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Psalm 35

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

Of David.

1

Contend, O L ord, with those who contend with me;

fight against those who fight against me!

2

Take hold of shield and buckler,

and rise up to help me!

3

Draw the spear and javelin

against my pursuers;

say to my soul,

“I am your salvation.”

 

4

Let them be put to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life.

Let them be turned back and confounded

who devise evil against me.

5

Let them be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the L ord driving them on.

6

Let their way be dark and slippery,

with the angel of the L ord pursuing them.

 

7

For without cause they hid their net for me;

without cause they dug a pit for my life.

8

Let ruin come on them unawares.

And let the net that they hid ensnare them;

let them fall in it—to their ruin.

 

9

Then my soul shall rejoice in the L ord,

exulting in his deliverance.

10

All my bones shall say,

“O L ord, who is like you?

You deliver the weak

from those too strong for them,

the weak and needy from those who despoil them.”

 

11

Malicious witnesses rise up;

they ask me about things I do not know.

12

They repay me evil for good;

my soul is forlorn.

13

But as for me, when they were sick,

I wore sackcloth;

I afflicted myself with fasting.

I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,

14

as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;

I went about as one who laments for a mother,

bowed down and in mourning.

 

15

But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,

they gathered together against me;

ruffians whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

16

they impiously mocked more and more,

gnashing at me with their teeth.

 

17

How long, O L ord, will you look on?

Rescue me from their ravages,

my life from the lions!

18

Then I will thank you in the great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

 

19

Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,

or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.

20

For they do not speak peace,

but they conceive deceitful words

against those who are quiet in the land.

21

They open wide their mouths against me;

they say, “Aha, Aha,

our eyes have seen it.”

 

22

You have seen, O L ord; do not be silent!

O Lord, do not be far from me!

23

Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24

Vindicate me, O L ord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and do not let them rejoice over me.

25

Do not let them say to themselves,

“Aha, we have our heart’s desire.”

Do not let them say, “We have swallowed you up.”

 

26

Let all those who rejoice at my calamity

be put to shame and confusion;

let those who exalt themselves against me

be clothed with shame and dishonor.

 

27

Let those who desire my vindication

shout for joy and be glad,

and say evermore,

“Great is the L ord,

who delights in the welfare of his servant.”

28

Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all day long.


8. Let confusion of which he is not aware come upon him. David again prays that God would cause to return upon the head of his enemies the mischief which they had directed against a just and an inoffensive man. The change from the plural to the singular number, even when the same subject, is spoken of, is, we know, a thing very common among the Hebrews. Accordingly, what is here said of one man is applicable to all David’s enemies in general, unless, perhaps, we are rather inclined to suppose that allusion is here made to Saul or some one of his nobles. But as it is certain that the prayer which he here offers against Saul as the head extends to the whole body, in other words, to all his followers, 707707     “Qu’il fait yci contre Saul comme le chef, s’estend a tout le corps, c’est a dire, tous ses adherens.” — Fr. it matters little in which way we understand it. The Hebrew word שואה, shoah, sometimes signifies confusion, and sometimes destruction; and, therefore, many translate it, Let destruction, or desolation, or ruin, come upon him. The other rendering, however, seems more suitable, for he immediately adds, Let his own net which he hath hidden catch him, let him fall into it with confusion The way in which others render it, Let him fall into destruction itself, is certainly forced and unnatural. But the meaning of the clause will be brought out very suitable if it is viewed as a prayer of David, that as the wicked settle down like wine upon the lees, in present enjoyments, and fear nothing, as if they were placed beyond the reach of all danger, some calamity which they think not of may suddenly come upon them like a tempest, and overwhelm them. It never for a moment occurs to them as at all possible that their stratagems and craft, their wicked practices, and all the snares which they lay for the good and the simple, turn to the destruction of themselves who have devised them. David, therefore, very properly desires that they may fall with confusion into the nets which they have laid; in other words, that they may be filled with amazement and terror when they are suddenly and unexpectedly visited with calamity. The more unbounded and extravagant the exultation of men is, through their vainly and foolishly imagining that they shall escape unpunished, the more are they filled with amazement and fear when calamity suddenly overtakes them. I have, however, no doubt that David here refers to some strange and extraordinary calamity. Let confusion, then, of which he thinks not, come upon him; that is to say, when he shall have persuaded himself that all goes well with him, and promised himself peace in his deceitful fascinations, then let unwonted terror strike him to the heart, and let him feel by his tumultuous fear that he is caught in his own snares.

9. And my soul is joyful in Jehovah. Others read this in the optative mood, May my soul rejoice in Jehovah, and may it be glad in his salvation But instead of continuing to express his desires, David, in my opinion, rather promises in this verse that he will be grateful to God. This is still more evident from the following verse, in which extolling very highly the goodness of God, he says that he will celebrate the remembrance of it with every member of his body. While, therefore, some ascribe to fortune, and others to their own skill, the praise of their deliverance from danger, and few, if any, yield the whole praise of it to God, David here declares that he will not forget the favor which God had bestowed upon him. My soul, says he, shall rejoice, not in a deliverance of the author of which it is ignorant, but in the salvation of God. To place the matter in a still stronger light, he assigns to his very bones the office of declaring the divine glory. As if not content that his tongue should be employed in this, he applies all the members of his body to the work of setting forth the praises of God. The style of speaking which he employs is hyperbolical, but in this way he shows unfeignedly that his love to God was so strong that he desired to spend his sinews and bones in declaring the reality and truth of his devotion.

10. O Jehovah! who is like thee? Here he explains more fully the nature of his joy in the salvation of God of which he had spoken, showing that it consisted in his ascribing entirely to God the deliverance which he had obtained. Men, in general, praise God in such a manner that he scarcely obtains the tenth part of his due. But David, distinguishing him from all others, distinctly declares that the whole glory of his deliverance is due to him alone. And, certainly, we then only yield to God what belongs to him, when, investing him with his own power, we rest all our hopes on him. For what purpose does it serve, loudly to celebrate the name of God with our mouths, if we tear in pieces his power and goodness at our pleasure? David, therefore, in the true spirit of godliness, extols the greatness of God by this high encomium, that he is the guardian and defender of the poor, and rescues the needy and afflicted from the hand of those who oppress them; as if he had said, It is God’s peculiar duty to succor the miserable. By these words we are taught to cling to the hope of better things in adversity; for the power and resources of our enemies, however great they may be, is no reason why we should lose our confidence, since God declares to us from heaven that he reigns expressly for the purpose of resisting the strong and powerful. If the children of this world, who employ their power in injuring and oppressing the weak, had the least degree of sound understanding, it would certainly serve to restrain their audacity, and prevent them proceeding farther in provoking the wrath of God.


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