Reflections on Psalms 35

 Psalms 35(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A psalm by David.) Fight my enemies, LORD! Attack my attackers!
   
2. Shield me and help me.
   
3. Aim your spear at everyone who hunts me down, but promise to save me.
   
4. Let all who want to kill me be disappointed and disgraced. Chase away and confuse all who plan to harm me.
   
5. Send your angel after them and let them be like straw in the wind.
   
6. Make them run in the dark on a slippery road, as your angel chases them.
   
7. I did them no harm, but they hid a net to trap me, and they dug a deep pit to catch and kill me.
   
8. Surprise them with disaster! Trap them in their own nets and let them fall and rot in the pits they have dug.
   
9. I will celebrate and be joyful because you, LORD, have saved me.
   
10. Every bone in my body will shout: "No one is like the LORD!" You protect the helpless from those in power; you save the poor and needy from those who hurt them.
    
11. Liars accuse me of crimes I know nothing about.
    
12. They repay evil for good, and I feel all alone.
    
13. When they were sick, I wore sackcloth and went without food. I truly prayed for them,
    
14. as I would for a friend or a relative. I was in sorrow and mourned, as I would for my mother.
    
15. I have stumbled, and worthless liars I don't even know surround me and sneer.
    
16. Worthless people make fun and never stop laughing.
    
17. But all you do is watch! When will you do something? Save me from the attack of those vicious lions.
    
18. And when your people meet, I will praise you and thank you, Lord, in front of them all.
    
19. Don't let my brutal enemies be glad because of me. They hate me for no reason. Don't let them wink behind my back.
    
20. They say hurtful things, and they lie to people who want to live in peace.
    
21. They are quick to accuse me. They say, "You did it! We saw you ourselves."
    
22. You see everything, LORD! Please don't keep silent or stay so far away.
    
23. Fight to defend me, Lord God,
    
24. and prove that I am right by your standards. Don't let them laugh at me
    
25. or say to each other, "Now we've got what we want! We'll gobble him down!"
    
26. Disappoint and confuse all who are glad to see me in trouble, but disgrace and embarrass my proud enemies who say to me, "You are nothing!"
    
27. Let all who want me to win be happy and joyful. From now on let them say, "The LORD is wonderful! God is glad when all goes well for his servant."
    
28. Then I will shout all day, "Praise the LORD God! He did what was right."

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David petitioned God in this psalm to deliver him from enemies who sought to kill him without cause. These are people who had once been his friends. Friends for whom David had prayed and mourned when they were sick and yet when he stumbled they gathered against him "in glee." (35:15) David was not asking God to take his side in a dispute between friends but rather to deliver him from the unfounded maliciousness of those who had become his enemies. And, it was not just those who had once been his friends who were pursuing him. They had drawn others into the pursuit and he found that "Assailants I did not know tore at me and did not stop," and that "Malicious witnesses come forward; they question me about things I do not know." (35:11, 15)

In the face of these pursuits against him, David asked the Lord to be his defender and deliverer. "Fight those who fight me," he prays. And, he asks the Lord to let those "who seek to kill me be disgraced and humiliated," and to let "their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the LORD pursuing them." Furthermore, he asks that the Lord "let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it--to his ruin." (35:4, 6, 8)

In his desperation, David asks the Lord, "how long will You look on?" (35:17) He knew the Lord was aware of his situation, so why didn't He do something?! In fact, he says, "You saw it, LORD; do not be silent. Lord, do not be far from me." (35:22) We hear his exasperation as he goes on to say, "Wake up and rise to my defense." (35:23) In this request, David appealed to the Lord based on His own character, "Vindicate me, LORD, my God, in keeping with Your righteousness." (35:24) If the Lord were not to help him for his sake, at least help him because of the Lord's own character of righteousness. Then he prayed that those "who rejoice at my misfortune be disgraced," and "those who want my vindication shout for joy and be glad." (35:26, 27)

David wanted those who wished his vindication to be able to praise the Lord because of his deliverance from those who were after him. And, David wanted to proclaim the Lord's righteousness with his own tongue because of his deliverance.