Psalms 35:8

_LET DESTRUCTION COME UPON HIM AT UNAWARES; AND LET HIS NET THAT HE HATH HID CATCH HIMSELF: INTO THAT VERY DESTRUCTION LET HIM FALL._ Let destruction ... unawares - even as he had tried to take by surprise and to destroy the righteous. The ungodly is put before us as an ideal person in the singular, the representative of all the God-opposed ones of every age. This anti-Christian faction has some particular individuals who more especially embody its ungodliness, as Haman, who sought to destroy all the Jews; Antiochus Epiphanes, the fanatical persecutor in Old Testament times; Judas, "the son of perdition;" and above all, Antichrist of the latter days, who is also called (2 Thessalonians 2:3) "the son of perdition. AND LET ... HIMSELF - Psalms 35:7, first clause....

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, (707) it matters little in which way we understand it. The Hebrew word שואה, _shoah, _sometimes signifies _confusion, _and sometimes _destruction; _and, therefore,

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 enem...

Verse Psalms 35:8. _LET HIS NET THAT HE HATH HID_] See the notes on Psalms 7:15; Psalms 7:16....

LET DESTRUCTION COME UPON HIM AT UNAWARES - Margin, which “he knoweth not of.” So the Hebrew. The meaning is, Let destruction come upon him when he is not looking for it, or expecting it. AND LET HIS NET THAT HE HATH HID CATCH HIMSELF - See the notes at Psalms 7:15. The psalmist prays here that the same thing may occur to his enemy which his enemy had designed for him. It is simply a prayer that they might be treated as they purposed to treat him....

EXPOSITION A PSALM ascribed to David by the title, and with many characteristics of his early style—abrupt, impassioned, full of lively and graphic images, and full of transitions The picture which the writer draws of his own circumstances and position (Psalms 35:11, Psalms 35:19) accords well with what we know of David's life when he was a fugitive from Saul, and there is a special agreement between the first verse of the psalm and words historically ascribed to David at this period of his career (1 Samuel 24:15). The psalm naturally divides itself into three portions, nearly of equal length (Psalms

LET DESTRUCTION COME UPON HIM AT UNAWARES,.... Or a "storm" r, such as is caused in the eastern countries by a south wind, very sudden, violent, and destructive s: the singular number being here used, some Jewish commentators, as Kimchi, have thought Saul is particularly meant; and some Christian interpreters have been of opinion that Judas is intended: the imprecations here may be compared with those which respect him, Psalms 109:6. Though this may regard every one of the enemies of David, or of Christ and his people, whose ruin and destruction will come upon them unawares; see 1 Thessalonians 5:3; AND LET HIS NET THAT HE HATH LAID CATCH HIMSELF; a figurative expression, agreeable to the allusion before made, and which is explained in the next clause; into th

Psalms 35 The Cry for Justice and Divine Help _ 1. The cry of distress (Psalms 35:1)_ 2. The contrast? (Psalms 35:11) 3. Prayer for vindication and victory (Psalms 35:19) This Psalm introduces us again to the suffering of the righteous, giving another prophetic picture of the distress of the remnant. When David composed this Psalm we do not know. But He casts himself completely on the Lord and calls to Him for help and vindication. Thus the godly have always done when surrounded by the enemies who persecuted them. The condition of the godly when violence is in the earth during the time of Jacob's trouble

XXXV. PRAYER AGAINST TREACHEROUS FOES BY ONE WHO IS QUIET IN THE LAND. Psalms 35:6_ b_ should replace Psalms 35:5_ b_. Chaff driven before the wind may well suggest the image of the angel pursuing the foe but not that of pushing or thrusting. Psalms 35:7. Read, Without a cause have they hid for me their net: without a cause have they dug a pit for my life. Psalms 35:9 f. Soul and bones stand for the whole person. Psalms 35:12_ b_. The text cannot be right. Laying snares for my soul is a possible conj

The causelessness of their insidious enmity is the ground for such a prayer. May their schemes recoil on their own heads....