Psalm 35 (A Ministry Perspective)

Yesterday I posted verses from Psalm 35 without comment. They have proved to be surprisingly popular. Today, here is what they represent. One would not think that the world works this way, when one starts out in ministry -- namely, that deep care for others is (sometimes) rewarded with evil, or that evil can (sometimes) arise out of nothing, without cause. It is a reality. At the same time, this Psalm declares that, even where evil is "too strong" for one (which it may be), the Lord Himself addresses it in time, to the extent that one exults in His salvation.

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.