The Berean Table

Field	Detail
Pericope	Psalm 35:1–28
Theme	The LORD, righteous Judge and Warrior, pleads the cause of His slandered servant, so His people entrust vengeance to Him and answer with praise.

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Opening Prayer

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Closing Prayer

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Timeline Context

Place in the Psalter. Psalm 35 stands in Book I of the Psalter (Psalms 1–41), the collection that is almost wholly “of David.” The ESV prints its superscription simply as “Of David.” It follows Psalm 34, the acrostic thanksgiving written when David feigned madness before Abimelech, and Keil and Delitzsch observe that the two belong together: “This Psalm 35 and Psalm 34 form a pair.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on 35:1). They are, he notes, the only psalms that name the angel of the LORD, and the angel who encamps around the faithful in Psalm 34:7 now drives and pursues the persecutors in Psalm 35:5–6, so the same messenger who guards God’s people executes judgment on their enemies. Psalm 36 follows with a portrait of the wicked man who has “no fear of God” and an answering hymn to the LORD’s steadfast love, carrying forward the contrast between the malice of the wicked and the faithfulness of God.

Historical setting. The superscription names David but no occasion. Calvin, Henry, Gill and Keil all place the psalm in the years of Saul’s persecution (1 Samuel 18–26), roughly the closing decades of the eleventh century BC, when David was the anointed but uncrowned heir, hunted as a traitor while Saul’s court courted favor by slandering him. Henry writes, “It is supposed that Saul and his party are the persons he means, for with them he had the greatest struggles.” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:1). The fit is close: David had served Saul with his harp and his sword (1 Samuel 16:23; 18:5); he was accused of plotting against the king (1 Samuel 22:8; 24:9); and Saul himself confessed, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil” (1 Samuel 24:17), which is the very charge of Psalm 35:12. Barnes notes that others have proposed the rebellion of Absalom or the treachery of Ahithophel, and concludes that the occasion is not of material consequence, since the psalm suits every age in which God’s servants are betrayed by former friends.

Surrounding events and their theological weight. David’s conduct in those years explains how he could pray this psalm. Twice he spared Saul’s life (1 Samuel 24; 26), refusing to lift his hand against “the LORD’s anointed,” and twice he committed his cause to God. At En-gedi he said, “May the LORD therefore be judge and give sentence between me and you, and see to it and plead my cause and deliver me from your hand.” (1 Samuel 24:15). Keil calls the whole psalm “the lyrical expansion of that which David expresses before Saul” in that verse (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on 35:1). At Ziph he said, “As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die,” (1 Samuel 26:10). The psalm is therefore the prayer of a man who has refused personal revenge and handed vengeance to God.

Place in redemptive history. David’s struggle was not merely private. As the anointed heir of the kingdom promised to Judah (Genesis 49:10; 1 Samuel 16:13), he carried in his own person the future of God’s covenant line. The attack on him was part of the long enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), and his vindication anticipated the vindication of the greater Son of David. Jesus took the words of this psalm, together with Psalm 69:4, on His own lips: “But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’” (John 15:25). The psalm thus moves from Saul’s court to the trial of Jesus, where false witnesses again rose up (Matthew 26:59–61), and forward to the last day, when the Judge of all the earth will set every wrong right (Acts 17:31; Revelation 19:11).

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Historical-Grammatical Study

Genre. Psalm 35 is an individual lament with strong imprecatory elements: a prayer that God would judge the psalmist’s enemies. It is also a royal prayer, the cry of the anointed king whose cause is the LORD’s cause. Keil and Delitzsch describe its architecture: “Each of the three parts opens with a cry for deliverance; and closes, in the certain assumption that it will take place, with a vow of thanksgiving.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on 35:1).

• Part one (vv. 1–10): call to arms, imprecation, and a vow of praise: “Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD” (v. 9).
• Part two (vv. 11–18): complaint of ingratitude, the cry of how long, and a vow of praise in the great congregation (v. 18).
• Part three (vv. 19–28): complaint of causeless hatred, appeal for vindication, and a vow of praise “all the day long” (v. 28).

Two controlling metaphors: the courtroom and the battlefield. The opening verb is riv, which Strong’s glosses to grapple, hold a controversy, plead, contend. It is the technical word for a lawsuit, used when the prophets describe the LORD’s covenant case against Israel (Micah 6:1–2; Hosea 4:1). David asks God to take up his case as Advocate and Judge. The parallel verb lacham, to fight, make war, moves the scene to the field of battle. The two images run through the whole psalm: witnesses and accusations (v. 11), vindication and a righteous cause (vv. 23–24, 27) on the one hand; shield, buckler, spear, net and pit (vv. 2–3, 7–8) on the other.

Key Hebrew terms.

• Magen and tsinnah (v. 2): the small hand shield and the large body shield. Keil notes that no warrior could carry both at once, “by which, inasmuch as it is impossible to hold both shields at the same time, the figure is idealised” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on 35:2). The picture is of God armed in every way at once.
• Chanith and segor (v. 3): the spear, and a word the ESV renders “javelin” with the footnote and close the way. Older interpreters were divided between a weapon (a battle-axe) and the verb sagar, to shut up; Calvin and Barnes prefer the verb, Keil weighs both.
• Yeshuah (vv. 3, 9): deliverance, salvation, victory. The plea “Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation!’” (v. 3) asks not only for rescue but for God’s own word of assurance.
• Mal’akh YHWH, verses 5–6: the angel of the LORD, the divine messenger who fought for Israel at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:19–25).
• Chinnam (vv. 7, 19): gratis, without cause, for nothing. It is the key word of David’s protest of innocence and the word behind Jesus’ “without a cause” (John 15:25).
• Shachath (v. 7): a pit, especially a trap. The ESV footnote explains that “pit” has been transposed from the preceding line.
• Sho’ah (v. 8): storm, devastation, ruin, rendered “destruction” twice.
• ‘Ani and ‘ebyon (v. 10): the afflicted, humble and the destitute, needy. Together they name the poor whom God champions.
• ‘Ede chamas, verse 11: literally witnesses of violence; the ESV gives “Malicious” with the footnote Or Violent.
• Shekol (v. 12): bereavement, loss of children. The ESV footnote gives the Hebrew as it is bereavement to my soul. David feels orphaned by the treachery of friends.
• Yachid (v. 17): only, solitary, precious, translated “my precious life.” The same word describes the soul in Psalm 22:20.
• Raga’ (v. 20): restful, peaceable, behind “those who are quiet in the land.”
• He’ach (vv. 21, 25): the interjection Aha!, a cry of malicious glee.
• Tsedeq (vv. 24, 27, 28): righteousness, which in this psalm means both the justice of David’s cause and the faithful justice of God that vindicates it.

Grammatical notes. The imprecations of verses 4–6 and 26 are jussives (“Let them be put to shame”), wishes addressed to God, not threats David intends to carry out himself. In verse 8 the plural enemies become singular, “him,” which Calvin and Henry both suggest may point to Saul as the head of the persecution. The verbs of verse 9, “Then my soul will rejoice,” mark a turn from petition to confident vow, and the shift recurs at each section’s close. Verse 16 is notoriously difficult; the ESV footnote says, “The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain.” Keil connects the rare word to a round cake and understands courtiers who mock for a morsel at a feast.

Ancient Near Eastern background.

• Hunting with pit and net. The traps of verses 7–8 are drawn from the practice of digging a pit, covering it, and hiding a net to catch game. The image of the hunter caught in his own trap recurs in Psalms 7:15 and 9:15.
• Sackcloth and fasting. Coarse goat-hair sackcloth (saq) and fasting (tsom) were the outward signs of mourning and earnest prayer (Genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 12:16; Nehemiah 1:4). David’s wearing them for his sick enemies (v. 13) shows how sincerely he grieved for them.
• Mourning for a mother. Verse 14 draws on the deepest bereavement an Israelite knew, the loss of a mother (compare Genesis 24:67), to measure David’s grief.
• Courts and false witness. Israelite justice depended on witnesses, and the law required two or three (Deuteronomy 19:15–19) while punishing a malicious witness with the penalty he sought to inflict. David’s complaint in verse 11 is that the courts themselves have been corrupted.

