My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 35
22 You have seen, O LORD; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me!
23 Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 Vindicate me, O LORD, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me!
25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, our heart’s desire!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
In our previous post, the psalmist was speaking of his enemies seeing the saints downfall, their weakened stance and eventual downfall. They were watching, waiting for the destruction of the saint.
His enemies were not the only ones watching. David has One that is also watching, seeing what is transpiring, the trials of the saint, the plots of the wicked and the fears of the saint. But the One has been quiet, allowing the plans to progress. David has previously requested that God allows his enemies to simply fall into their own pit, as we discussed in (Psalms for Psome – Ps 35 – B) . Verse 4-6 is a good example of this desire
- Let them be put to shame and dishonor…
- Let them be turned back and disappointed ….
- Let them be like chaff before the wind….
- Let their way be dark and slippery…
At this point, he is seeking vindication. Justice and vengeance upon his enemies is sought, and David is trying to get some action out of the Master. He is seeking a decree against his enemies from the Lord, not simply allowing them to fall into their own pit. He accuses God of napping, of sleeping on the job.
David knows better than to accuse the Great I Am of being asleep. But this is an Hebrew poet, an Old Testament prophet reaching out to His God, expressing his heart, opening up to the One who has held back. Pressure is mounting and he needs his God to rescue him. No longer is David simply asking for God’s passive allowance of “non protection”, at this point, he is looking for active deliverance.
Vindication.
To be vindicated!
When I think of vindication, I think of revenge, revenge on the enemy. In the paragraph above, I implied that vindication and judgement is the same thing. But I think I think wrongly! To be vindicated is to be accused of an wrongdoing, and subsequently proven to be without blame, the accusation disproven.
Throughout this psalm, David has spoke of his blamelessness, of his enemies rising up against him without cause. David is not asking the Lord to bend justice for him, to show him mercy, to forgive his sin. He simply desires to be vindicated, to be proven that the accusations are false and that his actions were blameless.
Beyond basing this vindication upon his own blamelessness, which he stands in, David appeals to God’s righteousness. David does not trust in his own blamelessness, but appeals to the very righteousness of God. This sentiment is somewhat similar to Paul’s statement regarding his own blamelessness (not aware of anything against myself..)
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. – 1Co 4:3-4 ESV
It is the Lord who judges. He is the only one who has the right to judge, to declare a judicial sentence!
Verse 25 closes this portion with David seeking his vindication to be realized in the hearts of his enemies. He is not looking for some earthly court to make a statement that, though legal, could be denied or mocked. David is looking for his enemies to realize their own wrongdoing, to not say in their hearts Aha.
Again, this vindication David is seeking is for the benefit of his enemies, not an act of revenge or seeking retribution upon them. He is looking for truth to be established, even in his enemies lives. This is truly incredible.
Don’t confuse vindication with vengeance, or revenge. The Lord is the One who owns vengeance
“Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
David sought vindication, based on truth, on the righteousness of God. He stood on his blamelessness, yet appealed to the righteousness of God in seeking vindication.
We need to seek a blameless life out of love for His goodness to us, and yet realize we need to depend on His righteousness to deliver us.
He is good!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.
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