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.
Currently Selected:
Psalms 35: NABRE
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Psalms 35
35
A Psalm of David.
1Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me!
2Take hold of shield and buckler,
and rise for my help!
3Draw the spear and javelin
against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
“I am your deliverance!”
4Let them be put to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life!
Let them be turned back and confounded
who devise evil against me!
5Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them on!
6Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!
7For without cause they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug a pit#35.7 The word pitis transposed from the preceding line for my life.
8Let ruin come upon them unawares!
And let the net which they hid ensnare them;
let them fall therein to ruin!
9Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
exulting in his deliverance.
10All my bones shall say,
“O Lord, who is like thee,
thou who deliverest the weak
from him who is too strong for him,
the weak and needy from him who despoils him?”
11Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I know not.
12They requite me evil for good;
my soul is forlorn.
13But I, when they were sick—
I wore sackcloth,
I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head bowed#35.13 Or My prayer turned back on my bosom,
14as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
I went about as one who laments his mother,
bowed down and in mourning.
15But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,
they gathered together against me;
cripples whom I knew not
slandered me without ceasing;
16they impiously mocked more and more,#35.16 Cn Compare Gk: Heb like the profanest of mockers of a cake
gnashing at me with their teeth.
17How long, O Lord, wilt thou look on?
Rescue me from their ravages,
my life from the lions!
18Then I will thank thee in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise thee.
19 #
Ps 69.4; Jn 15.25. Let not those rejoice over me
who are wrongfully my foes,
and let not those wink the eye
who hate me without cause.
20For they do not speak peace,
but against those who are quiet in the land
they conceive words of deceit.
21They open wide their mouths against me;
they say, “Aha, Aha!
our eyes have seen it!”
22Thou hast seen, O Lord; be not silent!
O Lord, be not far from me!
23Bestir thyself, and awake for my right,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24Vindicate me, O Lord, my God, according to thy righteousness;
and let them not rejoice over me!
25Let them not say to themselves,
“Aha, we have our heart's desire!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26Let them be put to shame and confusion altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor
who magnify themselves against me!
27Let those who desire my vindication
shout for joy and be glad,
and say evermore,
“Great is the Lord,
who delights in the welfare of his servant!”
28Then my tongue shall tell of thy righteousness
and of thy praise all the day long.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America