Covenantal themes. The psalm stands squarely within the Mosaic and Davidic covenants. The LORD who fought for Israel as a man of war (Exodus 15:3) and was hailed as incomparable at the sea (Exodus 15:11) is summoned to fight again, and David’s “who is like you?” (v. 10) echoes the Song of Moses. The law reserved vengeance to God (Deuteronomy 32:35) and commanded kindness even to an enemy’s ox (Exodus 23:4–5); David’s restraint toward Saul and his prayers for his enemies (v. 13) keep that law. The Abrahamic promise stands behind the imprecations as well: “him who dishonors you I will curse” (Genesis 12:3). Finally, the Davidic covenant makes David’s vindication a matter of God’s own faithfulness, for the LORD had chosen him and promised him the kingdom (1 Samuel 16:1, 13; 2 Samuel 7:8–16).

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Expanded Outline

Section 1 — The Divine Warrior and Advocate Summoned (Psalm 35:1–3)

Key Insight

David opens with two imperatives that set the terms for the whole psalm: “Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!” (v. 1). The first verb, riv, belongs to the law court; the second, lacham, to the battlefield. David is being prosecuted with lies and hunted with spears, and he asks the covenant God to answer both assaults. Calvin draws out the comfort: “God himself interposes for our protection and defense against false accusations.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:1). The point is not that David is too proud to defend himself, but that he has no court left to appeal to. When the king is the persecutor, only the King of kings can hear the case.

Verses 2–3 arm the LORD from head to foot: “Take hold of shield and buckler and rise for my help!” (v. 2); “Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers!” (v. 3). The small shield (magen) and the great body shield (tsinnah) are both called for, though no soldier could carry both. The language is deliberately bold. Calvin explains why Scripture paints God this way: “the Holy Ghost employs them in accommodation to the weakness of our understanding, for the purpose of impressing more effectually upon our minds the conviction that God is present to aid us.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:2). God needs no weapons, but frightened believers need pictures. The image goes back to the Song of Moses, where the LORD is named a man of war (Exodus 15:3), and it runs forward to the prophet’s vision of God putting on “righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head” (Isaiah 59:17), armor the apostle later gives to the church (Ephesians 6:10–17).

Then the warlike rhythm suddenly turns inward: “Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation!’” (v. 3). Having asked God to act against his enemies, David asks God to speak to him. He wants more than an outcome; he wants a word. Keil and Delitzsch put it finely: “The burden of his cry is that God’s love may break through the present outward appearance of wrath and make itself felt by him.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on 35:3). The noun yeshuah means deliverance or salvation, and the confession that “Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Psalm 3:8) now becomes a personal plea. Spurgeon notices that David would accept no lesser comfort: “Nothing short of a divine testimony in the soul will ever content the true Christian.” (Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, March 5, evening).

How this points to Christ. The God who is asked to plead David’s cause is revealed in the gospel as the One who pleads ours. “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 2:1). The Divine Warrior who takes up shield and spear is the Son who “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:15), and who will come again as the rider of whom it is written, “in righteousness he judges and makes war” (Revelation 19:11). Yet Christ is also the true David, the innocent sufferer who entrusted His own cause to the Father (1 Peter 2:23). And the word David longed to hear, “I am your salvation,” is spoken to every believer by the Spirit, who “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” (Romans 8:16).

Application

This opening teaches us where to take our grievances. When we are slandered at work, misrepresented in our church, or opposed by people more powerful than we are, our first instinct is to mount our own defense, rally allies, and strike back. David shows a better way. He brings the case to God first, and he brings it honestly, naming both the lies and the threats. Prayer is not a retreat from the conflict but the decisive move within it: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

Practically, this means writing out the accusation before God rather than rehearsing it in our heads; asking Him to vindicate us in His time rather than demanding vindication now; and refusing to treat our own reputation as the thing that must be saved at any cost. It also means that ordinary, lawful means are not excluded. David later stood before Saul and spoke the truth (1 Samuel 24:9–15). A believer may answer a false charge, seek counsel, report abuse to proper authorities, or go to court where justice requires it (Acts 25:10–11), but must do so as one who has already handed the outcome to God.

Above all, the plea of verse 3 should become our own. In the middle of conflict we need assurance more than victory. Before we ask God to deal with our enemies, we can ask Him to speak peace to us through His Word and Spirit, so that whatever happens outwardly, our souls rest in the One who has said He is our salvation (Isaiah 12:2; Hebrews 13:5–6).

A warning against misapplication: this verse is not a weapon for every disagreement. To ask God to “fight against those who fight against me” (v. 1) in a dispute over church carpet, a neighbor’s fence, or a political argument is to drag the holy name of the LORD into our pettiness. David prays as the anointed servant of God, falsely accused and hunted without cause. Before we pray this way, we must ask whether our cause is truly righteous and whether we have done all we can to be at peace (Romans 12:18).

Section 2 — Handing the Persecutors Over to God’s Justice (Psalm 35:4–8)

Key Insight

Here the psalm becomes imprecatory, and the modern reader often flinches. “Let them be put to shame and dishonor who seek after my life! Let them be turned back and disappointed who devise evil against me!” (v. 4). The wishes intensify: “Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the LORD driving them away!” (v. 5); “Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them!” (v. 6). The chaff image recalls Psalm 1, where the wicked “are like chaff that the wind drives away.” (Psalm 1:4). The angel of the LORD, who fought for Israel at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:19–25), is now asked to pursue the persecutors through darkness on a slippery road.

David then gives the reason: “For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.” (v. 7). The word chinnam, without cause, appears twice. This is a protest of innocence regarding the specific charge, not a claim to sinless perfection (compare Psalm 32:5; 143:2). The prayer of verse 8 is that the trap will spring on the trapper: “And let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his destruction!” (v. 8). It is the principle of just retribution written into God’s moral order (Psalm 7:15–16; Proverbs 26:27; Galatians 6:7).

How could David pray this way? Three things must be held together. First, these are prayers, not plans. David refused to touch Saul (1 Samuel 24:6; 26:9–11). Henry notes the consistency: “David vowed that his hand should not be upon him; he would not be judge in his own cause.” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:8). The imprecation hands vengeance to God, as the law itself required (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19). Second, David prays as the anointed king, whose cause was bound up with God’s covenant purpose. Calvin insists that “David pleads not simply his own cause, nor utters rashly the dictates of passion, nor with unadvised zeal desires the destruction of his enemies” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:4). Third, the prayer begins with shame and turning back (v. 4), language that leaves room for repentance. Henry observes that the wish “may be taken as a prayer for their repentance, for all penitents are put to shame for their sins and turned back from them.” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:4).

How this points to Christ. The New Testament does not erase this prayer; it fulfills it in two directions. On the one hand, the persecutors of the Messiah fall into the snare they laid (Romans 11:9–10, quoting Psalm 69), and the martyrs still cry for God to judge and avenge (Revelation 6:10). On the other hand, Christ Himself took the curse in the place of His enemies: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). The One who could have called down the angels prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). Every enemy of God therefore meets God’s justice either at the cross, in Christ, or at the judgment, in himself.

Application

These verses teach us what to do with our anger at injustice. They do not ask us to pretend that evil is harmless or that our pain is imaginary. David names the wrong honestly: a hidden net, a dug pit, an attempt on his life. Scripture gives God’s people words to bring outrage into His presence instead of swallowing it or acting it out. The alternative to imprecatory prayer is not usually sweetness; it is bitterness, gossip, or revenge.

The decisive move is the handing over. “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” (Romans 12:19). When we have truly given a wrong to God, we are freed to do good to the wrongdoer (Romans 12:20–21). A woman betrayed by a business partner, a man falsely reported by a colleague, a believer persecuted for faith may all bring the injustice to God, ask Him to stop the wrongdoer and expose the lie, and then turn to bless rather than curse.

We should also pray with the double hope this section allows: that the wicked be turned back by repentance, or if not, that their schemes come to nothing. That is how believers can pray, for example, about persecutors of the church or those who prey on the vulnerable (Acts 4:29–30; 2 Thessalonians 3:1–2).

