Psalm 35:24
Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God, and do not let them gloat over me.
Sermons
A Hard Case - a Very Hard One - Laid Before GodC. Clemance Psalm 35:1-28
The Flesh and the SpiritW. Forsyth Psalm 35:1-28
Pleas for TriumphC. Short Psalm 35:19-28














There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3:7). So it is with man, and with reverence it may be said, so it is with God. There is a sense in which God is never silent. In manifold ways his voice is ever sounding in our ears. But there are times when God may be said to be silent, even with regard to his own people. There is speech on the one side, but no answer on the other. This silence may be prolonged till it becomes distressingly painful. There is the sense of loss; there is the feeling of desertion; there is the dread of worse things to come-of the going down to the pit of darkness and despair (Psalm 23:4). Luther said, in his strong way, "O my God, punish me rather with pestilence, with all the terrible sicknesses on earth, with war, with anything, rather than thou be silent to me!" But though this silence is to be deprecated, yet it is ordained of God for good. It may come as -

I. JUST RETRIBUTION. The wicked do not seek after God. It is no wonder, therefore, if God should deal with them after their own ways (Proverbs 1:24 28; John 13:9). But even good men may become negligent - they may fall into sin and forget God. Therefore it may be necessary to let them see and learn the evil of departing from the living God (Psalm 94:10; Psalm 125:5; Jeremiah 2:19).

II. MERCIFUL WARNING. We must not judge of God by ourselves. We must not think that he is arbitrary or cold. If he is silent, it is for just cause. Remember how it was with Saul (1 Samuel 28:6). Well would it have been for him, if he had regarded the doings of God, and turned to him in repentance. But he hardened his heart. God warns us also. His silence should bring our sins to our remembrance. "Your sins," saith the prophet, "have hid his face from you, that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2; cf Hosea 5:15).

III. GRACIOUS DISCIPLINE. The end of the Lord is merciful. If he is silent, it may be:

1. To try our faith, Remember the Syro-Phoenician woman (Matthew 15:21-28).

2. To quicken our sense of dependence. God is Sovereign. He is under no obligation to us. If he hears, it is in mercy. We are too ready to think we have a claim upon him, and to resent his silence. We need to learn humility. "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:8).

3. To enhance the value if the blessings we lack. The worth is known by the want. Memory of past joys makes us the more eager in seeking renewed tokens of love and good will. The light is sweet to the eyes, but it is sweeter if for a while withdrawn. Friendship is dear, but absence makes the heart grow fender. The love of God is the joy of the heart; but if clouds and darkness gather between us and God, the more earnestly do we cry for the restoration of his favour (Jeremiah 29:11-14).

4. To prepare us for higher manifestations God's love. We need to be brought low in order to be raised up. We need to be emptied of pride and self-righteousness to be filled with the fulness of God. If we ask and receive not, it is because we ask amiss. This we have to learn. We are led, therefore, to self-examination, to penitence, to confession. God has something better than we thought of in store for us. It may he something to do or to suffer for him. There is a "needs be" we should be made ready. Let us therefore trust, and not be afraid (Isaiah 54:7, 8). - W.F.

They devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.
"There is no temptation," said John of Wesel, one of the greatest of the pre-Lutheran reformers, "so great as not to be tempted at all." We have a vivid illustration of this in a picture given us by a late writer on natural history. When the wild horses of Mexico, he tells us, are grazing unconsciously in a prairie, there may sometimes be seen gathering in the distance a troop of wolves, whom hunger has driven out after food. At first the horses snuff up the scent and become alarmed, and as long as they continue so all is safe; for their fleetness puts a barrier between themselves and their assailants, which the latter are wholly unable to surmount. But so grave and innocent do the wolves look — so solely graminivorous and gentle — that their intended victims soon become relieved from all fear, and begin again quietly to graze upon the same spot. Presently, two of the older and more wary of the wolves stroll forth, as it were listlessly, and apparently for the mere purpose of pastime, sometimes advancing, sometimes retreating, and every now and then stopping to gambol with each other, as if to show their disengaged simplicity and buoyancy of heart. Again the horses become alarmed; but again, observing how very innocent and friendly their visitors appear, they fall once more to grazing secure on the fields. But the fatal moment has now come; and with an unerring spring, the nearest of the victims finds the fangs of one of his gaunt and wily pursuers fastened in his haunches, and those of another in his neck, and in a moment he is covered by the whole of the greedy pack that has been thus waiting till this moment to dash upon his prostrate frame. So it is that sin presents itself to the incautious soul. First it lounges listlessly in the distance, as if to show its harmlessness and disengagedness of purpose. Then, when suspicion is disarmed, it comes nearer still, gambolling about as if it was mere pastime. It is not till the soul feels its fangs that it discovers that it is now the victim and slave of a master whose bitter and cruel yoke must be borne, not only through time, but through eternity.

