Psalms35
New Living Translation
1 O Lord, oppose those who oppose me. Fight those who fight against me.
2 Put on your armor, and take up your shield. Prepare for battle, and come to my aid.
3 Lift up your spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Let me hear you say, “I will give you victory!”
4 Bring shame and disgrace on those trying to kill me; turn them back and humiliate those who want to harm me.
5 Blow them away like chaff in the wind— a wind sent by the angel of the Lord.
6 Make their path dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7 I did them no wrong, but they laid a trap for me. I did them no wrong, but they dug a pit to catch me.
8 So let sudden ruin come upon them! Let them be caught in the trap they set for me! Let them be destroyed in the pit they dug for me.
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be glad because he rescues me.
10 With every bone in my body I will praise him: “Lord, who can compare with you? Who else rescues the helpless from the strong? Who else protects the helpless and poor from those who rob them?”
11 Malicious witnesses testify against me. They accuse me of crimes I know nothing about.
12 They repay me evil for good. I am sick with despair.
13 Yet when they were ill, I grieved for them. I denied myself by fasting for them, but my prayers returned unanswered.
14 I was sad, as though they were my friends or family, as if I were grieving for my own mother.
15 But they are glad now that I am in trouble; they gleefully join together against me. I am attacked by people I don’t even know; they slander me constantly.
16 They mock me and call me names; they snarl at me.
17 How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing? Rescue me from their fierce attacks. Protect my life from these lions!
18 Then I will thank you in front of the great assembly. I will praise you before all the people.
19 Don’t let my treacherous enemies rejoice over my defeat. Don’t let those who hate me without cause gloat over my sorrow.
20 They don’t talk of peace; they plot against innocent people who mind their own business.
21 They shout, “Aha! Aha! With our own eyes we saw him do it!”
22 O Lord, you know all about this. Do not stay silent. Do not abandon me now, O Lord.
23 Wake up! Rise to my defense! Take up my case, my God and my Lord.
24 Declare me not guilty, O Lord my God, for you give justice. Don’t let my enemies laugh about me in my troubles.
25 Don’t let them say, “Look, we got what we wanted! Now we will eat him alive!”
26 May those who rejoice at my troubles be humiliated and disgraced. May those who triumph over me be covered with shame and dishonor.
27 But give great joy to those who came to my defense. Let them continually say, “Great is the Lord, who delights in blessing his servant with peace!”
28 Then I will proclaim your justice, and I will praise you all day long.
Study
Psalms 35Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Psalms 35. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: David prays for safety. (1–10). He complains of his enemies. (11–16). And calls upon God to support him. (17–28).
vv1-10
It is no new thing for the most righteous men, and the most righteous cause, to meet with enemies. This is a fruit of the old enmity in the seed of the serpent against the Seed of the woman. David in his afflictions, Christ in his sufferings, the church under persecution, and the Christian in the hour temptation, all beseech the Almighty to appear in their behalf, and to vindicate their cause. We are apt to justify uneasiness at the injuries men do us, by our never having given them cause to use us so ill; but this should make us easy, for then we may the more expect that God will plead our cause. David prayed to God to manifest himself in his trial. Let me have inward comfort under all outward troubles, to support my soul. If God, by his Spirit, witness to our spirits that he is our salvation, we need desire no more to make us happy. If God is our Friend, no matter who is our enemy. By the Spirit of prophecy, David foretells the just judgments of God that would come upon his enemies for their great wickedness. These are predictions, they look forward, and show the doom of the enemies of Christ and his kingdom. We must not desire or pray for the ruin of any enemies, except our lusts and the evil spirits that would compass our destruction. A traveller benighted in a bad road, is an expressive emblem of a sinner walking in the slippery and dangerous ways of temptation. But David having committed his cause to God, did not doubt of his own deliverance. The bones are the strongest parts of the body. The psalmist here proposes to serve and glorify God with all his strength. If such language may be applied to outward salvation, how much more will it apply to heavenly things in Christ Jesus!
vv11-16
Call a man ungrateful, and you can call him no worse: this was the character of David's enemies. Herein he was a type of Christ. David shows how tenderly he had behaved towards them in afflictions. We ought to mourn for the sins of those who do not mourn for themselves. We shall not lose by the good offices we do to any, how ungrateful soever they may be. Let us learn to possess our souls in patience and meekness like David, or rather after Christ's example.
vv17-28
Though the people of God are, and study to be, quiet, yet it has been common for their enemies to devise deceitful matters against them. David prays, My soul is in danger, Lord, rescue it; it belongs to thee the Father of spirits, therefore claim thine own; it is thine, save it! Lord, be not far from me, as if I were a stranger. He who exalted the once suffering Redeemer, will appear for all his people: the roaring lion shall not destroy their souls, any more than he could that of Christ, their Surety. They trust their souls in his hands, they are one with him by faith, are precious in his sight, and shall be rescued from destruction, that they may give thanks in heaven.
Key Words
דָּוִד: David, the youngest son of Jesse
רִיב: properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend
יָרִיב: literally he will contend; properly, adjective, contentious; used as noun, an adversary
לָחַם: to feed on; figuratively, to consume; by implication, to battle (as destruction)
חָזַק: to fasten upon; hence, to seize, be strong (figuratively, courageous, causatively strengthen, cure, help, repair, fortify), obstinate; to bind, restrain, conquer
מָגֵן: a shield (i.e. the small one or buckler); figuratively, a protector; also the scaly hide of the crocodile
צִנָּה: a hook (as pointed); also a (large) shield (as if guarding by prickliness); also cold (as piercing)
קוּם: to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)
עֶזְרָה: aid
רִיק: emptiness; figuratively, a worthless thing; adverbially, in vain
Cross References
Psalms 35Jesus quotes 'hated me without a cause' (Ps 35:19) as fulfilled in Himself.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Depicts God as an armed warrior taking up defensive weapons to fight on David's behalf.
Supported by John Calvin, JFB
Poole notes the identical synecdoche where 'bones' represents the whole body and its preservation.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The wicked are chased and dispersed like chaff driven before the wind.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the supernatural execution of judgment by the destructive 'angel of the Lord'.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the vow to praise and give thanks in the 'great congregation' after deliverance.
Supported by JFB
Historically grounds David's plea for God to 'plead my cause' against Saul.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The poetic justice of the wicked being caught in their own hidden net/pit.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
David's cry to rescue his 'darling' (precious life) from predatory, lion-like enemies.
Supported by JFB
The insulting, deceitful gesture of those who 'wink with the eye' in malice.
Supported by JFB
Parallels the enemies' gloating shout: 'We have swallowed him up'.
Supported by JFB
David's trial by false witnesses prefigures the false accusations laid against Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Illustrates the 'abjects' (base, degraded mockers) gathering to rejoice in David's adversity.
Supported by JFB
Calvin highlights the parallel covenant designation of God as 'my God and my Lord'.
Supported by John Calvin