Psalms 35:1-28

Psalms 35

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE

Prayers against Open and Concealed Enemies,
followed by Promises of Praise.

ANALYSIS

Three irregular stanzas. Stanza I., Psalms 35:1-10, An Indignant Imprecatory prayer against False Accusersespecially against One. Stanza II., Psalms 35:11-18. A Succession of Accusers, including Former Friends, Wound the petitioner to the Quick. Stanza III., Psalms 35:19-28, A Probable Supplement contains a Prayer for Vindication against Concealed Enemies whose Chief Weapon is Insinuation.

(Lm.) By David.

1

Accuse O Jehovah mine accusers

war on them who war on me;

2

Grasp shield and buckler

and arise in my help;

3

Then draw the spear

and close up[357] against my pursuers:

[357] Perh. supply the way. Per. and others take sgr as a noun= battle-axe.

Say to my soulThy salvation[358] am I!

[358] Or: deliverance, victory.

4

Put to shame and confounded be they who are seeking my life,[359]

[359] U.: soul.

turned back and abashed be they who are devising my hurt:[360]

[360] Cp. Psalms 70:2.

5

Let them become as chaff before the wind

with the messenger of Jehovah pursuing[361] them,

[361] Most critics suspect here an accidental transposition in the Heb.

6

Let their way be dark and slippery

with the messenger of Jehovah thrusting5 them down.

7

For without cause have they hid for me their net,

without cause have they digged a pit for my life.[362]

[362] So Gt.Gn.

8

May there reach him[363] a ruin he could not know,

[363] As if thinking of a chief individualsuch as Doeg.

and let his own net which he hath hidden capture him,
into the pit that he digged let him fall.

9

Then my soul will exult in Jehovahwill exult in his salvation.[364]

[364] Or: victory.

10

All my bones will say Jehovah! who is like unto thee

rescuing the humbled from one stronger than he,

yea, the humbled and needy, from his spoiler?

11

There keep rising up witnesses promoting violence

of what I know not they question me:

12

They repay me evil for good

a bereavement to my soul.[365]

[365] Such conduct makes him feel as desolate as a childless motherKp.

13

But as for me when they were mortally wounded my clothing was sackcloth!

I humbled with fasting my soul,
though my prayer on mine own bosom might return;[366]

[366] And my prayermay it return into mine own bosom (so true a prayer was it)Per.

14

Like as for a friend like as for mine own brother I bowed myself down,[367]

[367] Gt. bowed down and walked to and fro should be thus transposedGn.

Like as one mourning for a mother I gloomily walked to and fro.[367]

15

But when I stumbled they rejoiced and thronged together,

there thronged together against me smiters and I knew not,
they cried out[368] and were not silent:

[368] Cp. G. Intro. 144.

16

Amidst profane praters of perversion[369] have they gnashed upon me their teeth.

[369] Or: as profane men, mockers for cakeO.G.

17

My Sovereign Lord! how long wilt thou look on?

Recover my soul from their ravages

from lions my solitary self.

18

I will thank thee in a large assembly,[370]

[370] As in Psalms 22:25.

amidst a numerous people will I praise thee.

19

Let not those rejoice over me who are my foes for false reason,

nor those who hate me without cause wink the eye;

20

For no salutation do they utter,

but against the quiet of the land treacherous things do they devise;

21

And they have opened wide against me their mouth

they have saidAha! Aha! our eye hath seen![371]

[371] Cp. Psalms 70:3.

22

Thou hast seen O Jehovah do not be silent;

my Sovereign Lord! be not far from me:

23

Bestir thyself and wake up to my vindication O my God

yea my Sovereign Lord to my plea.

24

Vindicate me according to thy righteousness Jehovah my God,

and let them not rejoice over me.

25

Let them not say in their heartAha! our desire![372]

[372] Ml.: our soul.

let them not sayWe have swallowed him up!

26

Put to shame and at once abashed be they who are rejoicing at my hurt,

Clothed with shame and confusion be they who are magnifying themselves against me.

27

Let them ring out their joy and be glad who are desiring my justification,

and let them say continuallyMagnified be Jehovah[373] who hath taken pleasure in the prosperity of his servant!

[373] Cp. Psalms 70:4.

28

And my tongue shall talk to me of thy righteousnessall the day long of thy praise.