A crucial warning against misapplication: these verses must never be used to curse a spouse, an ex-spouse, a family member, a neighbor, or a political opponent, or to dress up personal hatred as holy zeal. Jesus commands, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” (Matthew 5:44). The imprecations are given to God’s people to surrender vengeance, not to sanctify it. If our prayer is fed by a desire to see someone suffer for our satisfaction, we have stepped outside this psalm. And if you are being abused, praying this psalm is not a substitute for seeking safety and help from pastors, counselors, and civil authorities, whom God also appoints (Romans 13:3–4).

Section 3 — Joy in the Incomparable Deliverer of the Poor (Psalm 35:9–10)

Key Insight

The first part of the psalm closes, as each part will, with a vow of praise: “Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD, exulting in his salvation.” (v. 9). Nothing has yet changed outwardly. David is still hunted and slandered. But he speaks of deliverance as already secure, because he has committed his cause to God. Calvin notices the object of the joy: David’s soul will rejoice “not in a deliverance of the author of which it is ignorant, but in the salvation of God.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:9). His delight is not merely that his troubles end, but that God ends them. The word yeshuah returns from verse 3: the salvation David asked God to speak is now the salvation he expects to celebrate.

The praise then fills his whole frame: “All my bones shall say, ‘O LORD, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?’” (v. 10). Elsewhere in the Psalms the bones share in suffering (Psalm 6:2; 31:10; 32:3); here they share in joy. Keil and Delitzsch describe it: “The joy which he experiences in his soul shall throb through every member of his body and multiply itself, as it were, into a choir of praiseful voices.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on 35:9). Worship is not merely mental; the whole person, body and soul, is engaged in thanksgiving (Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 6:20).

The question “who is like you?” comes from the Song of Moses after the crossing of the sea (Exodus 15:11) and recurs at key moments of praise (Psalm 71:19; 89:6–8; Micah 7:18). It declares the LORD’s incomparability, and the psalm defines it in a particular direction: He delivers the poor (‘ani) and the needy (‘ebyon) from the strong. Henry captures the double edge: “No such patron of oppressed innocency, no such punisher of triumphant tyranny.” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:10). This is one of the great themes of Scripture. The God of the exodus hears the cry of the oppressed (Exodus 3:7–9), Hannah sings that He raises the poor from the dust (1 Samuel 2:8), and Mary rejoices that He has “brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate” (Luke 1:52). Calvin draws the conclusion for the oppressed: “It is God’s peculiar duty to succor the miserable.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:10).

David counts himself among the poor. Though anointed king, he is at this moment weak, stripped and pursued by one “too strong for him.” The Lord’s strength is made perfect in such weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

How this points to Christ. The incomparable God who rescues the poor is revealed in the Son, who “though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus began His ministry announcing good news to the poor (Luke 4:18), and in His death He entered the place of the one robbed and stripped, so that in His resurrection God might be seen as the One who delivers the afflicted from the strong man (Luke 11:21–22; Hebrews 2:14–15). The answer to “who is like you?” is finally given in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Application

This brief section teaches us to praise God before the outcome. David vows thanksgiving in the very prayer in which he asks for help. That is not denial; it is faith looking to the character of God rather than the appearance of circumstances (Habakkuk 3:17–18). A believer awaiting a diagnosis, a family waiting on a legal outcome, or a church under pressure can sing God’s praise now, because He is already who He will prove Himself to be.

It also teaches us whose side God is on. The LORD’s incomparable glory is displayed in rescuing the poor from the strong. This should shape how we use whatever strength we have. If God delights to deliver the vulnerable, then His people cannot use power, position, wealth, or influence to rob or crush the weak (Proverbs 22:22–23; James 5:1–6). Instead we become instruments of His care: speaking up for the defenseless (Proverbs 31:8–9), giving generously, and treating the powerless with honor (James 2:1–7).

Finally, it invites our whole selves into worship. The God who will one day raise our bones from the dust deserves praise from body and soul. Singing, kneeling, lifting hands, serving others with our strength: all are ways the bones say, “who is like you?”

A warning against misapplication: God’s care for the poor does not mean that poverty makes anyone righteous, or that wealth is itself evil, or that God always rescues the afflicted from earthly hardship in this life. Many faithful believers have died poor and persecuted (Hebrews 11:36–40). The promise is that God will vindicate the afflicted, finally and fully, and that His heart is never on the side of the oppressor.

Section 4 — Evil Repaid for Good (Psalm 35:11–14)

Key Insight

The second part of the psalm opens in the courtroom: “Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know.” (v. 11). The phrase is literally witnesses of violence (‘ede chamas): men whose testimony is itself an act of violence. They interrogate David about crimes he has never imagined. Israel’s law treated false witness with great seriousness, ordering that the perjurer receive the very penalty he sought for the accused (Deuteronomy 19:16–19), because a corrupted court destroys the innocent under the color of justice. Henry sees beyond David: “This instance of the wrong done to David was typical, and had its accomplishment in the Son of David, against whom false witnesses did arise” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:11).

What wounds David most is not the lie but the ingratitude: “They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft.” (v. 12). The Hebrew is stark, it is bereavement to my soul (shekol), the word used for parents who have lost their children. Friends who once sought his company have, as it were, died to him.

Verses 13–14 then lift the veil on David’s own heart toward these men “when they were sick” (v. 13): “I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest.” (v. 13). Sackcloth and fasting were the marks of mourning and of urgent prayer, and David took them up on behalf of men who would later betray him. The ESV footnote gives an alternative rendering, my prayer shall turn back, which older interpreters took to mean that his prayers, unanswered for them, returned as a blessing to himself. Calvin sees in the sackcloth an act of intercession: “it was the same as if he had taken upon himself the sins of his enemies, in order to implore from God mercy for them” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:13). Verse 14 measures the depth of that grief: “as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.” (v. 14). Keil and Delitzsch say that David “manifested towards them a love which knew no distinction between the ego and tu, which regarded their sorrow and their guilt as his own” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on 35:13).

This is the backdrop to the imprecations. The man who prays “Let them be put to shame” (v. 4) is the same man who fasted and wept for these enemies when they were sick. His prayers against them are not the outburst of a hard heart but the appeal of a loving heart that has been rejected again and again. Spurgeon draws the pastoral comfort: “nothing is more restful to the heart than to have prayed for those who despitefully use us and persecute us.” (Spurgeon, Samuel—an Example of Intercession, Sermon No. 1537).

How this points to Christ. Every line here finds its fullness in Jesus. “Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death,” (Matthew 26:59). He went about doing good and healing (Acts 10:38), and was repaid with the cross: “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” (John 10:32). He wept over the city that would reject Him (Luke 19:41–44), and He bore the sins of His enemies in reality, not merely in sackcloth (Isaiah 53:12; 1 Peter 2:24). David’s intercession foreshadows the High Priest who “always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25).

Application

These verses show us the kind of person who may rightly pray the rest of this psalm. David had loved his enemies concretely: he grieved in their sickness, prayed for them in private, and humbled himself on their behalf. Before we ask God to judge our opponents, we should ask whether we have first prayed for their good.

They also call us to a costly kind of compassion. David’s love did not wait for his enemies to deserve it. When a colleague who has spoken against us falls ill, when a neighbor who has been cold to us loses a parent, when a family member who has wronged us is in trouble, the Christian response is to pray, to grieve with them, and to help (Romans 12:15, 20). Fasting and sackcloth may not be our customs, but self-denying intercession still is (Matthew 6:16–18).

And they teach us how to bear ingratitude. Being repaid evil for good is one of the sharpest pains in human experience. David does not pretend it does not hurt; he calls it bereavement. Yet he does not stop doing good. “In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.” (Psalm 109:4). We are told not to grow weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9), because our reward is with the Lord, not with those we serve (Colossians 3:23–24). And when false charges come, the believer can rest in the One who knows the truth and will bring it to light (1 Corinthians 4:3–5).

