been, always will be, and always is Eternal Son of the Living Lord God.  He is in fact, ‘the God-man', Jesus Christ; my Lord and my God.

“Then said He (Christ Jesus) to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.  And Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God.  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”                    (John 20:26-29)   

Verse 24.  “Judge me, O lord my God, according to Thy righteousness; and let them (his enemies) not rejoice over me.”  If believers are imputed the very righteousness of Christ by faith, then when the Lord God ‘judges’ us, He must judge us ‘…according to Thy righteousness…’, NOT GUILTY!

In other words, the Psalmist is here claiming, by faith and belief, the fact that God has chosen him to receive the righteousness of Christ Himself, and having such a gift of imputed (put to his account) righteousness, he cannot fail to come up to the standard God has ordained. This is pure Divine logic!

The enemies of Christ and of Christians will never understand this great fact: that the Lord God has chosen to make ‘His people’ righteous, in the very righteousness of Christ Jesus Himself, and all through the great Atonement Sacrifice of His dear Son, Jesus, at Calvary’s Cross.  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour!  We are justified in Christ!

“For He (God the Father) hath made Him (God the Son) to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we (God’s elect people) might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”    (2 Corinthians 5:21)

It is because of this imputed righteousness as a believer, that David can make this reasoned plea to the Lord God for His Divine help.  He is here saying, ‘Lord, you have made me righteous by granting me faith to believe and receive Your Salvation.  Therefore, judge the righteousness You have put to my account, and if it be genuine, please send me your help against my enemies, let them not rejoice in victory over me.’

“And the Blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the Blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”  (Exodus 12:13)

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers: but with the precious (sinless) Blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.  Who verily (truly) was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.”  (1 Peter 1:18-20)

Verse 25.  “Let them (God’s enemies) not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it.”  If God be Sovereign, and His will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven – then God’s enemies, and as such our enemies also, cannot cause their will to overcome us.  It is God’s will, revealed in His inspired Word, illuminated by His Holy Spirit, that was, is, and always shall be, done.  Glory to His Sovereign Name!  Hallelujah!

Thought:  In Christ’s Sovereign Victory – the Christian shall always prevail! All glory to the Lord God Jehovah: our Sovereign, our Saviour, and our Lord!

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