(Lm.) To the Chief Musician.

PARAPHRASE

Psalms 35

O Lord, fight those fighting me; declare war on them for their attacks on me.
2 Put on Your armor, take Your shield and protect me by standing in front.
3 Lift Your spear in my defense, for my pursuers are getting very close! Let me hear You say that You will save me from them!
4 Dishonor those who are trying to kill me! Turn them back and confuse them.
5 Blow them away like chaff in the windwind sent by the Angel of the Lord.
6 Make their path dark and slippery before them, with the Angel of the Lord pursuing them,
7 For though I did them no wrong, yet they laid a trap for me and dug a pitfall in my path.
8 Let them be overtaken by sudden ruin, caught in their own net, and destroyed.
9 But I will rejoice in the Lord. He shall rescue me!
10 From the bottom of my heart praise rises to Him. Where is His equal in all of heaven and earth? Who else protects the weak and helpless from the strong, and the poor and needy from those who would rob them?
11 These evil men swear to a lie. They accuse me of things I have never even heard about.
12 I do them good, but they return me harm. I am sinking down to death.
13 When they were ill, I mourned before the Lord in sackcloth, asking Him to make them well; I refused to eat; I prayed for them with utmost earnestness, but God did not listen.
14 I went about sadly as though it were my mother, friend or brother who was sick and nearing death.
15 But now that I am in trouble they are glad; they come together in meetings filled with slander against meI didn-'t even know some of those who were there.
16 For they gather with the worthless fellows of the town and spend their time cursing me.
17 Lord, how long will You stand there, doing nothing? Act now and rescue me, for I have but one life and these young lions are out to get it.
18 Save me, and I will thank You publicly before the entire congregation, before the largest crowd I can find.
19 Don-'t give victory to those who fight me without any reason! Don-'t let them rejoice[374] at my falllet them die.

[374] Literally, Wink with the eye.

20 They don-'t talk of peace and doing good, but of plots against innocent men who are minding their own business.
21 They shout that they have seen me doing wrong! Aha! they say, With our own eyes we saw him do it.
22 Lord, You know all about it. Don-'t stay silent! Don-'t desert me now!
23 Rise up, O Lord my God; vindicate me.
24 Declare me not guilty, for You are just.[375] Don-'t let my enemies rejoice over me in my troubles.

[375] Literally, Judge me according to Your righteousness.

25 Don-'t let them say, Aha! Our dearest wish against him will soon be fulfilled! and, At last we have him!
26 Shame them; let these who boast against me and who rejoice at my troubles be themselves overcome by misfortune that strips them bare of everything they own. Bare them to dishonor.
27 But give great joy to all who wish me well. Let them shout with delight, Great is the Lord who enjoys helping His child![376]

[376] Literally, Servant.