A warning against misapplication: David’s protest of innocence is not a claim to be sinless, and it does not license us to cast ourselves as the blameless victim in every conflict. Most of our disputes involve wrongs on both sides, and we must first take the log out of our own eye (Matthew 7:3–5). Nor should anyone parade their good deeds toward an enemy as a weapon; David’s prayer was offered privately, head bowed, not for display.

Section 5 — Gloating Enemies and the Cry of How Long (Psalm 35:15–18)

Key Insight

The contrast is deliberate: “But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;” (v. 15). When they were sick, David mourned; when David stumbled, they celebrated. The word for “stumbling” pictures a man limping, about to fall. Calvin comments that ordinary people often soften toward a fallen enemy, so that when David’s misfortune only drew his foes on, “it was an evidence of the very cruel and fierce spirit by which David’s former friends were actuated against him” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:15). Former friends are joined by “wretches whom I did not know,” the dregs of society, who join the attack simply because the mighty have fallen.

Verse 16 adds the scene of the feast: “like profane mockers at a feast, they gnash at me with their teeth.” (v. 16). The ESV footnote admits that the meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain; Keil connects it with a cake and pictures courtiers who mock for a morsel at the king’s table. Henry describes the scene vividly: “David was the fool in the play, and his disappointment all the table-talk of the hypocritical mockers at feasts” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:16). Gnashing teeth are the gesture of hatred and contempt (Job 16:9; Lamentations 2:16).

Then comes the cry that runs through the laments: “How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!” (v. 17). Here the ESV prints “Lord,” translating Adonai, the Master. David does not doubt that God sees; he cannot understand why God only watches. Calvin finds permission here: although God calls His people to wait patiently, “he allows them to bewail in prayer the grief which they experience on account of his delay.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:17). The phrase “my precious life” renders yachid, only, solitary, the same word used in Psalm 22:20, where the Messiah’s soul is likewise threatened by dogs and lions (Psalm 22:21).

The second part closes with a vow of public thanksgiving: “I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.” (v. 18). Even before rescue, David promises to tell God’s people what God has done. Calvin marvels that he speaks “as if, in the midst of the darkness of death, he saw deliverance clearly shining upon him.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:18). Private deliverance becomes public praise, because God’s mercies to one believer belong to the encouragement of all (Psalm 22:22, 25; 40:9–10).

How this points to Christ. The scene of verses 15–16 was enacted at Golgotha, where passersby wagged their heads, rulers scoffed, and soldiers mocked (Matthew 27:39–44; Luke 23:35–37). Jesus was surrounded by those He had healed and fed, now jeering at His apparent defeat. Psalm 22, with its lions and its “great congregation,” became His own prayer from the cross (Matthew 27:46), and Hebrews places its vow of praise in His risen mouth: “in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” (Hebrews 2:12). The cry “How long?” is answered in His resurrection and will be answered fully at His return (Revelation 6:10–11).

Application

These verses expose a sin that is easy to commit and hard to detect: rejoicing at another’s fall. “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,” (Proverbs 24:17). In an age of online pile-ons, viral scandals, and public shaming, it is all too easy to join the crowd that gathers when someone stumbles. Love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” (1 Corinthians 13:6). When a public figure, a rival, or a former friend falls, the Christian should grieve, pray, and if appropriate seek restoration (Galatians 6:1), not gather with the mockers.

They also give us permission to lament honestly. “How long, O Lord?” is a prayer of faith, not of unbelief. A believer waiting for justice after abuse, a family enduring a long legal battle, a Christian slandered for years, may bring that cry to God without shame. “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?” (Luke 18:7).

Finally, they call us to turn private mercies into public praise. When God answers our prayers, we should tell the congregation, in testimony, in thanksgiving, in song, so that others are strengthened (Psalm 66:16).

A warning against misapplication: the cry “How long?” is not a demand that God act on our timetable, nor a license to accuse God of injustice. It is the complaint of a child who trusts his Father’s character while struggling with His timing. And the gloating of enemies must not tempt us to believe that every critic is a mocker; some criticism is deserved, and wisdom receives it humbly (Proverbs 12:1; 27:6).

Section 6 — Hated without Cause (Psalm 35:19–21)

Key Insight

The third part begins with a renewed plea: “Let not those rejoice over me who are wrongfully my foes, and let not those wink the eye who hate me without cause.” (v. 19). Two words carry the protest of innocence: sheqer, falsehood, behind “wrongfully,” and chinnam, for nothing, behind “without cause.” The winking eye (qarats, to pinch, to blink as a malicious gesture) is the sign of conspirators sharing a private joke at the victim’s expense (Proverbs 6:12–14; 10:10). Calvin explains why David insists on his innocence before God: “in order to secure the help of God, it is necessary to come before him with the testimony of a good conscience.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:19).

Verse 20 describes the enemies’ speech: “For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land they devise words of deceit.” (v. 20). The word shalom covers friendship, welfare, and right relationship; these men never speak toward any of that. Their target is not David alone but “those who are quiet in the land,” the peaceable faithful (raga’). Henry observes, “It is the character of the godly in the land that they are the quiet in the land” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:20), echoing Paul’s call to live “a peaceful and quiet life” (1 Timothy 2:2). The wicked plot against such people precisely because they do not fight back in kind.

Verse 21 lets us hear their triumph: “They open wide their mouths against me; they say, ‘Aha, Aha! Our eyes have seen it!’” (v. 21). The interjection he’ach is a cry of malicious glee. They believe they have witnessed David’s ruin. The very next verse will answer them: God also has seen.

How this points to Christ. Jesus explicitly claimed this psalm’s language for Himself: “But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’” (John 15:25). The words stand both here and in Psalm 69:4, “More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause” (Psalm 69:4), and Barnes argues that Jesus’ wording is closer to Psalm 69. Henry, however, takes Psalm 35:19 as included: “This is quoted, with application to Christ, and is said to be fulfilled in him.” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:19). The best reading is that Jesus gathers up the experience of the righteous sufferer found in both psalms. David was hated without cause in a relative sense, innocent of the specific charges but still a sinner. Jesus alone was hated absolutely without cause, for He “committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). The causeless hatred of the world toward David becomes the causeless hatred of the world toward God’s Son, and then toward His disciples: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” (John 15:18). At the cross the mockers took up the same gloating (Matthew 27:40–43), but the Father had seen too, and the resurrection was His answer.

Application

These verses prepare us to be hated without cause. Jesus warned that His followers would share His experience (John 15:18–21). A Christian student mocked for her convictions, a believer passed over for promotion because of faith, a church misrepresented in the press, all may find their experience in this psalm and, more deeply, in Christ. We should not be surprised (1 Peter 4:12), and we should take heart that we are in His company.

They also call us to be among “those who are quiet in the land.” The godly are not schemers. They “speak peace,” seek the welfare of their neighbors and their city (Jeremiah 29:7), and refuse to answer deceit with deceit. Peter tells us to keep our conduct honorable so that slanderers will be put to shame (1 Peter 2:12; 3:16). The best answer to “words of deceit” is a life that makes the charges unbelievable.

And they guard our own tongues and eyes. The winking eye and the wide-open mouth are sins we too can commit: the knowing glance across a room, the sarcastic message, the group chat that mocks an absent person (Ephesians 4:29–31). Christians must never be the ones who say, “Aha! Our eyes have seen it” over someone’s fall.

A warning against misapplication: not every hostility we receive is “without cause.” Sometimes people dislike us because we have been harsh, proud, or foolish, and we must not baptize the consequences of our own sin as persecution (1 Peter 2:20; 4:15). We must also not divide the world into the quiet in the land, meaning ourselves, and the wicked, meaning others, along political or social lines; the line runs through every heart (Romans 3:23).

Section 7 — Awake for My Vindication, and My Tongue Shall Tell (Psalm 35:22–28)

Key Insight

The enemies said, “Our eyes have seen it!” (v. 21). David answers, “You have seen, O LORD; be not silent! O Lord, be not far from me!” (v. 22). Their sight is malicious; God’s sight is just. Calvin draws out the contrast: the enemies rejoice at what they see, but God also sees and takes notice of their malice. He adds that this is the foundation of all right prayer: “a clear conviction and persuasion of the providence of God must first shine into our hearts” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:22). David then summons God as if from sleep: “Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication, for my cause, my God and my Lord!” (v. 23). God neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4); the language is the bold cry of a man for whom God’s patience feels like silence (Psalm 44:23; Isaiah 51:9). The phrase “my God and my Lord” is covenant language, the words Thomas would one day speak to the risen Christ (John 20:28).

