I am doing a summer Bible study with women online at my church via Facebook. It’s called the Summer of Psalms. We are reading through the book of Psalms through June and July. I am a bit behind in the scheduled reading. To get caught up, I read the psalms for that day and then go back and read the psalms where I missed. Today, for some reason, I did my reading in reverse order. I started with Psalm 35, one I had missed earlier in the month, then read Psalm 68, the one for today. Though I was unaware, I know that the Holy Spirit orchestrated this.
I have a friend who is battling a health issue. I was talking to her husband, and he said she is doing better, but then she’ll feel one little thing and spiral into anxiety or fear or whatever you want to call it, thinking things are worse or that something new is wrong. I sat there thinking, “I so understand that.” If you have never dealt with a repeated health issue or a long-term health issue, you have no idea why something seemingly so minor would cause someone so much angst. But for those reading who have, you know exactly what I am talking about.
I read Psalm 35:1, which says, “Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me, fight against those who fight against me.” I suddenly remembered a Beth Moore study I had done years ago on Esther. She mentioned that when Esther held her dinner party with the king, she tells him all that Haman had done to her people, and what he was planning to do to her. The king becomes enraged. If you don’t know the story, the king has Haman beheaded and reverses the laws put into place that were against the Jewish people. I remember Beth Moore saying something along these lines that sometimes you have to go before the King and tell him what is being done to you, and boldly ask the King, “What are you going to do about this?” And I thought about my friend. And I thought about my own health issue, and I thought, “God contend with sickness, fear, anxiety, long-term illness, long-term injuries. God contend. Arise and fight on behalf of your daughters who are being beaten up by the enemy.”
I looked up the word contend and the first meaning of “contend” in the verse means to strive, agitate, disquiet, quarrel noisily, shout, clamor, bodily struggle, or struggle with words. And I thought yes, Lord, fight so loud with the spirit of infirmity and anxiety and injury that the other evil spirits quake in fear. Let this battle in the spiritual realm be so loud that it catches the attention of the devil and makes him think twice before messing with a daughter of the Lord. Side note, for some reason I love the idea of God quieting the enemy, that battle we all fight, that mental panic and the dread that it causes, do that to the enemy, Lord only make it worse for him. The second “contend” word in Psalm 35:1 isn’t contend like we think. It means adversary, or personal opponent. That is who we want the Lord to contend with on our behalf.
I finished reading Psalm 35, texted my friend, the verse along with a prayer for her regarding the Lord contending with the one who is contending with her, and read Psalm 68. Verse 1 of Psalm 68 says, “God shall arise, His enemies shall be scattered, and those who hate him shall flee before him.” I sat there in awe of the Lord. In the prayer I texted to my friend, I ended it with, “Lord, arise and contend now Lord, arise now Lord.” And God told me it is done.
So to those who have battled health issues for years, who know that anxious feeling that comes over you every time something doesn’t feel quite right in your body, I believe this was a prophetic word from the Lord. That if you come to the King, and tell him, “I am weary, I don’t have much fight or any fight left, would you contend with the spirits that are contending with me? Would you, Lord, arise and scatter my enemies?” I believe the Lord will move and do so quickly. Appeal to the King, who is also your Father, who loves you more than you can comprehend. And watch what God will do on your behalf.
