Psalms 35
35
Prayer for Help Against Unjust Enemies
1Of David.
I
#The mixture of judicial, martial, and hunting images shows that the language is figurative. The actual injustice is false accusation of serious crimes (Ps 35:11, 15, 20–21). The psalmist seeks lost honor through a trial before God.Oppose, O Lord, those who oppose me;
war upon those who make war upon me.
2Take up the shield and buckler;
rise up in my defense.
3Brandish lance and battle-ax
against my pursuers.
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
4Let those who seek my life
be put to shame and disgrace.
Let those who plot evil against me#Ps 40:15; 71:13.
be turned back and confounded.
5Make them like chaff before the wind,#Ps 1:4; 83:14; Jb 21:18.
with the angel of the Lord driving them on.
6Make their way slippery and dark,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
II
7Without cause they set their snare for me;
without cause they dug a pit for me.
8Let ruin overtake them unawares;
let the snare they have set catch them;
let them fall into the pit they have dug.#Ps 7:16; 9:16; 57:7; Prv 26:27; Eccl 10:8; Sir 27:26.
9Then I will rejoice in the Lord,
exult in God’s salvation.
10My very bones shall say,
“O Lord, who is like you,#Ps 86:8; 89:7, 9; Ex 15:11.
Who rescue the afflicted from the powerful,
the afflicted and needy from the despoiler?”
III
11Malicious witnesses rise up,
accuse me of things I do not know.
12They repay me evil for good;
my soul is desolate.#Ps 27:12; 38:20–21; 109:5; Jer 18:20.
13#35:13, 15–17] The Hebrew is obscure.Yet I, when they were ill, put on sackcloth,
afflicted myself with fasting,
sobbed my prayers upon my bosom.
14I went about in grief as for my brother,
bent in mourning as for my mother.
15Yet when I stumbled they gathered with glee,
gathered against me and I did not know it.
They slandered me without ceasing;
16without respect they mocked me,
gnashed their teeth against me.
IV
17O Lord, how long will you look on?
Restore my soul from their destruction,
my very life from lions!#Ps 17:12; 22:22; 58:7.
18Then I will thank you in the great assembly;
I will praise you before the mighty throng.#Ps 22:23; 26:12; 35:18; 40:10; 149:1.
19Do not let lying foes rejoice over me,
my undeserved enemies wink knowingly.#Ps 38:17.
20They speak no words of peace,
but against the quiet in the land
they fashion deceitful speech.#Ps 120:6–7.
21They open wide their mouths against me.
They say, “Aha! Good!
Our eyes have seen it!”#Ps 40:16; Lam 2:16.
22You see this, Lord; do not be silent;#Ps 22:12; 38:21; 109:1.
Lord, do not withdraw from me.
23Awake, be vigilant in my defense,
in my cause, my God and my Lord.
24Defend me because you are just, Lord;
my God, do not let them rejoice over me.
25Do not let them say in their hearts,
“Aha! Our soul!”#Aha! Our soul!: an ancient idiomatic expression meaning that we have attained what we wanted.
Do not let them say,
“We have devoured that one!”
26Put to shame and confound
all who relish my misfortune.
Clothe with shame and disgrace
those who lord it over me.
27But let those who favor my just cause
shout for joy and be glad.
May they ever say, “Exalted be the Lord
who delights in the peace of his loyal servant.”
28Then my tongue shall recount your justice,
declare your praise, all the day long.#Ps 71:15–16.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Psalm 35
35
A Psalm of David.
1Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me:
Fight against them that fight against me.
2Take hold of shield and buckler,
And stand up for mine help.
3Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me:
Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
4Let 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.
5Let them be as chaff before the wind:
And let the angel of the LORD chase them.
6Let their way be dark and slippery:
And let the angel of the LORD persecute them.
7For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit,
Which without cause they have digged for my soul.
8Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself:
Into that very destruction let him fall.
9And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD:
It shall rejoice in his salvation.
10All 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?
11False witnesses did rise up;
They laid to my charge things that I knew not.
12They rewarded me evil for good
To the spoiling of my soul.
13But 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.
14I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother:
I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.
15But 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:
16With hypocritical mockers in feasts,
They gnashed upon me with their teeth.
17Lord, how long wilt thou look on?
Rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.
18I will give thee thanks in the great congregation:
I will praise thee among much people.
19Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me:
Neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
20For they speak not peace:
But they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.
21Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me,
And said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.
22 This thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence:
O Lord, be not far from me.
23Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment,
Even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.
24Judge me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.
25Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it:
Let them not say, We have swallowed him up.
26Let 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.
27Let 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.
28And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness
And of thy praise all the day long.
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