The appeal rests on one ground: “Vindicate me, O LORD, my God, according to your righteousness, and let them not rejoice over me!” (v. 24). David does not ask to be vindicated according to his own perfection but according to God’s tsedeq, His faithful justice that cannot leave the innocent unvindicated. Calvin calls this the strongest remedy in trial: “the righteousness of God, on which our deliverance depends, can never fail.” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:24). Verse 25 lets us overhear the boast the enemies hope to make: “Let them not say in their hearts, ‘Aha, our heart’s desire!’ Let them not say, ‘We have swallowed him up.’” (v. 25). Verse 26 repeats the opening imprecation, now with a vivid image: “Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me!” (v. 26). Those who robed themselves in pride will be robed in disgrace (Psalm 109:29; 132:18).

The psalm ends in a widening circle of joy: “Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, ‘Great is the LORD, who delights in the welfare of his servant!’” (v. 27). The word “welfare” is shalom, the very peace the enemies refused to speak (v. 20). God delights in the flourishing of His servant. Henry writes, “The great God has pleasure in this prosperity of good people” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:27), and he adds that those who stand with the oppressed now “shall in due time shout for joy and be glad, for the righteous cause will at length be a victorious cause.” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:27). David’s last word is his own vow: “Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness and of your praise all the day long.” (v. 28). The tongue that was slandered becomes the tongue that praises.

How this points to Christ. The prayer “Vindicate me” was answered supremely when God raised Jesus from the dead. He was “vindicated by the Spirit” (1 Timothy 3:16), declared to be the Son of God in power (Romans 1:4), and exalted to the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:32–36). God’s righteousness, which David trusted for vindication, is revealed in the gospel as both justice and mercy: “so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26). In Christ, sinners who could never plead their own innocence are clothed not with shame but with His righteousness (Isaiah 61:10; 2 Corinthians 5:21), and the great congregation says forever, “Great is the LORD.”

Application

These verses teach us to rest our hope of vindication on God’s righteousness, not on public opinion or our own efforts to clear our name. Paul, misjudged by the Corinthians, said that it was a very small thing to be judged by any human court, because the Lord is the one who judges (1 Corinthians 4:3–5). When we are misunderstood, we can say, “You have seen, O LORD,” and wait for His verdict.

They also teach us to pray boldly. “Awake,” “rouse yourself,” “be not silent” are not irreverent; they are the cries of covenant children who know their Father’s promises (Isaiah 62:6–7). Our prayers are often too polite to be honest. God invites us to plead with Him on the basis of His own character and Word.

And they show us the goal of every deliverance: that God would be magnified. David wants his friends to say, “Great is the LORD” (v. 27), and his own tongue to tell God’s righteousness all day (v. 28). When God vindicates us, the temptation is to boast in our own vindication. The psalm turns that moment into praise. We might ask: when God brings me through a trial, do I tell others what I endured, or what He did?

Finally, these verses encourage us to stand with the wronged. Those who “delight in my righteousness” are bystanders who took David’s side when it was costly. Believers should support the falsely accused and the oppressed, praying for them and standing beside them (Proverbs 24:11–12; Hebrews 13:3).

A warning against misapplication: “who delights in the welfare of his servant” is not a promise of material prosperity or a guarantee that every faithful believer will be vindicated in this life. The shalom God delights in is the full well-being of His people, which may come through suffering and will be completed only at Christ’s return (Romans 8:18). To read this verse as a health-and-wealth promise is to empty it of the cross.

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Cross References

Comparative Gospel Study

Not Applicable as Direct Comparison — Psalms is an Old Testament individual lament with imprecatory prayers, not Gospel narrative. However, Psalm 35 anticipates key Gospel themes:

• The righteous sufferer hated without cause. Jesus Himself applies the psalm’s language to His rejection: “But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’” (John 15:25). David’s innocence of the specific charges against him becomes, in Jesus, absolute innocence. The world’s causeless hatred of God’s anointed reaches its climax in the rejection of the sinless Son, and Jesus warns His disciples that they will share it (John 15:18–21).
• False witnesses at the trial. The “Malicious witnesses” (v. 11) who accused David of things he did not know reappear in the Sanhedrin, where “the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death,” (Matthew 26:59). The witnesses could not agree (Mark 14:56–59), and Jesus kept silent before them (Matthew 26:62–63), entrusting His cause to the Father as David had.
• Good repaid with evil, and mockery in His fall. Jesus healed the sick and fed the hungry, yet the crowds turned against Him (John 10:32). At the cross the mocking of verses 15–16 and 21 was enacted as rulers scoffed, soldiers jeered, and passersby wagged their heads (Matthew 27:39–44; Luke 23:35–37). The gloating “Aha!” of the enemies finds its darkest echo at Golgotha, where they thought they had seen the end of Him.
• Intercession for enemies. David fasted and prayed for his enemies in their sickness (v. 13). Jesus went further, praying for His executioners while they crucified Him: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). The Gospels thus show the full measure of the love that stands behind the psalm, and they explain why the church prays first for the conversion of its enemies.
• Vindication and praise in the congregation. The vow to give thanks “in the great congregation” (v. 18) and the prayer “Vindicate me” (v. 24) are answered in the resurrection, when the Father vindicated the rejected Son and the risen Christ gathered His brothers (Matthew 28:10; John 20:17). The Gospels end not with mockers triumphant but with the disciples worshiping the risen Lord (Matthew 28:17; Luke 24:52–53).

Old Testament Connections

Pentateuch

• The LORD as warrior and incomparable Redeemer: the arming of God (vv. 1–3) and the cry “who is like you?” (v. 10) echo the Song of Moses (Exodus 15:3, 11), where the LORD fights for His people against a stronger oppressor.
• The angel of the LORD: the messenger who stood between Israel and Egypt and threw the Egyptian army into panic (Exodus 14:19–25) is summoned to drive and pursue David’s persecutors (vv. 5–6).
• Vengeance belongs to God: the Song of Moses declares that vengeance and recompense are the LORD’s (Deuteronomy 32:35, 41), the principle behind every imprecation in the psalm.
• The law of witnesses: the requirement of two or three witnesses and the penalty for a malicious witness (Deuteronomy 19:15–19) stand behind verse 11.
• Love toward enemies: the law commanded help for an enemy’s straying animal (Exodus 23:4–5) and forbade vengeance and grudges (Leviticus 19:18), commands David fulfilled (vv. 13–14).
• Blessing and curse: God’s promise to curse those who dishonor Abraham (Genesis 12:3) undergirds David’s appeal against those who seek the destruction of God’s anointed.

Historical Books

• Saul’s persecution: David’s refusal to strike Saul and his appeal for God to plead his cause (1 Samuel 24:12–15; 26:9–11, 23–24) are the narrative counterpart of the psalm.
• Evil for good confessed: Saul’s own admission, “You are more righteous than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil.” (1 Samuel 24:17), echoes verse 12 almost word for word.
• The snare that catches the snarer: Saul’s plot to have David killed by the Philistines (1 Samuel 18:17, 25) ended with Saul himself dying at Philistine hands (1 Samuel 31:1–6), as Henry notes in connection with verse 8.
• Restraint toward Nabal: David’s near-revenge on Nabal and his thanksgiving for being kept from it (1 Samuel 25:32–34) show his conscience on the matter of personal vengeance.

Wisdom Literature

• The pit and the net: “Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,” (Proverbs 26:27) is a recurring wisdom principle (Ecclesiastes 10:8), and the Psalms apply it to the wicked (Psalm 7:15–16; 9:15–16).
• The winking eye: Proverbs repeatedly portrays the malicious wink as the mark of a scoundrel (Proverbs 6:12–14; 10:10; 16:30).
• No gloating over an enemy: Proverbs 24:17–18 and Job 31:29 forbid rejoicing at an enemy’s fall, the very sin of David’s foes (vv. 15, 26).
• Related psalms: Psalm 69 shares the causeless hatred and the fasting in sackcloth (Psalm 69:4, 10–11); Psalm 40:13–17 and Psalm 70 share the closing refrain “Great is the LORD”; Psalm 109 carries the imprecatory theme further, with the same contrast of love repaid by accusation (Psalm 109:4–5).

