Psalm 35 Commentary
God Defends The Righteous
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KEY THOUGHT: And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; It shall rejoice in His salvation. [Psalm 35:9 NKJV]
Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!
Psalm 35 NKJV
The Lord the Avenger of His People
A Psalm of David.
35 Plead[a] my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and [b]buckler,
And stand up for my help.
3 Also draw out the spear,
And stop those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
4 Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor
Who seek after my life;
Let those be turned back and brought to confusion
Who plot my hurt.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
And let the [c]angel of the Lord chase them.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
And let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
7 For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit,
Which they have dug without cause for my life.
8 [d]Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly,
And let his net that he has hidden catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
10 All my bones shall say,
“Lord, who is like You,
Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”
11 Fierce witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
12 They reward me evil for good,
To the sorrow of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick,
My clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting;
And my prayer would return to my own [e]heart.
14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother;
I bowed down [f]heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.
15 But in my [g]adversity they rejoiced
And gathered together;
Attackers gathered against me,
And I did not know it;
They tore at me and did not cease;
16 With ungodly mockers at feasts
They gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 Lord, how long will You look on?
Rescue me from their destructions,
My precious life from the lions.
18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise You among [h]many people.
19 Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies;
Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful matters
Against the quiet ones in the land.
21 They also opened their mouth wide against me,
And said, “Aha, aha!
Our eyes have seen it.”
22 This You have seen, O Lord;
Do not keep silence.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication,
To my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who rejoice at my hurt;
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor
Who exalt themselves against me.
27 Let them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
“Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness
And of Your praise all the day long.
Footnotes
a. Psalm 35:1 Contend for me
b. Psalm 35:2 A small shield
c. Psalm 35:5 Or Angel
d. Psalm 35:8 Lit. Let destruction he does not know come upon him,
e. Psalm 35:13 Lit. bosom
f. Psalm 35:14 in mourning
g. Psalm 35:15 limping, stumbling
h. Psalm 35:18 a mighty
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Psalm 35 Commentary
The psalmist assumes there is a God who defends the poor against the strong. This prayer works only if, indeed, a God exists who isn’t happy with injustice.
The basis for this prayer is yet another assumption that God hates it when individuals pay evil for good. He steps in to correct the injustice.
The tone of this prayer paints God as an entity for hire – a powerful entity for hire when one is in trouble. The psalmist does so by wanting his enemies to be God’s enemies. Prayer functions like a hotline at the police station or a fire station.
Of course, Psalm 35 isn’t the entire word of God! Psalm 139 tells us of a different God. He knows all things. His involvement dates from before mortals are born. He continues to be actively involved in the saint’s life through and through.
The picture of prayer as a hotline isn’t good!
A baby cries for food when he wakes up. What the baby may not know is that he was woken up for this very purpose. And the food is ready by this time!
In the background of Psalm 35 is evil. It rejoices in pain. It pays evil for good, inverts good, and trashes morality. The Psalmists’ cry against evil is God’s reaction through a human soul.
The mention of the angel of the LORD in verse 6 enlists intervention beyond human activity. Miracle salvation! A Hebrew man knew all about “Egypt and wilderness” experiences.
False accusation goes beyond verbal attacks against the innocent. You are sentenced to pain and suffering without a real cause for it. Think of Calvary and the many false accusations against our LORD Jesus, and see the real meaning. The servants of the LORD Jesus don’t have any better story!
Deception, greediness, and corruption ensure the saint has the roughest ride this side of creation. But the God of the righteous isn’t distant; he isn’t silent. Verse 22.
Take it from here and see why this prayer is possible. God is righteous. Verse 24. On account of this fact, the saint is declared innocent. And so it shall be! Then praise and thanksgiving ensue.
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