28 And I will tell everyone how great and good You are; I will praise You all day long.

EXPOSITION

Probably the endeavour to get at the authorship of this psalm, will go further than the pursuit of any other line of enquiry, to place the meaning of the psalm within our grasp. The psalm as a whole is inscribed to David, nor is there the slightest perceptible reason to doubt the validity of this inscription, especially so long as we confine ourselves to Stanzas I. and II. When careful attention is bestowed on Stanza III., little by little we recognise a difference between the tone of this and that of the previous two; and this perception makes the Davidic authorship of what has gone before, still more evident than it was at first. There is a difference, however, even between Stanzas I., and II. also,to lay hold of which is to become more completely penetrated than ever with the assurance that David wrote both these stanzas, but under the domination of two successive moods. The governing note of Stanza I. is indignation: that of Stanza II. is wounded love. The indication is fiery, and finds vent in imprecation (Cp. on 69)nothing is too bad to ask from Jehovah in avengement of the wrong the petitioner has received from his enemies at court, especially from one of them. But when, in the second stanza, his memory passes from the supreme wrong this one has done him, to other false witnesses that come up before his mind, and he recalls his intimate friendship with some of them, indignation melts into a wail of anguish, as he remembers how keenly he had suffered in their behalf when they were in trouble. He perceives all the meanness of their conductall the perfidy of it; but he does not imprecate. He looks their ingratitude and treachery full in the face: the enormous wrong they have done him is revolting, like the ravages of lions; but he cannot curse them. He has been robbed of the precious jewel of friendship, and he feels it as a mother feels the loss of her children. All he can do in resentment, is to ask how long his Sovereign Lord will look on. It is David all over: both stanzas are from Davidif we know anything of David: David at the court of Saul, with jealous courtiers passing in and out before the king, suddenly asking ensnaring questions, throwing out innuendoes, to David's hurt to which no reply can at once be made. The most casual reader can see this situation reflected in the first stanza; nor does anyone need to be told how exquisitely fitted for friendship was the son of Jesse, and therefore how open to feel the anguish so graphically portrayed in the second stanza. It is not so easy at first to realise the change of situation which almost imperceptibly comes into view in Stanza III. Kirkpatrick recognises the change of tone, as is evident from his anticipatory summary of it: 19-28. Renewed prayer in a somewhat calmer tone. But something more than the tone here changes: very informally is here introduced a new situation. In a word, it is no longer David who writes; but rather Prince Hezekiah, in the latter years of his father's degenerate reign; as the prince's ripening godly manhood moves to concealed hatred the sycophants at his father's court. The writer notes with some vexation the withholding of a salutation which he was well-entitled to expect, he is intimate with the quiet of the land, learns the treacherous things that are devised against them, and hears the malicious insinuations thrown out regarding himself. The injured one is no longer the high-spirited warrior of Stanza I., nor the wounded personal friend of Stanza II., but one who can afford to wait a little and yet eagerly looks forward to vindicationa vindication which will cover his detractors with shame. If, as prince, the writer penned this stanzaor at least lived it, it may well have been as king that he added to it the beautiful climax which now brings it to a conclusion; and fitted it to be soon passed on To the Chief Musician. The Refrains to this psalm contribute something material towards the exegesis of the whole. In the first place they serve to mark real divisions in the psalm where otherwise the lines of transition would be less perceptible. It cannot, for example, be denied, that Psalms 35:9-10 form a natural resting-place. And this assists the perception that, although the second stanza, resumes the same general thought, yet it is with a difference: the one enemy is lost sight of by the succession of accusers which comes into view, bringing in those perfidious friends who cause such anguish to the psalmist's mind. Then the close of the second stanza, in Psalms 35:17-18, is especially arresting, inasmuch as each verse strongly reminds us of Psalms 22: the lions recalling Psalms 22:13; Psalms 22:21 of that psalm, and the solitary self 1 Thessalonians 20th verse; the large assembly also linking itself with the same not very usual designation in Psalms 22:25 of Psalms 22;small things in themselves, it may be thought; but if, as we saw reason to suppose, they came from David's pen in the earlier psalm, then the probability is increased that David wrote them here. Again, the strong climax here reached, distinctly awakens us to note with some surprise that, however well the psalm might have ended here, in point of fact it does not; and so, however quiet the transition to what follows and however neat the seam of attachment thereby formed, yet we really do enter upon a new situation as well as perceive a calmer tone. Needless to say the actual conclusion of the psalm, Psalms 22:27-28, are in every way worthy of that UPRIGHT KING whose harp (Isaiah 38:20) was solemnly enlisted to celebrate the triumphant vindication that ultimately came, and which, when it did come, awoke the respectful acknowledgements of all nations.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.

If we only understood the circumstances of this psalm, we would feel the writer was generous in his attitude toward his enemiesis this possible? Discuss.

2.

There are several figures of speech used to describe the help of the Lord(cf. Psalms 35:2 f.f.). Can we use them for today?

3.

Read from verse one through eightsix or seven calamities are wished upon the wickedhave we ever lived in such a way that the Lord answered the wish of the psalmist in our lives? Discuss.

4.

When we try to imagine all of the calamities that could have come our way we are constrained to ask why they didn-'t? Read Psalms 35:10 for some help in this question.

5.

Here is a commentary on the schemes of sinnersnotice the use of the God-given abilities to oppose God.

6.

In the midst of trouble David thanks Godwhat a lesson for us. How do we develop this capacity?

7.

The words of Graham Scroggie are so good hereHave you ever felt the thrill of doing something really great? If not, begin by singing a song in the night of your present, or next trouble.Feet of lead, and a sore head: but daring wings for him who sings. (Psalms p. 207, 208)