Major Prophets

• The Divine Warrior: Isaiah pictures the LORD putting on righteousness as a breastplate and the helmet of salvation to bring justice where no man intervened (Isaiah 59:15–19), and calls on the arm of the LORD to awake (Isaiah 51:9), as David does (v. 23).
• The Servant falsely condemned: the Servant of the LORD is “oppressed” and “afflicted,” taken away by a perversion of justice, yet silent and finally vindicated (Isaiah 50:6–9; 53:7–12).
• Jeremiah’s lament: Jeremiah, persecuted by those he had prayed for, complains, “Should good be repaid with evil?” (Jeremiah 18:20), and asks God to remember that he stood before Him to speak good for them (Jeremiah 18:18–23).

Minor Prophets

• The covenant lawsuit: Micah’s “Arise, plead your case before the mountains” (Micah 6:1) and the LORD’s controversy with His people (Micah 6:2; Hosea 4:1) use the same riv vocabulary that opens the psalm.
• The delay of justice: Habakkuk’s cry of how long (Habakkuk 1:2–4) parallels verse 17, and the answer that the righteous shall live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4) describes David’s waiting.
• Who is a God like you?: Micah closes his book with the incomparability of God, now defined by pardoning mercy (Micah 7:18–20).

New Testament Fulfillment

Gospels and Acts

• Hated without cause: Jesus claims the words of verse 19 and Psalm 69:4 as fulfilled in Him (John 15:25), and warns that the world will hate His disciples as well (John 15:18–20).
• False witnesses and mockers: the trial before the council (Matthew 26:59–61; Mark 14:55–59) and the mockery at the cross (Matthew 27:39–44) enact verses 11 and 15–16.
• Prayer for enemies: Jesus’ command (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27–28) and His prayer from the cross (Luke 23:34), echoed by Stephen (Acts 7:60), fulfill the love of verse 13.
• Imprecation applied to the enemies of Christ: Peter applies the imprecatory Psalms 69 and 109 to Judas (Acts 1:16–20), showing how the church read such prayers.
• God’s justice for the elect: the parable of the persistent widow answers “How long?” with the promise of justice (Luke 18:1–8).

Paul’s Epistles

• Leave vengeance to God: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” (Romans 12:19). Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32:35 and then calls believers to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:20–21).
• If God is for us: the confidence of verses 1–3 becomes the believer’s confidence in Christ, who intercedes for us so that no charge can stand (Romans 8:31–34).
• Snares turned back: Paul applies Psalm 69’s imprecation to unbelieving Israel (Romans 11:9–10), while still longing and praying for their salvation (Romans 10:1).
• God’s righteous recompense: “since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,” (2 Thessalonians 1:6) restates the logic of verses 4–8 and 26 at the return of Christ.
• The armor of God: the Divine Warrior’s armor (vv. 2–3; Isaiah 59:17) is given to the church for spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:10–18).

General Epistles and Revelation

• Entrusting oneself to the Judge: Christ, when reviled, “continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23), the posture David models in verses 1 and 22–24.
• Our Advocate: Christ is our Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1) and our interceding High Priest (Hebrews 7:25), the fulfillment of the plea “Contend, O LORD” (v. 1).
• Praise in the congregation: Hebrews 2:12 places the vow of praise “in the midst of the congregation” on the lips of the risen Christ, as verse 18 vows.
• The martyrs’ cry: the souls under the altar cry, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10), the imprecatory “how long?” carried into heaven.
• The rider who judges in righteousness: Christ returns as the Warrior-Judge (Revelation 19:11–16), and the enemies of God’s people are finally clothed with shame while His servants rejoice (Revelation 19:1–2).

Redemptive-Historical Context

Creation. God made humanity to live in shalom: right relationship with God, with one another, and with creation. The psalm’s closing word, that the LORD “delights in the welfare of his servant!” (v. 27), recalls that original purpose. God’s design was never for His servants to be hunted, slandered, and betrayed, but to flourish in His presence and to speak truth and peace to one another.

Fall. The enmity of Psalm 35 is the enmity announced in Genesis 3:15, the hostility of the serpent’s seed toward the seed of the woman. It appears first in Cain, who hated his brother without cause because his own deeds were evil (Genesis 4:8; 1 John 3:12), and it runs through Saul’s jealousy of David. The tools of the enemies in this psalm, lying witness, ingratitude, gloating, and devouring speech, are the fruits of fallen hearts that “do not speak peace” (v. 20). Even the godly are not exempt from sin, which is why David’s protest is one of innocence in this cause, not of sinlessness.

Redemption. God’s answer to the enmity is not to abandon His anointed but to defend him. In David’s day that meant preserving the young king through years of persecution so that the covenant line would continue (2 Samuel 7:12–16). Every deliverance of David advanced the plan of salvation that would culminate in the Son of David. At the cross the pattern reached its climax: the truly innocent One was hated without cause (John 15:25), falsely accused, mocked in His apparent defeat, and handed over to death. Yet in that very place the curse David invoked on the wicked fell on the Righteous One in the place of the wicked (Galatians 3:13). The God who is “just and the justifier” (Romans 3:26) both judged sin and opened a way of mercy for His enemies. Then He vindicated His Son by raising Him from the dead (Acts 2:24, 32–36), the decisive answer to “Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication” (v. 23).

Patterns established. The psalm establishes several patterns for understanding God’s dealings with His people: the righteous suffer at the hands of the wicked; God sees all that is done to them; He calls them to surrender vengeance to Him; He delights to deliver the poor from the strong; and every deliverance issues in public praise.

Already and not yet. Christ has already been vindicated, has disarmed the powers (Colossians 2:15), and reigns at the Father’s right hand. Believers already possess the assurance David longed for, the Spirit’s witness that God is our salvation (Romans 8:15–16). Yet the church still suffers slander, false witness, and persecution, and still cries “How long?” with the martyrs (Revelation 6:10). The imprecations of the psalm await their final fulfillment at Christ’s return, when He will judge the impenitent and set every wrong right (2 Thessalonians 1:6–10). Until then, the church prays with both hands open: for the conversion of its enemies, and for the coming of the kingdom in which all who magnify themselves against God will be clothed with shame.

Consummation. The psalm’s final scene anticipates the new creation. Those who delighted in the righteous cause will “shout for joy and be glad” (v. 27), and the tongue of every redeemed believer will tell of God’s righteousness “all the day long” (v. 28). In that day the great congregation will be a great multitude from every nation, crying that salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb (Revelation 7:9–10), and the shalom God delights in will be complete (Revelation 21:3–4).

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Systematic Theology Connection

The Providence of God

Psalm 35 rests on the conviction that God sees and governs everything done to His people. When the enemies cry, “Our eyes have seen it!” David answers, “You have seen, O LORD” (v. 22). Nothing escapes God’s notice, not the hidden net (v. 7), the private wink (v. 19), or the plotting at feasts (v. 16). The Westminster Confession teaches that God “doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least” (WCF 5.1). This includes the sinful actions of David’s enemies, which God permits and yet bounds and overrules for His holy ends, so that “the sinfulness thereof proceedeth only from the creature, and not from God” (WCF 5.4).

The psalm also illustrates the special providence of God toward His people. The Confession adds that “so, after a most special manner, it taketh care of his church, and disposeth all things to the good thereof.” (WCF 5.7). David trusts that God will turn the enemies’ snare upon themselves (v. 8) and bring him to praise in the great congregation (v. 18). Saul’s death at the hands of the Philistines, the very instrument he had planned for David (1 Samuel 18:25; 31:1–6), is a striking instance of providential justice. Joseph’s confession that what his brothers meant for evil God meant for good (Genesis 50:20) captures the same truth.

