{"id":219,"date":"2011-11-07T05:05:11","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T05:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/areasontosmile\/?p=219"},"modified":"2011-11-07T05:05:11","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T05:05:11","slug":"qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: What does Psalms 35 mean to you?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Sometimes slaying the giant is only the beginning!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

*This was one of the articles that lead to me winning the ‘Next Beliefnet Blogger’ contest; I am reposting it here for anyone who missed it:<\/p>\n

Question\u00a0submitted via Formspring<\/a>
\n\u201cWhat does Psalms 35 mean to you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Psalms 35 is a rather lengthy passage, so I have pasted it down below.
\nLike any passage from any scripture,\u00a0there are many ways to interpret this.
\nFirst and foremost, it has to be seen in context; David wrote this around the time he ran from Saul the first time, and he had just faked like he was insane in front of Abimelech, who drove him away.
\nSo, he was writing this at a particularly low time in his life.<\/p>\n

The number one thing I take from it, is that people had the same sort of problems we have today, over 3,000 years ago when this was written!
\nEven David, the giant-slayer, was worried about his enemies and what people thought of him!<\/p>\n

In this Psalm, he is praying to God to deliver him from the hands of his enemies, which God in turn did. So, a happy ending, right?<\/p>\n

Not quite!
\nFirst, recognize that David took that deliverance and allowed his newfound power as king to corrupt him. He went on to murder a man (Uriah) so that he could have his wife (Bathsheba). Despite David being punished for this, the child born of this union was Solomon, the wisest man of all time!
\nFrom this, you can see both how 1. God will deliver us, but 2. it doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want; but 3. even from the worst situations, God can create blessings for the whole world, but 4. it doesn’t mean we escape responsibility.<\/p>\n

What I REALLY take from this, is the thing no one wants to hear: responsibility.<\/p>\n

Note, David’s story begins when he is chosen by God to be the king; but he still has to fight Goliath, a task no one else is even willing to consider. His faith in God is greater than literally everyone else’s in the land of Israel.
\nHe stood up to do the seeming impossible, and God delivered victory into his hands.
\nHowever, this victory was not the end of his problems, it was really only the beginning!
\nWhat this means is just because you are being prayerful and faithful, it doesn’t mean you won’t have problems, in fact it means quite the opposite!<\/p>\n

And, once David was king, he still had to take responsibility for his actions regarding Bathsheba, which lead to a civil war in his own household.
\nThat means that just because you are delivered, doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want and assume you’ll get away with it!<\/p>\n

The final thing, is passages like this make it easy for people to think they can sit back and wait for God’s intervention in their lives, but you can’t get that if you read it in the context of David’s life.
\nHe fought Goliath, fled Saul, and fought literally for years before he became king. We don’t know how old he is when he is chosen; the Bible only says he was ‘young’, and he was around 37 years old when he finally became king.<\/p>\n

Even though he had faith, even though God had promised him a certain destiny, he TOOK ACTION to make his goals become a reality.<\/p>\n

That’s what I take from the passage: faith, action and responsibility are the keys achieving our goals and our destiny.<\/p>\n

You can find Psalm 35 down below my signature!<\/p>\n

What do you think? Feel free to comment down below!<\/p>\n

You are great, and I love you!
\nAnd if you love me back, click subscribe over on the right hand side!<\/p>\n

B. Dave Walters<\/p>\n

Writer, Life Coach, and Talk Radio Host<\/p>\n

Find out more about me:
\nhttp:\/\/about.me\/BDaveWalters<\/a><\/p>\n

Ask me anything:
\nhttp:\/\/formspring.me\/BDaveWalters<\/a><\/p>\n

Psalm 35<\/strong><\/span>
\nOf David.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

1 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
\nfight against those who fight against me.
\n2 Take up shield and buckler;
\narise and come to my aid.<\/p>\n

3 Brandish spear and javelin [a]
\nagainst those who pursue me.
\nSay to my soul,
\n“I am your salvation.”<\/p>\n

4 May those who seek my life
\nbe disgraced and put to shame;
\nmay those who plot my ruin
\nbe turned back in dismay.<\/p>\n

5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
\nwith the angel of the LORD driving them away;<\/p>\n

6 may their path be dark and slippery,
\nwith the angel of the LORD pursuing them.<\/p>\n

7 Since they hid their net for me without cause
\nand without cause dug a pit for me,<\/p>\n

8 may ruin overtake them by surprise\u2014
\nmay the net they hid entangle them,
\nmay they fall into the pit, to their ruin.<\/p>\n

9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD
\nand delight in his salvation.<\/p>\n

10 My whole being will exclaim,
\n“Who is like you, O LORD ?
\nYou rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
\nthe poor and needy from those who rob them.”<\/p>\n

11 Ruthless witnesses come forward;
\nthey question me on things I know nothing about.<\/p>\n

12 They repay me evil for good
\nand leave my soul forlorn.<\/p>\n

13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
\nand humbled myself with fasting.
\nWhen my prayers returned to me unanswered,<\/p>\n

14 I went about mourning
\nas though for my friend or brother.
\nI bowed my head in grief
\nas though weeping for my mother.<\/p>\n

15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
\nattackers gathered against me when I was unaware.
\nThey slandered me without ceasing.<\/p>\n

16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked [b] ;
\nthey gnashed their teeth at me.<\/p>\n

17 O Lord, how long will you look on?
\nRescue my life from their ravages,
\nmy precious life from these lions.<\/p>\n

18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly;
\namong throngs of people I will praise you.<\/p>\n

