From Fury to Worship: Meeting God in Psalm 35 - Jonathan Hill

Psalm 35 shows how God meets us in the raw places of anger, betrayal, and frustration, inviting us to pour out our pain honestly before Him. As David moves from fury to worship, we learn that giving our hurt to the Lord is the path back to trust, praise, and peace.

Read Psalm 35 here



What do we do with the difficult parts of the Old Testament? How often, when we read through the Book of Psalms, do we quietly skip over the nasty ones? 
Psalm 35 is the first of the ‘imprecatory’ psalms — those psalms where the writer calls down curses on his enemies, asking the Lord to act with supernatural power against those who oppose him. 

But how do we reconcile this, and other psalms like it in Books Two and Five, with the New Testament’s call from Luke 6:29 ‘Turn the other cheek’ and "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" from Matthew 5:44?

The truth — though we often don’t like to admit it — is that we live in a broken world where justice is frequently absent. And even with the Lord’s grace and mercy at work in our own lives, we regularly discover that we ourselves are not loving, not perfect, and not always able to respond as Christ would have us do.

Unlike Psalm 34, where David looks back with thanks and praise for the Lord’s rescue, Psalm 35 is written in the middle of a storm. 

People are hunting him down. Some want him dead. It may well have been written during the period when David was fleeing from his father-in-law Saul, fleeing for his life. Many were searching for him, and some even betrayed his location to his pursuers. In his anger and fear, David cries out to the Lord in frustration and desperation.

And the key thing is this: he gives his fury and his thirst for revenge to the Lord.

Psalm 35 unfolds in three sections. Each follows the same pattern: David pours out his anger to the Lord, asks Him to deal with his enemies, and then slowly returns to praise and trust.

Section 1: Verses 1–10

David begins with the cry, “Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me.” He calls on Yahweh to prepare for battle, to come out fighting on his behalf. Yet even in the heat of his anger, a flicker of faith appears at the end of verse 3: “Say to me, ‘I am your salvation.’”

Even in the midst of fury, his soul knows that it is the Lord who rescues and saves. But the anger still burns, and he calls on the Lord to deal harshly with his opponents — even to send His angels to fight against them.
By verses 9 and 10, faith begins to rise again. Yes, he still longs for his enemies’ defeat, but he also cries out in worship: “My whole being will exclaim, ‘Who is like you, Lord?’” For Yahweh is the one who rescues the poor and the helpless.

Section 2: Verses 11–18

David’s pain flares again: “Ruthless witnesses come forward.” He lays out a charge sheet of all the wrongs he believes have been done to him. His fury remains, but his desire for revenge is beginning to soften.

Then in verse 17, after listing his troubles, he cries out, “Rescue me.” And by verse 18, he manages to return to praise: “I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among the throngs I will praise you.”

Section 3: Verses 19–28

David still calls on the Lord to intervene, but now it is less about destroying his enemies and more about allowing the justice of his cause to be seen. As he leaves his anger with the Lord, he is able to move back toward worship.

Verse 27 captures this shift beautifully: “May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, ‘The Lord be exalted.’” Those who delight in Yahweh know that He looks after the well being of His servants.

As his anger fades and trust returns, David concludes in verse 28: “My tongue will proclaim your righteousness; your praises I will declare all day long.”

So What About Us?
Psalm 35 is unlikely ever to be one of your favourite psalms. But it carries a message we need.

What do we do when we feel betrayed? What do we do when we are angry? Do we take it out on our enemies? Or do we bring all our frustration and pain to the Lord?
Do we call out to everyone we know, seeking vengeance? Or do we carry our rejection, our weakness, our hurt, and pour it out before The Lord — allowing Him to be the judge, allowing Him to pour out His grace and mercy?

Psalm 35 invites us to move from the place of pain and frustration back into the place of worship. Not by pretending we are fine, and not by suppressing our anger, but by giving it — honestly, fully — to the Lord who alone can hold it and by his grace help us to return to trust and praise. 

Photo by Tomi Blasic on Unsplash

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