Practically, the doctrine of providence frees believers from anxiety and revenge. If God governs all things, we need not seize control when we are wronged. Calvin insists that a clear persuasion of God’s providence must shine into our hearts before we can pray rightly. We can bring our case to the One who sees, trust Him with the timing, and rest in His promise that all things work together for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Providence does not make suffering painless, but it makes it purposeful.

The Justice of God and the Last Judgment

The imprecations of Psalm 35 appeal to the justice of God. David asks to be vindicated “according to your righteousness” (v. 24) and prays that the wicked be clothed with shame (v. 26). This prayer makes sense only if God is truly just. The Westminster Confession describes God as “most just, and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty.” (WCF 2.1). God’s justice is not cold indifference but holy commitment to what is right, which is why the oppressed may appeal to Him with confidence.

The psalm looks toward a day when that justice will be fully revealed. The Confession teaches that “God hath appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world, in righteousness, by Jesus Christ” (WCF 33.1), and that the purpose of that day is “for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy, in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his justice, in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient” (WCF 33.2). The imprecations anticipate this final judgment, and the New Testament explicitly links God’s recompense on persecutors to the return of Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:6–10).

This doctrine has profound practical implications. Because God will judge, believers need not and must not take vengeance into their own hands (Romans 12:19). The certainty of final judgment is what makes forgiveness possible without pretending that evil does not matter. At the same time, the doctrine humbles us: apart from Christ we too would stand guilty before the Judge. The only refuge is the cross, where God’s justice was satisfied and mercy was secured (Romans 3:25–26). The believer prays for justice as one who has received mercy, and so prays first for the repentance of his enemies, while trusting God to deal rightly with those who refuse it (Acts 17:30–31).

Christ the Mediator: Innocent Sufferer, Advocate, and King

Psalm 35 finds its fullest meaning in Christ, who fulfills it in three ways. First, He is the innocent sufferer. Jesus applies the psalm’s language to Himself (John 15:25), and He endured false witness, ingratitude, and mockery without cause. The Westminster Confession describes how He “endured most grievous torments immediately in his soul, and most painful sufferings in his body” (WCF 8.4),. David’s relative innocence points to Christ’s absolute innocence (1 Peter 2:22).

Second, He is the Advocate who pleads our cause. David asked the LORD to contend for him (v. 1). In Christ, God has done this for sinners who had no righteous cause of their own. The Confession adds that Christ now “sitteth at the right hand of his Father, making intercession, and shall return, to judge men and angels, at the end of the world.” (WCF 8.4). He intercedes for us (Hebrews 7:25) and answers every accusation against God’s elect (Romans 8:33–34).

Third, He is the King who conquers His and our enemies. The Shorter Catechism teaches that “Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.” (WSC Q. 26). The Larger Catechism adds that this includes “taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey not the gospel.” (WLC Q. 45). The Divine Warrior of verses 1–3 is revealed as the risen King (Revelation 19:11).

Practically, union with this Mediator changes how we pray Psalm 35. We pray it in Christ, as those whose cause He has taken up, whose sins He has borne, and whose enemies He will finally subdue. We do not pray as self-appointed avengers, but as subjects of a King who first conquered us with grace (Colossians 1:13).

Assurance of Salvation

At the heart of the opening section stands David’s plea, “Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation!’” (v. 3). This is a prayer for assurance: not merely for deliverance, but for the inward certainty that God is his Savior. The Westminster Confession teaches that true believers may attain “an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation” (WCF 18.2), and that this assurance includes “the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the children of God” (WCF 18.2). David’s request for God to “say” this to his soul anticipates the Spirit’s witness revealed in the New Testament (Romans 8:15–16; Galatians 4:6).

The psalm also reflects the Confession’s realism about assurance. The Confession teaches that assurance does not so belong to the essence of faith “but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it” (WCF 18.3). David is a true believer, the anointed of the LORD, and yet in the midst of persecution he needs to ask for assurance. Spurgeon draws the same lesson, encouraging the doubting believer that David himself had to pray for a sense of God’s salvation. Spurgeon also observes, “It is a sign of adoption, a mark of the residence of the Spirit of God within us, if in our times of trouble we fly to our God!” (Spurgeon, Assurance Sought, Sermon No. 3546).

Practically, believers seeking assurance should do what David did: go to God in prayer, rest on His promises, and use the ordinary means He has appointed, the Word, prayer, and the sacraments, which the Confession calls “the right use of ordinary means” (WCF 18.3). Assurance is not presumption, for its fruit is “love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience” (WCF 18.3). A believer who is assured that God is his salvation can face slander, opposition, and even death with peace (Romans 8:38–39).

The Ninth Commandment and the Good Name of Our Neighbor

Much of the suffering in Psalm 35 comes through the tongue: malicious witnesses (v. 11), slanderers who “tore at me without ceasing” (v. 15), mockers at a feast (v. 16), “words of deceit” (v. 20), and gloating cries of “Aha” (vv. 21, 25). The psalm is a portrait of sins against the ninth commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16).

The Westminster Larger Catechism explains the duties of this commandment as “the preserving and promoting of truth between man and man, and the good name of our neighbor, as well as our own” (WLC Q. 144), including “defending their innocency” (WLC Q. 144). It lists among the sins forbidden “giving false evidence, suborning false witnesses” (WLC Q. 145), exactly the injustice of verse 11, and also “scoffing, reviling” (WLC Q. 145), the sins of verses 15–16. Remarkably, the Catechism also forbids “rejoicing in their disgrace and infamy” (WLC Q. 145), the very sin of those who “rejoice at my calamity” (v. 26). The Shorter Catechism summarizes that the commandment “forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own or our neighbor’s good name.” (WSC Q. 78).

The psalm shows both sides of the commandment. David’s enemies break it, and David seeks the vindication of his own good name, which the Catechism counts a duty, the “love and care of our own good name, and defending it when need requireth” (WLC Q. 144). Those who “delight in my righteousness” (v. 27) keep it by standing with the falsely accused.

Practically, this doctrine searches our speech. Believers must refuse to spread unverified reports, must defend the absent, must not join in mocking those who have fallen, and must speak truth even when it is costly (Ephesians 4:25). The church should be a community where the falsely accused find defenders, not a crowd that gathers at someone’s stumbling.

Prayer and the Forgiveness of Enemies

Psalm 35 is a prayer, and it teaches how believers bring injury to God. David prays against his enemies’ schemes, but he has first prayed for their good (v. 13). This combination reflects the biblical teaching that prayer for enemies is a duty and a privilege of God’s people (Matthew 5:44). The Shorter Catechism, explaining the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer, teaches that we ask God to pardon our sins and that we “are the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others.” (WSC Q. 105). The Larger Catechism speaks of the encouragement we have “when we have this testimony in ourselves, that we from the heart forgive others their offenses.” (WLC Q. 194).

How does forgiveness relate to the imprecations? Forgiveness in Scripture means releasing our personal claim to repay and handing the debt to God (Romans 12:19). It does not deny that evil is evil, nor does it require pretending that justice does not matter. The imprecations are, in that sense, an act of forgiveness: David refuses to repay Saul and gives the case to God. At the same time, forgiveness seeks the good of the offender, as David’s fasting and Christ’s prayer from the cross show (Luke 23:34).

The second petition of the Lord’s Prayer shapes how Christians pray about enemies today. In praying “Thy kingdom come,” we pray, in the Catechism’s words, “that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it” (WSC Q. 102). The believer’s deepest prayer about an enemy is that he be brought into that kingdom; and the believer’s final confidence is that every power opposed to God will be destroyed.

Practically, Christians should pray regularly and by name for those who oppose them, release their claims to personal revenge, seek reconciliation where possible (Romans 12:18), and leave final judgment with God. This is not weakness but the strength of those who trust a righteous Judge.

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Reformed Theology

Reformed interpreters read Psalm 35 within the unity of the covenant of grace, as the prayer of God’s anointed king whose cause is bound up with the cause of God’s kingdom. Calvin places it in the years of Saul’s persecution and insists that David “accounts those only his enemies who, from deliberate malice and wickedness, endeavored in this way to please Saul” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:1). The imprecations are therefore not aimed at the misled multitude but at hardened enemies of God’s purpose.

