Psalm 35:1 - April 16, 2009

Ps 35:1 Of David. "Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me." NIV

Throughout the course of David’s life he has learned a valuable lesson. When your enemy is rising up against you, do not look at your enemy, look at the Lord. All of Psalm 35 is a cry of dependence upon the Lord for victory. It is a powerful example of prayer for the victory of the Lord to come into a situation, a demonstration of what it means to lean on the Lord’s strength and not our own. David presents his need before the Lord and looks to Him for vindication. It is also important to recognize that he prays with a very clear sense of detail. He does not stop his cry with a simple prayer of “help me!” That is a good prayer but David demonstrates that there is a time and place where much more is needed.
The pages of scripture of filled with the record of conflict, intervention and resolution on both a personal and national level. Throughout this history a clear paradox emerges in regard to the nature of the victories that God brings. In some instances the Father chooses to give either permission or strategy (or both) for gaining the victory and then in other passages the Lord simply tells his servants to stand back and watch what He is about to do. In both of these scenarios there is a common thread. Both outcomes flow through a life of dependence upon the Lord. David makes a simple statement in Ps 144:1 “Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.” How much easier the victory comes when we learn to wait upon the Lord.
In the construction world there is a well known saying, “Work smarter, not harder.” This is the essence of this biblical principle that we are considering. Too often we struggle and stress over the conflicts that we find ourselves facing. When we do that all that the fruit is usually fairly poor. Our need is to learn the place of prayer under pressure. Times of conflict are usually times of great stress and our human inclination is to try and resolve these conflicts as quickly and efficiently as possible. The problem is that this is not always the Lords way and by stepping into a situation without His wisdom we succeed in prolonging the struggle. The Lord calls us to quiet ourselves before Him and learn to listen to the sound of His voice. One clear sentence from God can resolve matters that hours and hours or even days and days of human effort cannot resolve. The issue is, “where do we want to fight our battle?” If we take our situation into the presence of the Lord then the Lord will come with what is needed.
For Jehoshaphat II Ch. 20:22 it was divine guidance and the Lord’s intervention as the people worshipped. For King David in II Sa. 5:24 it was the revelation of a divine strategy to camouflage the sound of their presence behind the noise of the tree leaves. For Moses it was the ten plagues and the sea closing over his enemies. What is certain from these and other examples is that the victory of the Lord is not a method it is a relationship. All of the battles that the Lord brings in the Word of God are expressed out of relationship with His people. This is the foundational lesson for us. Instead of spending our time fighting against obstacles in the realms of the flesh we must learn the lesson of II Co. 10:3-5 that our battle is not against earthly forces and that our victory is ultimately won in the presence of the Lord. In every biblical account of battle where the people had the Lord’s word to stand upon the victory was won in the private place of prayer and simply “walked out” in the natural on the battle field. We too must remember that our victories are won in the presence of the Lord not in the face of our need..