Psalm 35
BSB
Contend with My Opponents, O LORD
Of David.
1Contend with my opponents, O LORD;
fight against those who fight against me.
2Take up Your shield and buckler;
arise and come to my aid.
3Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers;
say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
4May those who seek my life
be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plan to harm me
be driven back and confounded.
5May they be like chaff in the wind,
as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
6May their path be dark and slick,
as the angel of the LORD pursues.
7For without cause they laid their net for me;
without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
8May ruin befall them by surprise;
may the net they hid ensnare them;
may they fall into the hazard they created.
9Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD
and exult in His salvation.
10All my bones will exclaim,
“Who is like You, O LORD,
who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor,
the poor and needy from the robber?”
11Hostile witnesses come forward;
they make charges I know nothing about.
12They repay me evil for good,
to the bereavement of my soul.
13Yet when they were ill,
I put on sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting,
but my prayers returned unanswered.
14I paced about
as for my friend or brother;
I was bowed down with grief,
like one mourning for his mother.
15But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee;
they gathered together against me.
Assailants I did not know
slandered me without ceasing.
16Like godless jesters at a feast,
they gnashed their teeth at me.
17How long, O Lord, will You look on?
Rescue my soul from their ravages,
my precious life from these lions.
18Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise You among many people.
19Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause,
nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
20For they do not speak peace,
but they devise deceitful schemes
against those who live quietly in the land.
21They gape at me and say,
“Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
22O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent.
O Lord, be not far from me.
23Awake and rise to my defense,
to my cause, my God and my Lord!
24Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God,
and do not let them gloat over me.
25Let them not say in their hearts,
“Aha, just what we wanted!”
Let them not say,
“We have swallowed him up!”
26May those who gloat in my distress
be ashamed and confounded;
may those who exalt themselves over me
be clothed in shame and reproach.
27May those who favor my vindication
shout for joy and gladness;
may they always say, “Exalted be the LORD
who delights in His servant’s well-being.”
28Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness
and Your praises all day long.
Introduction
Psalms 35
David, in this psalm, appeals to the righteous Judge of heaven and earth against his enemies that hated and persecuted him. It is supposed that Saul and his party are the persons he means, for with them he had the greatest struggles. I. He complains to God of the injuries they did him; they strove with him, fought against him (Psa 35:1), persecuted him (Psa 35:3), sought his ruin (Psa 35:4, Psa 35:7), accused him falsely (Psa 35:11), abused him basely (Psa 35:15, Psa 35:16), and all his friends (Psa 35:20), and triumphed over him, (Psa 35:21, Psa 35:25, Psa 35:26). II. He pleads his own innocency, that he never gave them any provocation (Psa 35:7, Psa 35:19), but, on the contrary, had studied to oblige them (Psa 35:12-14). III. He prays to God to protect and deliver him, and appear for him (Psa 35:1, Psa 35:2), to comfort him (Psa 35:3), to be nigh to him and rescue him (Psa 35:17, Psa 35:22), to plead his cause (Psa 35:23, Psa 35:24), to defeat all the designs of his enemies against him (Psa 35:3, Psa 35:4), to disappoint their expectations of his fall (Psa 35:19, Psa 35:25, Psa 35:26), and, lastly, to countenance all his friends, and encourage them (Psa 35:27), IV. He prophesies the destruction of his persecutors (Psa 35:4-6, Psa 35:8). V. He promises himself that he shall yet see better days (Psa 35:9, Psa 35:10), and promises God that he will then attend him with his praises (Psa 35:18, Psa 35:28). In singing this psalm, and praying over it, we must take heed of applying it to any little peevish quarrels and enmities of our own, and of expressing by it any uncharitable revengeful resentments of injuries done to us; for Christ has taught us to forgive our enemies and not to pray against them, but to pray for them, as he did; but, 1. We may comfort ourselves with the testimony of our consciences concerning our innocency, with reference to those that are any way injurious to us, and with hopes that God will, in his own way and time, right us, and, in the mean time, support us. 2. We ought to apply it to the public enemies of Christ and his kingdom, typified by David and his kingdom, to resent the indignities done to Christ's honour, to pray to God to plead the just and injured cause of Christianity and serious godliness, and to believe that God will, in due time, glorify his own name in the ruin of all the irreconcilable enemies of his church, that will not repent to give him glory.
A psalm of David.
Cross-references: Ps 35:1 · Ps 35:3 · Ps 35:4 · Ps 35:7 · Ps 35:11 · Ps 35:15 · Ps 35:16 · Ps 35:20 · Ps 35:21 · Ps 35:25 · Ps 35:26 · Ps 35:19 · Ps 35:12 · Ps 35:2 · Ps 35:17 · Ps 35:22 · Ps 35:23 · Ps 35:24 · Ps 35:27 · Ps 35:8 · Ps 35:9 · Ps 35:10 · Ps 35:18 · Ps 35:28