The imprecations. The central Reformed handling of the imprecatory psalms is that they are inspired prayers that surrender vengeance to God. Calvin insists that “under the guidance of the Holy Spirit he entertains and expresses against the reprobate such desires as were characterised by great moderation” (Calvin, Commentary on Psalms, on 35:4). Keil and Delitzsch, concur: “All the imprecatory words in these Psalms come, therefore, from the pure spring of unself-seeking zeal for the honour of God.” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on 35:1). Henry warns against personal misuse: “we must take heed of applying it to any little peevish quarrels and enmities of our own” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:1). Instead, he says, “We ought to apply it to the public enemies of Christ and his kingdom, typified by David and his kingdom” (Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 35:1). Derek Kidner similarly treats such prayers as the cry of the oppressed for justice, appropriate in substance though tempered in tone by the cross, and James Montgomery Boice argues that they express a godly longing for God’s justice to be seen. John N. Day has argued that the imprecations rest on the Torah’s own theology of retributive justice and on the Abrahamic promise of Genesis 12:3.

Typology and fulfillment. Reformed theology reads David as a type of Christ, the anointed king who suffers before he reigns. Jesus Himself claims the words of verse 19 (John 15:25), and Henry sees the false witnesses of verse 11 as typical of those who rose against the Son of David. Yet Reformed writers also respect the distinction between type and antitype. Keil cautions that “David’s imprecations are not suited to the lips of the Saviour” (Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, on 35:1). Christ fulfills the psalm’s innocence, suffering, intercession, and vindication, while He answers its curses by bearing the curse for His people (Galatians 3:13) and by being appointed Judge of the impenitent (Acts 17:31). Geerhardus Vos’s emphasis on progressive revelation helps here: the full meaning of eternal judgment and eternal mercy, only dimly seen by David, is unveiled in the gospel.

Confessional echoes. The psalm illustrates the Confession’s teaching on God’s providence over all creatures and actions (WCF 5.1), His special care of His church (WCF 5.7), His justice (WCF 2.1), the assurance of salvation by the Spirit’s witness (WCF 18.2), and the coming day of judgment by Jesus Christ (WCF 33.1).

Israel and the church. Reformed theology sees “those who are quiet in the land” (v. 20) and “the great congregation” (v. 18) as the one people of God in its Old Testament form, continuous with the church of Christ. The enemies of David’s kingdom foreshadow the enemies of Christ’s kingdom, and the church today prays this psalm as the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), not by casting any modern nation in Israel’s role, but by joining the risen Christ in His prayer and praise (Hebrews 2:12).

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Dispensational Theology

Dispensational theology, with its commitment to a consistently literal-grammatical hermeneutic and a distinction between Israel and the church, approaches Psalm 35 in a somewhat different way. (The dispensational writers discussed below are summarized from their published positions as attributed substance, without quotation.)

The psalm in its dispensation. Dispensationalists read Psalm 35 first as David’s historical prayer during his persecution by Saul, within the dispensation of law. Classic dispensationalists in the line of C. I. Scofield and Lewis Sperry Chafer generally emphasized that the imprecatory psalms belong properly to Israel’s experience under law, where the covenant promised temporal blessing for obedience and temporal judgment on enemies. They argued that such prayers express a righteous longing appropriate to that economy but are not the normal model of prayer for the church in the present dispensation of grace, which is governed by the Sermon on the Mount’s command to love enemies (Matthew 5:44) and Paul’s instruction to leave vengeance to God (Romans 12:19).

Prophetic application to the remnant. A distinctive dispensational emphasis, found especially in A. C. Gaebelein and in the broader tradition represented by J. Dwight Pentecost, is that many psalms speak prophetically of the godly Jewish remnant in the future tribulation. On this reading, the cries of Psalm 35 for vindication against persecutors anticipate the prayers of faithful Israelites during the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7; Daniel 12:1), when they will suffer under the persecution of the final antichrist and cry for the Lord to arise. The imprecations will then be fitting again, because God will be openly judging the nations prior to establishing Messiah’s kingdom (Revelation 6:10; 19:11–21). John F. Walvoord’s eschatology similarly locates the fulfillment of such cries for justice in the return of Christ to deliver Israel and judge the nations (Zechariah 14:1–5; Matthew 25:31–46).

Christological reading. Dispensationalists affirm the messianic application of verse 19 through John 15:25, and many see in the psalm a picture of Christ’s rejection by His own nation at His first coming. Charles Ryrie and others stress that the rejection of the Messiah by Israel’s leaders led to the postponement of the visible Davidic kingdom, which will be established literally at the second coming, when Christ sits on David’s throne in Jerusalem (Luke 1:32–33; Acts 1:6–7).

Israel and the church. Because dispensationalism keeps Israel and the church distinct, it typically does not read “those who are quiet in the land” (v. 20) or “the great congregation” (v. 18) as the church, but as faithful Israel, with the church learning from the psalm by application rather than direct fulfillment. Progressive dispensationalists such as Craig Blaising and Darrell Bock see greater continuity, recognizing an inaugurated fulfillment of the Davidic covenant in Christ’s present reign, while still anticipating a future national restoration of Israel.

Evaluation. Reformed readers share much with dispensationalists here: the historical reading of David’s prayer, the messianic application of verse 19, the future judgment at Christ’s return, and the conviction that believers must not take personal vengeance. The main differences concern whether the imprecations are confined to a past and future dispensation or remain, transformed by the cross, part of the whole church’s prayer; and whether the people of God in the psalm finds its fulfillment in the one church of Jew and Gentile (Ephesians 2:11–22) or chiefly in a future national Israel. The Reformed view sees one covenant of grace and one people of God across both testaments, so that the church prays Psalm 35 with Christ now, while longing for the same day of justice the dispensationalist awaits.

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Bibliography

Commentaries

• Barnes, Albert. Notes on the Old Testament: Psalms. 1868. Psalm 35.
• Calvin, John. Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Vol. 1. Translated by James Anderson. Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1845. Psalm 35.
• Gill, John. Exposition of the Old Testament. Psalm 35.
• Henry, Matthew. Commentary on the Whole Bible. Vol. 3, Job to Song of Solomon. 1708–1710. Psalm 35.
• Keil, C. F., and F. Delitzsch. Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Psalms. Translated by Francis Bolton. 1857–1878. Psalm 35.
• Poole, Matthew. Annotations upon the Holy Bible. 1683–1685. Psalm 35.
• Spence, H. D. M., and Joseph S. Exell, eds. The Pulpit Commentary: Psalms. Psalm 35.
• Boice, James Montgomery. Psalms. Vol. 1, Psalms 1–41. Grand Rapids: Baker.
• Kidner, Derek. Psalms 1–72. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
• Carson, D. A. The Gospel according to John. Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Sermons and Devotional Works

• Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. Morning and Evening. Evening, March 5.
• Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. Samuel—an Example of Intercession. Sermon No. 1537. Metropolitan Tabernacle.
• Spurgeon, Charles Haddon. Assurance Sought. Sermon No. 3546. Metropolitan Tabernacle.

Confessional Standards

• The Westminster Confession of Faith. 1646.
• The Westminster Larger Catechism. 1647.
• The Westminster Shorter Catechism. 1647.

Theological and Biblical Studies

• Day, John N. Crying for Justice: What the Psalms Teach Us about Mercy and Vengeance in an Age of Terrorism. Grand Rapids: Kregel.
• Vos, Geerhardus. Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Dispensational Works

• Blaising, Craig A., and Darrell L. Bock. Progressive Dispensationalism. Wheaton: BridgePoint.
• Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology. Dallas: Dallas Seminary Press.
• Gaebelein, A. C. The Book of Psalms: A Devotional and Prophetic Commentary. New York: Our Hope.
• Pentecost, J. Dwight. Things to Come. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
• Ryrie, Charles C. Dispensationalism. Chicago: Moody.
• Scofield, C. I., ed. The Scofield Reference Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1917.
• Walvoord, John F. The Millennial Kingdom. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.