CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Psalms 35
Chapter 35 of 150
Chapter Overview
What happens in Psalms 35
A psalm of David calling on God to fight against his enemies who attacked him without cause. David had shown them kindness, but they repaid him with evil.
Scripture
Psalms 35
Fight for Me, Lord
Study note
David asks God to take up weapons and fight his enemies. He asks that they be blown away like chaff and trapped in their own nets. David's whole being will rejoice in God's salvation.
1 Lord, go after the people who are going after me. Take on those who are taking me on. Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
2 Grab your shield and armor and get on your feet to help me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
3 Pull out your spear and javelin and block the path of those who are hunting me down. Speak to my soul and say, "I am your rescue." Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
4 Shame and humiliate everyone who is trying to take my life. Turn back and confuse everyone who is planning to hurt me. Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
5 Blow them away like dry husks in the wind, with the angel of the Lord pushing them along. Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.
6 Make their road dark and slick, with the angel of the Lord chasing them the whole way. Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.
7 They set a hidden trap for me for no reason at all. They dug a pit to catch me even though I did nothing wrong. For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.
8 Let disaster catch them off guard. Let the very net they hid be the one that catches them. Let them tumble right into their own pit. Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.
9 Then my soul will be overflowing with joy in the Lord, thrilled because he rescued me. And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
10 Every part of me will shout, "Lord, there is no one like you! You pull weak people away from those who overpower them. You protect the poor and helpless from those who take advantage of them." All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?
Betrayed by Former Friends
Study note
False witnesses accused David of things he never did. When they were sick, he fasted and prayed for them. But when he was in trouble, they mocked him.
11 Witnesses who twist the truth stand up against me. They accuse me of things I know nothing about. False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.
12 They hand me back evil when I gave them good, leaving my soul stripped bare. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.
13 But when they were going through hard times, I wore rough clothing to mourn for them. I went without food and prayed — even when my prayers seemed to bounce back unanswered. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
14 I walked around heartbroken, as if I were grieving for a close friend or a brother. I hung my head low like someone weeping at their mother's funeral. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.
15 But the moment I stumbled, they crowded around, thrilled about it. People I didn't even know ganged up on me. They tore me apart and would not stop. But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:
16 Like cruel mockers, they jeered and ground their teeth at me. With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.
17 Lord, how much longer are you going to watch? Pull my life away from the destruction they bring. Protect the only life I have from these lions. Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.
18 I will stand up in the great crowd and thank you. I will praise you in front of the whole assembly. I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.
A Plea for Justice
Study note
David asks God not to let his enemies gloat. He asks for those who want justice to shout for joy and say 'Great is the Lord!' David's tongue will speak of God's righteousness all day long.
19 Don't let enemies who betrayed me smirk at my pain. Don't let people who hate me without any reason give each other knowing looks. Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
20 Peace is the last thing they talk about. They spend their time cooking up lies against people who live quietly and cause no trouble. For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.
21 They open their mouths as wide as they can against me and say, "Ha! We saw the whole thing with our own eyes!" Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.
22 You have seen all of this, Lord. Don't stay quiet. Lord, don't keep your distance from me. This thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me.
23 Get up and rise to my defense! Stand up for me, my God and my Lord. Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Use your sense of fairness to decide in my favor, Lord my God, and don't let them smirk about what happened to me. Judge me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.
25 Don't let them think, "This is exactly what we wanted!" Don't let them brag, "We completely destroyed him!" Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.
26 Let everyone who cheers when I suffer end up shamed and put down. Let everyone who rose up against me be covered in disgrace. Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.
27 But let everyone who wants things to go right for me cheer and celebrate! Let them keep saying, "The Lord is great — he truly cares about the well-being of the one who serves him." Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
28 My tongue will talk about your righteousness and praise you all through the day. And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.
Key Themes
Themes in Psalms 35
Asking God to fight your battlesBetrayal by those you helpedA cry for justice against the treacherousTrusting God as your defender
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Psalms Psalm 35:19 John 15:25
David's plea against those who hate him 'without a cause' is quoted by Jesus to describe the world's irrational hatred of him, fulfilling the pattern of the righteous sufferer rejected without reason.
Apply This Today
Living Psalms 35
David had shown kindness to people who later turned on him. That kind of betrayal cuts deep. But David did not seek revenge — He asked God to fight for Him. When someone repays your good with evil, resist the urge to retaliate. Give the battle to God. He fights fair, and he fights for you.
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