The Bible Study Podcast, episode 376. Today, the Bible Study podcast continues the study of Psalms with Psalm 35.

Welcome to the Bible Study podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen. We're continuing on with

Psalm 35 today. As I mentioned last week, this is a Psalm where David is asking God to fight on

his behalf. And it goes like this. Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me. Fight against those

who fight against me. Take up shield and armor. Arise and come to my aid. Brandish spear and javelin against those who fight against me, take up shield and armor, arise and come to my aid,

brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me, say to me, I am your salvation. May

those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame. May those who plot my ruin be turned back

in dismay. May they be like chaff before the wind, and with the angel of the Lord

driving them away, may their path be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

Now, David has a very specific request in this Psalm, as we will see continued throughout

the rest of the Psalm, and that is that God would fight for him.

And David obviously was in situations where that was very real.

When he talks about people who seek his life, he's not talking about people who steal his parking place or who sabotaged his promotion at work or who wrote him a nasty email.

He's talking about people who literally seek his life.

And so he asks God for help. He asks God for aid. And that is certainly one of the common themes, as we have

seen already in Psalms, is this prayer to God when we're in trouble. And in this particular case,

when we're in trouble, because somebody is attacking us. Now, I don't know how often this is applicable

for you in your daily life, but it is certainly still applicable for Christians in some parts

of the world. And certainly as part of my prayers every day, I try and remember those who are

under persecution for their faith or who are dying for their faith. As certainly we

have seen happen this year, for instance, in the Islamic State that has risen in Iraq, in rural

parts of India. We've seen people on trial for their faith in Sudan. And so there are certainly

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