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Psalm 35

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

Of David.

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

fight against those who fight against me!

Take hold of shield and buckler,

and rise up to help me!

Draw the spear and javelin

against my pursuers;

say to my soul,

“I am your salvation.”

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.

Let them be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the L ord driving them on.

Let their way be dark and slippery,

with the angel of the L ord pursuing them.

For without cause they hid their net for me;

without cause they dug a pit for my life.

Let ruin come on them unawares.

And let the net that they hid ensnare them;

let them fall in it—to their ruin.

Then my soul shall rejoice in the L ord,

exulting in his deliverance.

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.”

Malicious witnesses rise up;

they ask me about things I do not know.

They repay me evil for good;

my soul is forlorn.

But as for me, when they were sick,

I wore sackcloth;

I afflicted myself with fasting.

I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,

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.

But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,

they gathered together against me;

ruffians whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

they impiously mocked more and more,

gnashing at me with their teeth.

How long, O L ord, will you look on?

Rescue me from their ravages,

my life from the lions!

Then I will thank you in the great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,

or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.

For they do not speak peace,

but they conceive deceitful words

against those who are quiet in the land.

They open wide their mouths against me;

they say, “Aha, Aha,

our eyes have seen it.”

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

O Lord, do not be far from me!

Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

Vindicate me, O L ord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and do not let them rejoice over me.

Do not let them say to themselves,

“Aha, we have our heart’s desire.”

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

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.

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.”

Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all day long.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

22. O Jehovah! thou hast also seen it. There is in these words an implied contrast between the view which God is here represented as taking, and the sight at which, as we are told in the preceding verse, the ungodly rejoiced. The import of David’s language is, You have rejoiced exceedingly at the sight of my miseries; but God also sees and takes notice of the cruelty and malice of those who feel a pleasure and gratification in seeing others afflicted and in trouble. David, however, in thus speaking, stays not to reason with his enemies, but rather addresses himself directly to God, and sets his providence as a rampart of defense in opposition to all the assaults of those who sought to shake his confidence, and who caused him much trouble. And certainly, if we would fortify ourselves against the scoffing and derision of our enemies, the best means which we can employ for this end is to overlook them, and to elevate our thoughts to God, and in the confidence of his fatherly care over us, to entreat him to show, in very deed, that our troubles are not unknown to him; yea, that the more he sees the wicked eagerly watching every opportunity to accomplish our ruin, he would the more speedily come to our aid. This David expresses by these various forms of expression — Keep not silence, be not far from me, stir up thyself, awake for my judgment He might justly make use of such expressions, seeing he was already fully persuaded that God regards the poor and afflicted, and marks all the wrongs which are done to them. If, therefore, we would frame our requests aright, a clear conviction and persuasion of the providence of God must first shine into our hearts; nor is it necessary only that this should precede, in point of order, all our desires; it must also restrain and govern them.