November 2
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MY TONGUE SHALL PROCLAIM YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS
Do not let them say in their heart, “Aha, our desire!”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”
26 May those be ashamed and altogether humiliated who rejoice at my distress;
May those who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and dishonor.
27 May those who shout for joy and rejoice, who take delight in my vindication;
And may they say continually, “The LORD be exalted,
Who delights in the prosperity of His servant.”
28 And my tongue shall proclaim Your righteousness
And Your praise all day long. – Psalm 35:25-28
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David Guzik comments on this part of Psalm 35 on verse 26 that David simply and powerfully asked God to be his defense before his enemies. Spurgeon comments on the second part of this verse as “He will shame them for shaming his people, bring them to confusion for making confusion, pull off their fine apparel and give them a beggarly suit of dishonor, and turn all their rejoicing into weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Truly, the saints can afford to wait.”
In verses 27-28, Guzik says that David is asking that the people of God take joy in his vindication. Through the psalms in general, we see that David did not think of himself as perfect in a sinless sense. Yet in many of the disputes with his enemies, he had no problem seeing that he was on God’s side and they were not. In many of these conflicts, we don’t sense that David was troubled by self-doubt.
In verse 28, Poole writes “Mine enemies’ great design is to magnify themselves, but my chief desire is that God may be magnified.”
This psalm is focused on asking God for defense and yet it also pleads God so that the glory will be to praise and glorify God for his faithful defense of those who are faithful to serve Him.
How often do we ask God to stand up for us and defend us? In our current world, we automatically defend ourselves and fight for our rights. Then we wonder why we never have victory. The enemy wants us to forget our dependence on God who is the only one who can deliver His people from any form of evil or schemes of the enemy.
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REFLECTION
• Why do we need to speak of God’s righteousness often? What does that do to us?