The Appeal of the Embattled Saint

The Appeal of the Embattled Saint

Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;

Fight against those who fight against me.

Psalm 35:1

We do not always have the situation that we desire.  We prefer health to sickness; yet we may fall ill.  We prefer happiness to sorrow; yet we may have many occasions to weep.  We prefer peace to warfare; yet we may find ourselves embattled.  How are we to cope with such undesirable situations, especially this last one?   The man after God’s own heart shows us the way by the opening verse of the Psalm before us.

We are concentrating particularly upon that soul which is surrounded by enemies.  In our most embattled moments, let us appeal to God to defend us against our enemies.   These embattled moments may be very many.  Even a casual survey of the life of David will reveal that he was often in strife.  Very often the cause of that strife lay, not with David, but with some wicked person who was bent on doing harm to this righteous man.  The same things may be true of you.  Enemies may gather about you to ensnare you, to falsely accuse you, and to reward you evil for good, as the rest of the Psalm indicates was David’s case.  Such things are the unpleasant realities of our earthly existence.  If they do nothing else, they make us long for Heaven.

For the moment, however, we have to face whatever situation is before us.  How do we face it?  By using our open avenue of prayer.  David cried out, “Plead my cause, O LORD. . . “. This is our ever present resource.  Prayer is that opportunity for us to access the real Seat of Justice.  We are appealing to the God who is able and willing to defend us.  Implicit in the utterance of David’s plea is the fact that he has the certain expectation that God will intervene.  If he had no such expectation, then the prayer would be a useless, hollow sham.  David does believe.  David does expect God to intervene.

We ought to believe as well. Are you today surrounded by enemies who treat you with the same spirit as David’s enemies treated him?  Here is the answer to your difficulty:  Call upon the same God who saved you and who has thus far preserved you.  Appeal to your God, Embattled Saint, and see what He will do for you.  He will not fail you.

O God of Battles,

arise and plead for us.

We are despised.

Defeat our enemies on every side.

We hope in Thee.

Where the Bush is Burning

Tomm Tice