Psalm 35: Get Angry and Pray for Destruction!

By Peter Roxburgh


Psalm 35 (NIV)

"May they be like chaff before the wind, 
with the angel of the Lord driving them away; 
may their path be dark and slippery, 
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them." (vs 6)

I think it is safe to say that David is in a bad mood and possibly even a little angry. 

Wait! What? The 'man-after-God's-heart' David is angry? Even hateful? Surely not! 

What do we do with Psalms like this?

Well, we could:

a. Ignore it - skip over all of it except vs 9 "then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in His salvation" - also ignoring the fact that this is what David will do once God answers his prayers for his enemies to fall into a pit to their destruction!

b. Make it Messianic - vs 11 "ruthless witnesses come forward..." ignoring the rest of the verse which can't be true of Jesus "they ask me of things that I do not know."

c. Spiritualise it - by saying "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood." (Eph 6:12)

d. Take it for what it is - a man who is being falsely accused and hounded for no reason and is now calling for God's help in dealing with his enemies and is openly expressing his feelings to God. 

It is right to take it for what it is because that is how the original readers would have taken it and also because there will be times in all our lives, particularly as we live for God's glory, that we will be able to clearly identify with David (if we haven't already experienced this). 

Just this week I have had two emails from my parents about the persecution of Christians in their stream of churches in India. They are being harassed, taken to the police station for questioning, kept overnight, accused of forcing conversions, even though they have done nothing other than to meet as Christians. 

We've learnt earlier that God is very much capable of hating people (Psalm 11) and he is capable of extreme anger against people (Psalm 18) that mess with His children or the vulnerable. 

If your child was being attacked and she cries out to you for help, would you stand back and say to her 'No, my child, you can not ask me to beat them up. I am nothing but love and in fact, you should love them also.' If we wouldn't do that, why do we so often think that is what God says to us? 

vs 27 helps us understand this Psalm and God's heart 

"The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant."

God delights in your well-being.  And if that means He has to "brandish spear and javelin" against those who pursue you (v3), then He will.  And we need not be ashamed to ask that He do so, because when we see our attackers turn to ruin (v4) then God will remind us "I am your salvation." (v3) and we will tell of God's righteousness and sing of His praise all day long (v28). 

The next time you are being falsely accused, hounded, sneered at even though you have been nothing but kind, don't just sit back with a defeatest attitude that 'God might be trying to teach me something'. No! Instead, feel free to GET ANGRY and call down ruin and destruction on your attackers.  And then rest in the knowledge that your Father in Heaven will respond for He is your salvation.