THE PRINCIPLE OF EXACT RETRIBUTION - Psalm 35

In C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia series, Aslan, the only character who appears in all seven books of the series, is the lion who parallels Jesus Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. In the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we see this quote: “Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh,” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion” . . .. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. . .” “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.’”

In our look at an imprecatory psalm such as Psalm 35, this quote from the above classic may come to mind. As believers, we approach the wrath of God with reverent fear. For those who are of this world, the very enemies of God—even those who may believe that God is only love—the Lion who is the King of Judah is not safe. Still, He is good.

The heart of the imprecatory psalms is a deep longing for justice by those who had been severely oppressed. God’s promise to His children is that divine vengeance will be part of that goodness. We struggle with that; and I think that is good. But we must ultimately come to a point of rest in all of God’s attributes that work together for our good and His glory. Those attributes include His justice and His holiness which must result in wrath poured out upon the wicked. (See Luke 18:7-8, Revelation 19:2)

No doubt, Beloved, you have been betrayed by those you love, by those whom you have sacrificed for and to whom you have shown grace and mercy. In Psalm 35, the central idea is that the treatment the psalmist (I believe it was David writing) had experienced came from the hands of his professed friends. They had turned against him. We can all relate to the anguish in David’s heart as he wrestles his emotions through his theology. I believe many Christians shy away from the imprecatory psalms because they are just too uncomfortable with this type of language. However, when we understand what awaits God’s enemies, we can humbly worship the Lord in awe of His lavish grace and mercy in saving us who were once His enemies, as well.

Back when this psalm was written, friendships were based upon covenants. Unlike our understanding of friendship today, covenants were made before God and were not to be taken lightly. Someone had breached his covenant with David. Psalm 55 reflects the heart of Psalm 35 in many ways. Verses 12-14 tells us it was not an enemy who had reproached the psalmist, but a familiar friend. In speaking about this one he says in verse 20: He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; he has violated his covenant. David’s response to this breach in covenant by the one whom he had loved is to turn to his ultimate covenant Partner to defend him.

Psalm 35 is divided into three parts:

  1-10 — David’s Prayer

11-16 — The Enemies

17-28 — David’s Appeal

In the last blog post I looked at the first verse wherein David called on God to contend with those who contended with him, indicating a plea for God’s legal aid in his case. Also, he asked the Lord to fight against those who fought against him as he called the Divine Warrior to go to battle on his behalf.

Take hold of buckler and shield and rise up for my help. Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me. Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” (Psalm 35:2-3)

A buckler was a smaller shield while shield here refers to more of what we would call a full body shield. As a shield to every believer, the Lord is our refuge in whom we can trust. David calls for the Lord to take hold of buckler and shield, but God does not need a shield for Himself, to preserve Himself in the battle. The shield is a symbol of protection for the psalmist;God is the shield and protector of His people. (Psalm 28:7, Psalm 119:114, Psalm 144:2, Psalm 33:20, Psalm 84:11, Proverbs 30:5) Ephesians 6 tells us that the Christian soldier’s shield is faith—faith in God’s Word and the One who is Faithful and True. Faith is grounded on the Rock who is a sure defense against the fiery arrows of the evil one. David is putting on his spiritual armor as He calls on the Lord to fight his battle. In comparing the language of Ephesians 6, we are called to: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (vss. 10-11) David was a mighty warrior as he fought his battles in the Lord’s strength. He knew the importance of each piece of armor. Believers, today, must realize that our battles are not against flesh and blood. We, too, put on our spiritual armor. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. (vss. 12-13) David calls upon the Lord to arm Himself with all the weaponry He needs to fight the battle. Psalm 91:4 says that His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

The psalmist in Psalm 44:23-26 calls out to the Lord in his honest emotions: Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord Awake, do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our affliction and our oppression? For our soul has sunk down into the dust; our body cleaves to the earth. Rise up, be our help, and redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness. Rise up signifies preparing for attack or defense as a warrior stands up and takes his stance. Make yourself powerful, establish or fix yourself, make yourself firm, is the idea this phrase gives us. Draw the spear. The spear was for thrusting like a javelin. The battle-axe was for close-up battle to shut up or deliver up. Meet those who pursue me — this phrase means to shut or close a door or a gate. Basically, we could say David was pleading with the Lord to go out to meet his enemy and stop him in his tracks. Arrest and check him!

Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” “Give me assurance that You will fight this battle, guard, and save me, Lord.” David wanted God’s assurance that He would take care of him and be his Savior in this battle he was facing. We must keep in mind that the greatest enemy the believer has is death. Salvation is our assurance that we have been saved from our greatest enemy because Jesus conquered the grave. If God has already saved us from our greatest enemy, will He not also save us from our lessor enemies in this life? (Isaiah 12:2)

Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life; let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me. (vs. 4) When this became my psalm, I noticed that when I read it, I put great emphasis on the pronouns indicating those who were my enemies. It was natural. My prayer was, “Let them be ashamed and dishonored…Let them be turned back and humiliated…” What underlies David’s prayer is that he is praying for his enemies exactly what they had done to him. This is called exact retribution. David is not asking that God do any more to his enemies than they had done to him. We see this principle in Proverbs 26:27, the judgment of Habakkuk 2:15-18. (I highly recommend you take the time to look up those references.) David’s enemies had tried to shame and dishonor him. They had tried to turn him back from the course he was taking and tried to humiliate him.

We see many places in the psalms where the psalmist calls on God to make his enemies ashamed. Ashamed can mean astonished, confounded, put to silence, disappointed, or confused. Here are some of the references: Psalm 6:10*; 14:6; 22:5; 25:2,3, 20*; 31:1, 17*; 35:26*; 37:19; 40:14*; 44:7; 53:5; 69:6; 70:2; 71:1, 13*, 24; 83:17; 86:17; 119:78, 80, 116; 129:5.  Dishonored means to be insulted, reproached, put to confusion, cause shame to, be humiliated, to taunt. I know the pain and emotions David was feeling. I was living the pain each time I read this psalm. Let them be turned back — to backslide, driven back, repulsed, to flinch, to retreat, to apostatize. (Psalm 6:10; 40:14; 70:2-3*; 129:5) If you were to look up each reference I have included, you would begin to see that the language of psalm 35 is not unique to it alone. The psalmist is saying: Let them be ashamed for trying to destroy me. Let them see that it is You they are fighting against. Let this cause them great confusion. Turn them back from their evil pursuit. David is on one course as He pursues godliness. His enemies are on another trying to turn him back from his purpose and calling in life. David is asking the Lord to turn them back from their evil pursuit, shaming and disappointing them as He thwarts their schemes. It was interesting to me that the prosecution and those reporting on our case repeatedly used the word schemes to describe the allegations of criminal activity. This word implies actions done in a devious manner. Every use of the word schemes in Scripture is only attributed to the actions of the wicked. While the media and the prosecution painted me this way, Scripture does not.

Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them on. (vs. 5) This recalls Psalm 1:4—The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the wind drives away. In Scripture, angels are often agents of God who bring punishment on wicked people. (See 2 Kings 19:35, 2 Samuel 24:16). Chaff is unsubstantial, without value, and worthy only to be discarded.

He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.” Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He may not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him! (Psalm 2:4-6, 10b-12)