19 Let not those gloat over me
\nwho are my enemies without cause;
\nlet not those who hate me without reason
\nmaliciously wink the eye.<\/p>\n

20 They do not speak peaceably,
\nbut devise false accusations
\nagainst those who live quietly in the land.<\/p>\n

21 They gape at me and say, “Aha! Aha!
\nWith our own eyes we have seen it.”<\/p>\n

22 O LORD, you have seen this; be not silent.
\nDo not be far from me, O Lord.<\/p>\n

23 Awake, and rise to my defense!
\nContend for me, my God and Lord.<\/p>\n

24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, O LORD my God;
\ndo not let them gloat over me.<\/p>\n

25 Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
\nor say, “We have swallowed him up.”<\/p>\n

26 May all who gloat over my distress
\nbe put to shame and confusion;
\nmay all who exalt themselves over me
\nbe clothed with shame and disgrace.<\/p>\n

27 May those who delight in my vindication
\nshout for joy and gladness;
\nmay they always say, “The LORD be exalted,
\nwho delights in the well-being of his servant.”<\/p>\n

28 My tongue will speak of your righteousness
\nand of your praises all day long.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*This was one of the articles that lead to me winning the ‘Next Beliefnet Blogger’ contest; I am reposting it here for anyone who missed it: Question\u00a0submitted via Formspring \u201cWhat does Psalms 35 mean to you?\u201d Psalms 35 is a rather lengthy passage, so I have pasted it down below. Like any passage from any…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":450,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,38,28,49,48],"tags":[3,11,109,36,9,18],"class_list":["post-219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god","category-hope-inspiration","category-peace","category-religion","category-spirituality","tag-b-dave-walters","tag-gnostic-theism","tag-god","tag-hope","tag-jesus","tag-spiritual-coach"],"yoast_head":"\nQ&A: What does Psalms 35 mean to you? - A Reason to Smile<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Q&A: What does Psalms 35 mean to you? - A Reason to Smile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"*This was one of the articles that lead to me winning the ‘Next Beliefnet Blogger’ contest; I am reposting it here for anyone who missed it: Question\u00a0submitted via Formspring \u201cWhat does Psalms 35 mean to you?\u201d Psalms 35 is a rather lengthy passage, so I have pasted it down below. Like any passage from any…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Reason to Smile\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-07T05:05:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/areasontosmile\/files\/2011\/11\/David_Goliath-251x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"B. Dave Walters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Q&A: What does Psalms 35 mean to you? - A Reason to Smile","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Q&A: What does Psalms 35 mean to you? - A Reason to Smile","og_description":"*This was one of the articles that lead to me winning the ‘Next Beliefnet Blogger’ contest; I am reposting it here for anyone who missed it: Question\u00a0submitted via Formspring \u201cWhat does Psalms 35 mean to you?\u201d Psalms 35 is a rather lengthy passage, so I have pasted it down below. Like any passage from any…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html","og_site_name":"A Reason to Smile","article_published_time":"2011-11-07T05:05:11+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/areasontosmile\/files\/2011\/11\/David_Goliath-251x300.jpg"}],"author":"B. Dave Walters","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html","name":"Q&A: What does Psalms 35 mean to you? - A Reason to Smile","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/areasontosmile\/files\/2011\/11\/David_Goliath-251x300.jpg","datePublished":"2011-11-07T05:05:11+00:00","dateModified":"2011-11-07T05:05:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/#\/schema\/person\/bcf42d892eff535aad3a062b7d9534c9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/areasontosmile\/files\/2011\/11\/David_Goliath-251x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/areasontosmile\/files\/2011\/11\/David_Goliath-251x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/2011\/11\/qa-what-does-psalms-35-mean-to-you.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Q&A: What does Psalms 35 mean to you?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/","name":"A Reason to Smile","description":"Beliefnet Voices - B. Dave Walters","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/#\/schema\/person\/bcf42d892eff535aad3a062b7d9534c9","name":"B. Dave Walters","description":"B. Dave Walters is like a mix between Joel Osteen, Tony Robbins, and the Old Spice Guy. He is the winner of the \"Be the Next Beleifnet Featured Blogger\" contest for Beliefnet.com in the Hope & Inspiration category. He is also the host of Rise UP with B. Dave Walters on Party 93.4 FM out of Hudson Valley, New York, as well as a nationally syndicated columnist on the topics of spirituality and relationships for the Examiner.com. He is the author of one book, \"49 Lost Secrets of Peace, Love, and Money\". For years, friends and relatives looked to him for guidance and support during difficult times, and he realized at an early age that his purpose in life was to serve and inspire. While touring as a personal coach with a prominent rock band, he was discovered by one of the top trainers of the Anthony Robbins companies, which lead to him settling down to open and operate a Marketing, Business Services and Coaching firm in Los Angeles. Armed with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, he brings the same discipline and determination that helped him earn Black Belt rankings in Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi to all areas of study and focus. In addition to earning a degree in English from Morehouse College, he has mastered the science of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and other communication, healing, counseling and spiritual systems from all over the world. He brings his empathy, insight, and vast personal experience into all his relationships, which has lead to him being one of the most sought after Coaches in the world today. He lives in Burbank, California with his wife and two daughters.","sameAs":["http:\/\/about.me\/bdavewalters"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/author\/dwalters"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/450"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219\/revisions\/225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/areasontosmile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}