Psalms 35:1

Psalms 35:1 says, Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.  David asked God to protect him from his enemies.  God has already defeated our enemies today in an everlasting sense, whether they defeat us in this lifetime or not.  Verse two adds, Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.  David was using military terms to describe how God should protect him, but God does not need any military weapon to defeat those who oppose Him.  His word alone is powerful enough to defeat the most powerful enemy.   Verse three continues, Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.  David continued to use military terms for the way God should defeat his enemies, then proclaimed God to be his salvation.  Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, and we are forever given victory over our enemies through that faith.  Verse four states, Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.  As David asked of God then, those that oppose the followers of Christ today will be confounded by God.  Until a person accepts salvation through Jesus Christ, God's word and those that follow Christ will always confound him or her.  Verse five adds, Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.  Those who oppose God and His people will never be more powerful than chafe before the wind in the everlasting scheme of things.  We as Christians simply need to always remember this.  Verse six continues, Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.  David asks that the way of the wicked be dark and slippery, and this will always be the case.  David also asked again that the angel of the LORD persecute them.  We may never know when God has sent one of His angels to protect us.  Verse seven declares, For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.  David said without cause his enemies had set traps for his soul.  If people are setting traps for us as followers of Christ today, we need to let it be without cause. Verse eight adds, Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.  David asked that God turn the traps that his enemies had set upon themselves.  Ultimately, when God's judgment day comes, this will happen.  Everything done by those who oppose God and His people will come back to trap them in their own disbelief.  Verse nine continues, And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.  Like David, because God has defeated our enemies forever,  we should rejoice in His salvation.   Salvation is and always will be from God, and if we accept His gift of salvation we should always be rejoicing in the Lord.  Verse ten asks, All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?  David said his bones, the very core of his being, would ask Who besides God could deliver the poor and needy, and no matter our status in the world, we are poor and needy before God, and no one but God can deliver us..