LORD, HOW LONG WILL YOU LOOK ON? ~ Psalm 35

The world has been enduring the results of the curse for approximately 6,000 years. Every child of God longs for that day when there will be peace on earth, when righteousness reigns under the kingship of Jesus, and when the battle between good and evil will have come to an end forever. There is a reason we get stirred up deep in our souls when we hear the Hallelujah Chorus being sung. While our flesh fights to hold on to parts of our worldly existence, our spirits yearn for that which we were created. When we experience or witness injustice, that battle between our flesh and our spirit ensues. Where do we run for the healing of our deep wounds? To whom do we turn? The instincts of the believer are to turn to the Lord for help. 

In Jeremiah 8, the weeping prophet, said in verse 20 of his people that the, “Harvest is past, summer is ended, and we are not saved.”  Considering their spiritual state, he saw a judgment coming for them and there was no remedy, no healing balm, and no physician to cure. The time for them to turn in repentance for their great sin against the Lord in worshipping false idols would run out. In verse 22, he says, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?”

Aww, the balm of Gilead. Jesus, the Word, is the balm of Gilead that soothes and heals our distressed souls. The Old Testament mentions this balm or healing ointment that came from Gilead in three different places. Gilead is the mountainous region east of the Jordan River. When thinking of injustice done to believers in Scripture, our thoughts often turn to the story of Joseph. It is interesting that Joseph’s brothers conspired against him in Genesis 37 then sold him to a caravan of Ishmaelites from the region of Gilead carrying a load of balm and myrrh (v. 25).

Believers, like Joseph, can turn to the Lord, the balm of Gilead, the great Physician, our Defense and just Judge, with no desire to seek revenge in unjust situations. Revenge, vengeance, and avenge, all have as their root meaning the idea of punishment. This right to avenge belongs only to the Judge who will deal out retribution with all wisdom in perfect holiness. In Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19, and Hebrews 10:30, we find this quote by God Almighty, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.” I remember hearing that Scripture in a narrated sermon by Jonathan Edwards entitled Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. It brought an icy chill to my soul. All I could think about was this holy, holy, holy God who rightfully sits in judgment over all the earth. In Deuteronomy, God is speaking to stiff-necked, rebellious, idolatrous Israelites who had rejected Him and had incurred His wrath with their wickedness. His promise to avenge Himself upon them would come in His own timing and according to His perfect and pure motives. What is the greatest motivation for me to bow the knee to the Lord’s right to repay the wicked by not attempting to usurp His authority? God’s magnificent glory will be put on display when He reveals the attribute of His just wrath. We simply cannot take revenge with pure motives which would result in our own sin. Leviticus 19:18 commands us: You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

David believed that God’s vengeance was perfect and that it would come in His own perfect timing. His response was to continue to seek the Lord. And we see that in Psalm 35. Yet, we also hear the pain in his soul in his recorded prayers. Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, My only life from the lions. I will give You thanks in the great congregation; I will praise You among a mighty throng. (Vss. 17-18)

In this portion of the text, I noticed several things about witnesses. You will remember that David had talked about the malicious witnesses who had risen up against him in the previous verses. A witness is a person who sees an event take place, or one who has knowledge of something from personal experience or observation. A witness is often called to testify to what he has seen and knows to be truth. The psalmist makes his complaint to the Lord accusing his accusers of being false witnesses. David acknowledges that the Lord sees all (witnessing every event) but is questioning how long the Lord will watch without taking action. The Lord is David’s expert witness; His testimony would prove David’s case. His vindication and deliverance would not only validate his claims of innocence but would glorify the Lord who sees and invalidate the claims of his enemies. David sees the Lord with the eyes of faith and knows His promises are trustworthy. David promises to speak words of thankfulness and praise to God in the great congregation when God fulfills His promises. For God to vindicate and deliver David would be like the Judge stepping down from the bench as an expert witness testifying on David’s behalf. The case would be dismissed immediately! And David’s enemies would suffer the repercussions of bringing false claims against David. However, God remains silent while David’s enemies, who deceitfully speak peace but who devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land, are not keeping quiet about this crime that David supposedly had committed. They are rejoicing over him. (Also see Psalm 13:1; Psalm 10.)

God sees, yet it appears as if He is passively indifferent. David’s enemies are trying to ravage his soul. Habakkuk cried out similarly to the Lord in 1:2—How long, O LORD, will I call for help, and you will not hear? I cry out to You, “Violence!” Yet You do not save. And in verse 13: Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, and you cannot look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor on those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they? Psalm 22:20-22—Deliver my soul from the sword, my only life from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion’s mouth; from the horns of the wild oxen You answer me. I will tell of Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You. There is just so much here, but much more than a blog can deal with. Psalm 17:12-13—He is like a lion that is eager to tear, and as a young lion lurking in hiding places. Arise, O LORD, confront him, bring him low. Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword…God, challenging anyone who assumes they know better than Him in Job 38:39-40—Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens and lie in wait in their lair? Umm, no. Only You can do that, LORD!

In 2 Timothy 4:17, Paul makes mention that he was rescued from the lion’s mouth. Every child raised in the church knows the story of how Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den came out unscathed. Even though the lions proved to be extremely ravenous, the Lord had shut their mouths from attacking Daniel. Peter pictured the believers’ adversary, Satan, himself, as a roaring lion prowling around seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Lions were fierce, savage beasts. David knew this all too well. In 1 Samuel 17, when facing another kind of giant, he reminds the Lord of His past faithfulness to him when he had come up against a lion. David also reminded the Lord that he was fighting the giant because of the reproach this enemy had brought to His name. I believe David was saying, “You protected me from the lion to save me physically. Surely, you will protect me from this one I stand against who profanes Your name.” David was fighting for God’s honor against Goliath. Verses 34-37: But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” And you know the story. David was confident in God’s ability to protect His own.

David says he will give God thanks and praise in the great congregation among the mighty throng. This was a well-known expression of those in the Old Testament. Psalm 22:25—From You comes my praise in the great assembly; I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him. Jonah, the disobedient prophet, praying fragments of the psalms while in the belly of the whale vowed to do the same in verses 7-9 of Chapter 2: “While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple. Those who regard vain idols forsake their faithfulness, but I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD.” (See also Psalm 18:49.) David is going to give God glory before as many people as possible. He is not trying to manipulate God (as if that were possible), by saying, “If You do this, then I’ll give You praise.” No! David’s greatest longing of his heart was to give God glory. His wicked enemies seemed to be triumphing over him. He was God’s servant. It would appear to many that David’s God was not who He claimed to be. That bothered David’s soul greatly. He could not stand any reproach to be brought to God’s name. He cannot wait to say upon his vindication and deliverance, “Behold! This is my God!”

We all must heed the words of Paul to the Galatians in 6:7-10—Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. We can know that just because judgment does not fall immediately upon people, and they may think they have gotten away with sin, Paul reminds us that to think this way is foolishness because God will not be mocked. This is a true principle universally.  

Mockers will always mock. In the last days, 2 Peter 3 tells us that it will be much worse. But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.  We should all be thankful that the Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Let us make no mistake about it or waver in our faith. The day of the Lord will come like a thief.

2 Thessalonians 1:6-10—For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed.