Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.

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.”

Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life;
Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.

Let them be like chaff before the wind,
With the angel of the LORD driving them on.

Let their way be dark and slippery,
With the angel of the LORD pursuing them.

For without cause they hid their net for me;
Without cause they dug a pit for my soul.

Let destruction come upon him unawares,
And let the net which he hid catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.

And my soul shall rejoice in the LORD;
It shall exult in His salvation.

All my bones will say, “LORD, who is like You,
Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him,
And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?”

Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I do not know.

They repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.

I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.

But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The smiters whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They slandered me without ceasing.

Like godless jesters at a feast,
They gnashed at me with their teeth.

Lord, how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul from their ravages,
My only life from the lions.

I will give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will praise You among a mighty throng.

Do not let those who are wrongfully my enemies rejoice over me;
Nor let those who hate me without cause wink maliciously.

For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.

They opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!”

You have seen it, O LORD, do not keep silent;
O Lord, do not be far from me.

Stir up Yourself, and awake to my right
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.

Judge me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness,
And do not let them rejoice over me.

Do not let them say in their heart, “Aha, our desire!”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”

Let those be ashamed and humiliated altogether who rejoice at my distress;
Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me.

Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication;
And let them say continually, “The LORD be magnified,
Who delights in the prosperity of His servant.”

And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness
And Your praise all day long.

(Psalm 35 NASB)

What an amazing Psalm… 🙂

The Lord told me to read this Psalm last week and it really blew me away – I didn’t realise that we could pray like that… 🙂

I then I saw that Jesus prayed like that as this is a Messianic Psalm…

Malicious witnesses rise up; They ask me of things that I do not know. (Psalm 35:11 NASB)

Like at Jesus’ trial…

And so I saw that just as Jesus was praying for the forgiveness of all – in His Love – at the same time He was praying for Judgement on those who were oppressing Him…

and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; (1 Peter 2:23 NASB)

This Psalm – might not have only been this Psalm – was what He was saying as He “kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously”… 🙂

What a powerful word…

“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD. (Isaiah 54:17 NASB)

Wow… 🙂

Self righteousness wants to defend ourselves – wants to scream out our “right-ness” to everyone…

But Jesus kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously… 🙂

See the difference?

He didn’t scream out his “right-ness” before men but kept entrusting Himself to His Father…

Who knew that He was right…

🙂

That’s the joy – our Father knows that we are right even when no other human being does – He knows – and He was the One who gave us the new heart which is right – so our “right-ness” is of Him and not of ourselves – and as our “right-ness” is of Him and not of ourselves He will defend our honour for it is His Own – and anyone who opposes His Honour in what He has created us to be in Christ – is fighting against Him and not us…

I am the Righteousness of God in Christ…

I am a new creation…

I have the Mind of Christ…

I died and my life is now hidden with Christ in God…

I am Holy…

I am Blameless…

I am a Saint…

I am Made Perfect Forever…

I am Irreproachable…

I am Forgiven Forever…

Jesus will not blot my name out of the Book of Life…

I am one spirit with the Lord…

I am Righteous…

When the enemy – or anyone who the enemy is speaking through – says, “You are so self righteous Andrew”, he lies… 🙂

He is a liar… 🙂

I am the Righteousness of God in Christ full stop… (Capital Letters)… 🙂

I have no righteousness of my own…

Why?

Because I died and my life is now hidden with Christ in God…

If my life is now hidden with Christ in God (inside Jesus’ Hand which is inside the Father’s Hand) then anyone who pokes a sharp stick at me is hurting the Father’s Hand and Jesus’ Hand and won’t be able to reach me – as I stand in His Righteousness alone… 🙂

I boldly say, “the Lord is my Helper”…

so that we confidently say, “THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?” (Hebrews 13:6 NASB)

Amazing confidence eh?  Amazing confidence which we have in God when we are not putting any confidence in ourselves but are putting all of our confidence in Him…

Love You Jesus…

You wrapped Yourself around me when I was being poked with the sharp sticks of the Pharisees…

Of the devil and of his demons…

You wrapped Yourself around me and took the blows for me on the cross…

And so now that I am a new creation in Your Righteousness with Your Gift of Righteousness all over me and through me and literally becoming my entire being – right from the core – I am so covered and so transformed and so metamorphosed that I am rejoicing in Your Presence in the face of opposition and torment from the enemy… 🙂

I am laughing with joy… 🙂

I am so happy… 🙂

I am experiencing the reality of Your word – where You say, “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for so they persecuted the Prophets before you”… 🙂

Amazing… 🙂

We are so blessed to know You Lord…

So blessed… 🙂

Nothing to do with us – everything to do with You… 🙂

Our righteous soul – You gave us this…

Our new creation – created in all Holiness and Righteousness of the truth – You gave us this…

We are righteous because of You and we can’t lose it – we are righteous forever by Your one act – the Second Adam – where You conquered all our enemies – and finished us off crucifying us with You and we all died with You… 🙂

I have received Your Gift of Righteousness by surrendering to You – believing in what You did – knowing that You would forgive me of my sins – my whole bundle of sin – and knowing that I would no longer go to hell – such an amazing memory of my conversion at age 5 – I will never forget that moment when You “turned on the lights” and gave me the gift of repentance and faith and I gave myself to You – Thank You Lord for choosing me…

Thank You Lord for translating me from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Your Most Beloved Son…

I love You Lord and will always love you for You have reproduced after Your kind in me Lord – Jesus is the First fruits – the “First Born” among many brethren – He is my Lord and He is my God – I love You Lord…

You are Worthy…

And no witchcraft can touch me…

Hallelujah!!!