Psalm 35: Prayer for the Persecuted Church, part 2

Psalm 35

Prayer for the Persecuted Church, part 2

Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.

2 Corinthians 1:9-11 NASB

Paul, near the end of his life, told Timothy, “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). And Paul had experienced this first hand as he testified in 2 Corinthians. He had been shipwrecked, thrown in a pit, beaten, stoned, hungry, and more. 

Throughout the ages God’s people have suffered for the sake of the gospel and the Lord has at times delivered His people from great peril, and other times He has allowed their suffering for the spread of the gospel. Whether in life of death, His grace has been and will always be sufficient for the upholding and enduring of His children. 

From the passage quoted above, Paul recognized the essential part the Corinthians played in the deliverance of Paul and his companions, and it was through their prayers. And not only were their prayers used by the Lord to bring about the deliverance of Paul, but because they had prayed, they would then rejoice with Paul and give thanks to God for the answers to their prayers. 

This is the joy we have when we are able to pray on behalf of our persecuted brothers and sisters. God uses our prayers to bring about His purposes, and we respond in thanksgiving. Let’s continue through Psalm 35, praying for the persecuted church.

Malicious Witnesses, Wretches, and Mockers

35:11-16 Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know. They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft. But I, when they were sick— I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest. I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning. But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing; like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth. 

Let’s pray:

▫️When malicious and cruel witnesses rise up against God’s children, the Lord would cause their evil testimony to not be believed and their cruel intent to be thwarted.

▫️God’s children’s lives would be so pure that there can be no accusation brought against them that would stand. 

▫️The Lord would not give them over to the desire of their adversaries that have risen against them and such as breathe out violence (Psalm 27:12).

▫️When believers are betrayed by those to whom they have done good, the Lord would be their strength and would provide rescue from their schemes and betrayal.

▫️The Lord knows all their deadly designs against His people (Jeremiah 18:23), and He would intervene for the sake of His beloved children.

▫️God’s people, even in the midst of their own persecution, would not boast in the day of their enemies’ distress (Obadiah 12).

▫️The Lord would strengthen His people to not be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:29).

▫️Even in their captivity, the Lord would help His people to have hearts of compassion and to pray for their captors, desiring to see their souls saved from eternal condemnation.

▫️When His people endure slander, accusations, many rising together against them, their hearts and minds would be strengthened by Christ and look to Him in their suffering, entrusting themselves to their faithful God.

Rescue Me!

35:17-18 How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions! I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.

Let’s pray:

▫️The Lord would not tarry long in bringing about the rescue of our persecuted brothers and sisters from their destruction.

▫️The Lord would deliver them from the one who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. They would resist him, standing firm in the faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by their brethren throughout the world. And after they have suffered for a little while, our God of all grace, who has called them to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, He Himself would perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish them (1 Peter 5:8-10).

▫️One day, we will all rejoice together and thank the Lord together for His gracious deliverance He provided for His people.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory, and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

They robbed him of comfort, and even would have taken his life had it not been for special rescues from the hand of God.

Charles Spurgeon

Psalm 35:11-18 quoted from the ESV.

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