Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (Psalm 35), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• Sinners repay evil for good. This hostility is unreasonable, senseless. Ultimately this means that sinners are unreasonably hostile toward the good God, toward what God calls good, and toward whatever reminds them of the goodness of God. Those who are in a relationship with Christ suffer hostility from others merely because of their association with him. Does it surprise you that people hate God/Jesus? Does it surprise you that those who hate Jesus would also hate you for your association with him? How have you seen unreasonable hostility toward God in the world? In your life? Have you ever faced hostility for the sake of Christ? If so, how did you endure it? What was your attitude toward those who were hostile toward you?

• In Christ, God came to transform our sufferings by joining us in them. He says this Psalm is fulfilled as people have hated him without cause (John 15:25). It is our association with Jesus that matters most as we suffer unreasonable hostility from others. It is a blessing and a privilege to commune with Jesus in sufferings like his, to reflect Jesus to the world as we suffer. Think of Stephen in Acts 6-7. Do you “see” Jesus in your sufferings? In other words, can you believe that your sufferings are an opportunity to meet Jesus, to appreciate your relationship with Jesus? What does it matter to you that Jesus didn’t eradicate the senseless hostility we face, but that he came to suffer it himself?

• David has very strong feelings about those who attacked him without cause, but he doesn’t seek opportunities to exact revenge—he prays to God to fix the problem. When Jesus was crucified, he didn’t retaliate against those who had attacked him, he entrusted himself to God who judges justly (1 Peter 2:19-23). When people attack you, do you fight back? Do you try to reason with them? Do you pray? Have you used “imprecatory Psalms” like Psalm 35 to bring your enemies into your relationship with God?