(The Preacher's Lantern.)

People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Glad, Gloat, Judge, O, Rejoice, Righteousness, Vindicate
Outline
1. David prays for his own safety, and his enemies' confusion
11. He complains of their wrongful dealing
22. Thereby he incites God against them

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 35:24

     1125   God, righteousness
     8797   persecution, attitudes

Psalm 35:15-25

     8817   ridicule, objects of

Psalm 35:23-24

     5360   justice, God

Library
Specific References to Prophecy in the Gospels
20. But, if it does not weary you, let the point out as briefly as possible, specific references to prophecy in the Gospels, that those who are being instructed in the first elements of the faith may have these testimonies written on their hearts, lest any doubt concerning the things which they believe should at any time take them by surprise. We are told in the Gospel that Judas, one of Christ's friends and associates at table, betrayed Him. Let the show you how this is foretold in the Psalms: "He
Various—Life and Works of Rufinus with Jerome's Apology Against Rufinus.

Historical Summary and Chronological Tables.
a.d. 340. Birth of St. Ambrose (probably at Trèves), youngest son of Ambrose, Prefect of the Gauls. Constantine II. killed at Aquileia. Death of Eusebius. 341. Seventh Council of Antioch. Second exile of St. Athanasius. 343. Photinus begins teaching his heresy. 347. Birth of St. John Chrysostom. Council of Sardica. St. Athanasius restored. 348. Birth of Prudentius the Christian poet. 349. Synod of Sirmium against Photinus. 350. Death of the Emperor Constans. St. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers.
St. Ambrose—Works and Letters of St. Ambrose

The Sixth Commandment
Thou shalt not kill.' Exod 20: 13. In this commandment is a sin forbidden, which is murder, Thou shalt not kill,' and a duty implied, which is, to preserve our own life, and the life of others. The sin forbidden is murder: Thou shalt not kill.' Here two things are to be understood, the not injuring another, nor ourselves. I. The not injuring another. [1] We must not injure another in his name. A good name is a precious balsam.' It is a great cruelty to murder a man in his name. We injure others in
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Ninth Commandment
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.' Exod 20: 16. THE tongue which at first was made to be an organ of God's praise, is now become an instrument of unrighteousness. This commandment binds the tongue to its good behaviour. God has set two natural fences to keep in the tongue, the teeth and lips; and this commandment is a third fence set about it, that it should not break forth into evil. It has a prohibitory and a mandatory part: the first is set down in plain words, the other
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Question of the Comparison Between the Active and the Contemplative Life
I. Is the Active Life preferable to the Contemplative? Cardinal Cajetan, On Preparation for the Contemplative Life S. Augustine, Confessions, X., xliii. 70 " On Psalm xxvi. II. Is the Active Life more Meritorious than the Contemplative? III. Is the Active Life a Hindrance to the Contemplative Life? Cardinal Cajetan, On the True Interior Life S. Augustine, Sermon, CCLVI., v. 6 IV. Does the Active Life precede the Contemplative? I Is the Active Life preferable to the Contemplative? The Lord
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

After the Scripture.
"In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God created He him."--Gen. v. 1. In the preceding pages we have shown that the translation, "in Our image," actually means, "after Our image." To make anything in an image is no language; it is unthinkable, logically untrue. We now proceed to show how it should be translated, and give our reason for it. We begin with citing some passages from the Old Testament in which occurs the preposition "B" which, in Gen. i. 27, stands before image, where
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Opposition to Messiah Unreasonable
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD , and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. I t is generally admitted, that the institutes of Christianity, as contained in the New Testament, do at least exhibit a beautiful and salutary system of morals; and that a sincere compliance with the precepts of our Lord and His apostles,
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Notes on the Third Century
Page 161. Line 1. He must be born again, &c. This is a compound citation from John iii. 3, and Mark x. 15, in the order named. Page 182. Line 17. For all things should work together, &c. See Romans viii. 28. Page 184. Lines 10-11. Being Satan is able, &c. 2 Corinthians xi. 14. Page 184. Last line. Like a sparrow, &c. Psalm cii. Page 187. Line 1. Mechanisms. This word is, in the original MS., mechanicismes.' Page 187. Line 7. Like the King's daughter, &c. Psalm xlv. 14. Page 188. Med. 39. The best
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

Concerning Persecution
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 We are now come to the last beatitude: Blessed are they which are persecuted . . '. Our Lord Christ would have us reckon the cost. Which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether he have enough to finish it?' (Luke 14:28). Religion will cost us the tears of repentance and the blood of persecution. But we see here a great encouragement that may
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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