Krazy Celtic's Hideout

p>I hope these two themes in the longest Psalm are encouraging and inspiring, as you read them and perhaps meditate on them.

I. I am a stranger and pilgrim on the Earth, and need God's law to direct me and show me how to live

v.19
I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.

v.54
Your statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.

v.73
Your hands have made me and fashioned me!
Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.

II. I obey and delight in God's law despite worldly opposition

v.22-24
Remove from me reproach and contempt,
For I have kept Your testimonies.
Princes also sit and speak against me,
But Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
Your testimonies also are my delight
And my counselors.

v.31
I cling to Your testimonies;
O Lord, do not put me to shame!

v.38
Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your judgments are good.

v.44-47
So shall I keep Your law continually,
Forever and ever.
And I will walk at liberty,
For I seek Your precepts.
I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings,
And will not be ashamed.
And I will delight myself in Your commandments,
Which I love.

v.51
The proud have me in great derision,
Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.

v.61
The cord of the wicked have bound me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.

v.69
The proud have forged a lie against me,
But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart.

v.87
They almost made an end of me on earth,
But I did not forsake Your precepts.

v.95
The wicked wait for me to destroy me,
But I will consider Your testimonies.

v.109-111
My life is continually in my hand [in danger],
Yet I do not forget Your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I have not strayed from Your precepts.
Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever,
For they are the rejoicing of my heart.

v.157
Many are my persecutors and my enemies,
Yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.

v.161-163
Princes persecute me without a cause,
But my heart stands in awe of Your word.
I rejoice at Your word
As one who finds great treasure.
I hate and abhor lying,
But I love Your law.

v.165
Great peace have those who love Your law,
And nothing causes them to stumble.

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salm 35 talks about how the Psalmist is wrongfully pursued and plotted against by his oppressors. This aggression is unprovoked: whenever those who are his enemies were sick or in trouble, the psalmist would pray for them and mourn with them. He would genuinely and earnestly wish for and seek their good, interceding for them.

My attitude, and Christians' attitude, should be the same to those who persecute us, trouble us, or who are not counted among us. Our mind should be that of Christ's, who when he was reviled did not revile in return (1 Peter 2:23).

We are not to return evil for evil (1 Peter 3:9) or avenge ourselves (Romans 12:19). It is God's office to avenge (Deuteronomy 32:35)) , and the Bible testifies that the wicked and evil are given over to foolishness and in will fall in their own traps that they have laid (Psalm 35:8; Psalm 81:12; Romans 1:24) . Their doom is sure (Luke 20:43; 1 Corinthians 15:26).

We are not to adopt the attitudes of and imitate the wicked, no matter how cathartic this may feel or apparently effective: those attitudes are anti-Christ. We are to be set apart, holy like God (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Corinthians 6:20).

We can pray for the wicked, for their well-being, for their health, for deliverance when they are in calamity. This can happen at the same time as praying that their foolish plans - those that are not in line with the will of God - will be thwarted.

The Bible also warns against boasting against the wicked when they fall (Proverbs 24:!7-18). Our boasting should not be against anything, but in something: the Lord who rules, delivers, and saves us (Jeremiah 9:24; 1 Corinthians 1:31).

In our fallen state, it is easy to get caught up in cycles of returning evil for evil, at trying to tear each other down trusting in our own strength. May the Lord grant us the wisdom, strength, and peace for relying on Him, looking to His words and His Word as our guide, so that we may love our enemies and those who mistreat us.

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6:20PM | Themes in Psalm 119

9:52AM | Thoughts Inspired by Psalm 35