BSB
Psalms 35
1Of David. Contend 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.
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Afflictions and Adversities: Prayer In Psalm 35:1–3, 17, 19, 22, 23, 25
Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me. / Take up Your shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid. / Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
Angel (A Spirit): Execute Judgments Upon the Wicked Psalm 35:5, 6
May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away. / May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
Angel (Holy Trinity): One of the Holy Trinity: Called Angel of the Lord Psalm 35:5, 6
May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away. / May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
Angels: Execute the Judgments of God Psalm 35:5, 6
May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away. / May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
Anthropomorphisms: Miscellaneous Figures Psalm 35:1–3
Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me. / Take up Your shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid. / Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
Chaff: Figurative Psalm 35:5
May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
Character of the Wicked: Rejoicing in the Affliction of Saints Psalm 35:15
But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.
Compassion and Sympathy: David Psalm 35:13, 14
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered. / I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.
Compassion and Sympathy: Exercise Towards: Enemies Psalm 35:13
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
David: King of Israel: At This Time Probably Writes Psalm 35:1
Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.
David: King of Israel: Devoutness of Psalm 35:1
Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.
David: King of Israel: Probably Writes Psalms Eleven at This Period of his Life Psalm 35:1
Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.
Deceit: Devise Psalm 35:20
For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
Deceit: The Wicked: Devise Psalm 35:20
For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
Enemies: Be Affectionately Concerned For Psalm 35:13
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
Enemy: General Scriptures Concerning Psalm 35:1–28
Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me. / Take up Your shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid. / Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
Evil for Good: General Scriptures Concerning Psalm 35:12
They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.
Exploitation Psalm 35:10
All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
Faith: Exemplified Psalm 35:10
All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
False Teachers: False Witness Psalm 35:11
Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.
Fasting for the Humbling of the Soul Psalm 35:13
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
Fasting: Afflictions Psalm 35:13
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
Fasting: Observed on Occasions of Afflictions of Others Psalm 35:13
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
Fasting: Unclassified Scriptures Relating To Psalm 35:13
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
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Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
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Psalms 35:1-10 Verses 1-10
It is no new thing for the most righteous men, and the most righteous cause, to meet with enemies. This is a fruit of the old enmity in the seed of the serpent against the Seed of the woman. David in his afflictions, Christ in his sufferings, the church under persecution, and the Christian in the hour temptation, all beseech the Almighty to appear in their behalf, and to vindicate their cause. We are apt to justify uneasiness at the injuries men do us, by our never having given them cause to use us so ill; but this should make us easy, for then we may the more expect that God will plead our cause. David prayed to God to manifest himself in his trial. Let me have inward comfort under all outward troubles, to support my soul. If God, by his Spirit, witness to our spirits that he is our salvation, we need desire no more to make us happy. If God is our Friend, no matter who is our enemy. By the Spirit of prophecy, David foretells the just judgments of God that would come upon his enemies for their great wickedness. These are predictions, they look forward, and show the doom of the enemies of Christ and his kingdom. We must not desire or pray for the ruin of any enemies, except our lusts and the evil spirits that would compass our destruction. A traveller benighted in a bad road, is an expressive emblem of a sinner walking in the slippery and dangerous ways of temptation. But David having committed his cause to God, did not doubt of his own deliverance. The bones are the strongest parts of the body. The psalmist here proposes to serve and glorify God with all his strength. If such language may be applied to outward salvation, how much more will it apply to heavenly things in Christ Jesus!
Psalms 35:11-16 Verses 11-16
Call a man ungrateful, and you can call him no worse: this was the character of David's enemies. Herein he was a type of Christ. David shows how tenderly he had behaved towards them in afflictions. We ought to mourn for the sins of those who do not mourn for themselves. We shall not lose by the good offices we do to any, how ungrateful soever they may be. Let us learn to possess our souls in patience and meekness like David, or rather after Christ's example.
Psalms 35:17-28 Verses 17-28
Though the people of God are, and study to be, quiet, yet it has been common for their enemies to devise deceitful matters against them. David prays, My soul is in danger, Lord, rescue it; it belongs to thee the Father of spirits, therefore claim thine own; it is thine, save it! Lord, be not far from me, as if I were a stranger. He who exalted the once suffering Redeemer, will appear for all his people: the roaring lion shall not destroy their souls, any more than he could that of Christ, their Surety. They trust their souls in his hands, they are one with him by faith, are precious in his sight, and shall be rescued from destruction, that they may give thanks in heaven.