Psalm 35

Psalm 35 KJV (WS)

1 A Psalm of David. Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. 2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. 3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. 4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. 5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them. 6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. 7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. 8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall. 9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation. 10 All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him? 11 False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. 12 They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. 13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. 14 I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother. 15 But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not: 16 With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. 17 Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions. 18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people. 19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause. 20 For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land. 21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it. 22 This thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me. 23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord. 24 Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me. 25 Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up. 26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me. 27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. 28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.

Introduction

Part 1 (1-18)

(1-3) The Psalm begins with military imagery.

Psalm 35:1-3 “1 A Psalm of David. Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. 2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. 3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”

The psalm start out looking like a court case.

But, then it quickly morphs into a military situation.

David is clearly facing an enemy that is not interesting in litigation but rather annihilation.

He’s overmatched and he needs God to intervene.

We see David asking God to armor up.

We see him asking God to set up barricades or road blocks around David to protect him.

David senses the danger and he wants God to assure him that He’s got his back.

(4-8) Pleas for God to punish the psalmists enemies.

Psalm 35:4-8 “4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. 5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them. 6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. 7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. 8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.”

Based on the previous section, we would expect David to pray that the weapons of the Lord would be used against his enemies.

Instead, David prays that his persecutors would experience the shame and confusion of defeat.

He even prays for a unique request that the angel of the Lord would be dispatched solely on his behalf.

Typically this was a request reserved for the protection of the people.

David dares to ask for this protection for himself.

He asks God to turn the traps set for David against those that set them.

I think we’ve maybe talked about this before.

These nets and pits that David is talking about are a reference to the ancient form of hunting called kite hunting.

Hunters would drive animals into a natural or artificial funnel that would gradually narrow.

The narrower it got, the more pits there would be.

The animals would obviously fall into the pits where the hunters could harvest them.

David feels like he is being chased like an animal and he wants to see the hunters fall into their own pits.

(9-10) An interruption of praise.

Psalm 35:9-10 “9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in his salvation. 10 All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?”

David trusts that God will answer his prayers.

So, he interrupts his requests for protection with an outburst of praise.

We need to remember that deliverance has not come.

It is only with an expectation of deliverance that David praises the Lord.

By praising God, David sets himself apart from his enemies who have forsaken god.

(11-16) A description of the behaviors of the enemies and the psalmist.

Psalm 35:11-16 “11 False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. 12 They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul. 13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. 14 I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother. 15 But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not: 16 With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.”

That’s not the only distinction between David and his enemies in their relation to God.

We also see a stark contrast in their treatment of each other.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to read about how David’s enemies have treated him.

They have set up false witnesses to lie about him.

He says that they have accused him of doing things he didn’t even know had happened.

When he did good they treated him punished him.

What is surprising is that even though David was receiving such evil treatment, he did not respond in kind.

Instead, when his enemy was sick, he prayed for them, fervently.

He reached out to try and help them as though they were his own brother.

When things didn’t go well for them, he cried as though it was his own mother suffering.

And yet, unbeknownst to David at the time, they were meeting together behind his back.

They rejoiced when something bad happened to him.

They align themselves together with others who don’t like him.

They pick apart everything that he does.

They make fun of him when they get together to eat.

(17-18) A plea for action and a commitment to praise.

Psalm 35:17-18 “17 Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions. 18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.”

As David is asking God to act, he can’t help but feel that God is just watching all these things happen.

This is hard for David to accept because, from his perspective, it feels like his life is in danger.

And yet he is still confident that God will save him.

He will use God’s salvation to give him public thanksgiving.

Part 2 (19-28)

(19-21) A plea for God to silence the enemies.

Psalm 35:19-21 “19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause. 20 For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land. 21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.”

If God will save David, then David’s enemies will not have a chance to rejoice.

The word for wink has to do with the pinching of the eyes.

It’s a reference to laughing at someone.

The enemies of David are the enemies of peace.

They seek out the quiet ones to stir up trouble.

(22-26) A call for God to act.

Psalm 35:22-26 “22 This thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me. 23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord. 24 Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me. 25 Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up. 26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.”

Here is where we return to the court scene introduced at the beginning of the psalm.

David is asking God in these verses to act not as warrior but as judge.

Awake to my judgment is another way of saying judge all of us now.

David is confident that the judgment will go in his favor.

(27-28) A call to rejoicing.

Psalm 35:27-28 “27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. 28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.”