A psalm of David
35
📚Plead my cause, O LORD,with those who strive with me.
Fight against those who
fight against me.
35:1 This psalm has three clear divisions. In each division there is a description of David’s enemies and then a statement that when God answers him it will bring joy to his heart and praise to his lips. The divisions are vs 1-10,11-18, and 19-28.⚜
2 📚Take hold of shield
and buckler 📖,
and stand up for my help.
3 📚Draw out the spear also,
and bar the way to
those who persecute me.
Say to my soul, “I am
your salvation”.
35:1-3 When God fights for the believer who can stand against him? – Ps 56:9; 118:6; 1 Sam 17:47; 1 Chron 5:20; 2 Chron 20:15; Rom 8:31.⚜
4 📚Let those who seek after
my life be disgraced and
put to shame.
Let those who plot
to harm me be turned back
and brought to confusion.
5 📚Let them be like chaff
before the wind,
and let the angel of the LORD
drive them away.
35:5 Note on angels at Gen 16:7.⚜
6 📚Let their way be dark
and slippery,
and let the angel of the LORD
pursue them.
7 📚For without cause
they have hidden their
net for me
in a pit which,
without cause,
they dug for my soul.
35:7 The persecution and hatred David endured from his enemies were not because he had done anything against them. This fact reveals their wickedness and enmity toward God.⚜
8 📚Let destruction come
on him unexpectedly,
and let his net,
which he hid, catch him.
Let him fall into that
very destruction.
35:8 Is it right for believers to pray for the destruction of their enemies, for God’s judgment on them? It was right in the time when the Old Testament was written and when those who so prayed were in tune with God’s purposes and inspired by the Holy Spirit to do so, as the writers of the Psalms were. There are such prayers in many Psalms – 5,7,9,17,28,31,35,40,54,55,56,58,59,69,74,79,83,109,129,140. The reasons for such prayers are also given here and there – Ps 7:6; 9:19-20; 28:4; 59:13; 74:22; 83:16, 18.
Personal vengeance was not the main concern of the writers of the Psalms. They were concerned with justice. They often emphasized the truth that God takes holy vengeance on the wicked enemies of His servants, that God will see to it that men reap what they sow. These writers wanted God to rise in judgment to display His justice which was being forgotten, and to make His holy nature known. They wanted men to fear Him, and seek Him, and know Him. They wanted the poor and needy to be rescued from the oppression of wicked men.
Remember these writers lived under the law of Moses. The essence of law is not grace and mercy but perfect justice in action (see note at Ex 19:21-25; 21:23-25). David’s attitude is the same as that revealed in Deut 27:15-26 which God Himself taught the nation Israel. This attitude is an intense desire to see God vindicated and honored in the display of His just judgments. The writers of the Psalms simply prayed that God would do what He said He would do.
Now we live in the age of God’s grace. Under the law God often emphasized judgment on the wicked for their sins. In this age God is emphasizing the gospel of His love for fallen men, His patience toward sinners. The Son of God did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them – Luke 19:10; 9:54-56; John 3:17. Believers now are to be in tune with God’s purposes, and so are told to pray for their enemies’ good – Matt 5:43-44; Luke 6:27-28; Rom 12:19-20; 1 Tim 2:1-4. For all we know enemies of the church may, like Saul of Tarsus, be converted to Christ and turned into friends. In any case, believers are to love their enemies and desire their salvation. At the end of this age God will rise in judgment on the wicked. At that time all angels and all of God’s people will be in harmony with God’s decision – Rev 6:9-11; 16:5-7; 19:1-4. See note at Ps 109:1 also.⚜
9 📚And my soul will be joyful
in the LORD;
it will rejoice in his salvation.
10 📚All my bones will say,
“LORD, who is like you
who delivers the poor
from the one
who is too strong for him;
yes, the poor and the needy
from the one who
plunders him?”
35:9-10 This is a believer’s heart rejoicing in the justice of the Lord which helps the helpless against strong and evil men.⚜
11 📚False witnesses rise up.
They question me about things
that I do not know.
12 📚They repay me evil for good
to bring loss
to my soul.
13 📚But as for me,
when they were sick,
my clothing became
sackcloth.
I humbled my soul
with fasting;
and my prayer returned
into my own bosom.
14 📚I went about as though
he was my friend
or brother.
I bowed down sorrowfully,
like one who mourns
for his mother.
15 📚But in my adversity
they rejoiced,
and gathered together.
Yes, attackers gathered
together against me,
and I did not know it.
They tore me,
and did not stop;
16 📚With ungodly mockers
at feasts,
they gnashed their teeth
at me.
35:13-16 The character of David’s enemies is clearly seen here as being worthy of God’s judgment. Apparently at first David had prayed for their good. But when their behavior continued to be evil God’s Spirit in him inspired him to pray for their punishment. See in v 13 one good purpose in fasting. On fasting see also Isa 56:3-5; Joel 1:14; 2:12; Matt 6:16-18.⚜
17 📚Lord, how long will you
look on?
Rescue my soul from their
attempts to destroy,
my precious life from the lions.
18 📚I will give you thanks 📖 in the great congregation.
I will praise you among many people.
19 📚Do not let those who are my enemies
wrongfully rejoice over me,
or let those who hate me without cause
wink with the eye.
20 📚For they do not speak peace,
but devise deceitful matters against
those who are quiet in the land.
21 📚Yes, they opened their mouth wide against
me, and said,
“Aha! Aha! Our eyes have seen you”.
22 📚You have seen this, O LORD.
Do not keep silent.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
23 📚Stir yourself up, and awake for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 📚Vindicate me, O LORD my God,
in accordance with your righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.
25 📚Do not let them say in their hearts,
“Ah, so we would have it!”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed
him up!”
26 📚Let those who rejoice at my distress be
ashamed and altogether be brought
to confusion.
Let them be clothed with shame and
dishonour who exalt themselves
against me.
35:19-26 It is unbearable that wrong should triumph over right, that wicked men should crush the righteous and escape.⚜
27 📚Let those who favour my righteous cause
shout for joy and be glad.
Yes, let them say continually,
“May the LORD, who has pleasure in the
prosperity of his servant, be exalted”.
28 📚And my tongue will speak of your
righteousness and of your praise
all the day long.
35:27-28 And it is a joyful thing in this fallen evil world when the right gets the upper hand and the righteous are rescued and rewarded.⚜