Psalms 35:5-15

5 Let them be like dust on the wind— and let the LORD's messenger be the one who does the blowing!
6 Let their path be dark and slippery— and let the LORD's messenger be the one who does the chasing!
7 Because they hid their net for me for no reason, they dug a pit for me for no reason.
8 Let disaster come to them when they don't suspect it. Let the net they hid catch them instead! Let them fall into it—to their disaster!
9 But I will rejoice in the LORD; I will celebrate his salvation.
10 All my bones will say, "LORD, who could compare to you? You rescue the weak from those who overpower them; you rescue the weak and the needy from those who plunder them."
11 Violent witnesses stand up. They question me about things I know nothing about.
12 They pay me back evil for good, leaving me stricken with grief.
13 But when they were sick, I wore clothes for grieving, and I kept a strict fast. When my prayer came back unanswered,
14 I would wander around like I was grieving a friend or a brother. I was weighed down, sad, like I was a mother in mourning.
15 But when I stumbled, they celebrated and gathered together— they gathered together against me! Strangers I didn't know tore me to pieces and wouldn't quit.

Psalms 35:5-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 35

\\<<[A Psalm] of David>>\\. This psalm seems to have been written by David, when he was persecuted by Saul; and when many false charges were brought against him by his courtiers; and when he was the scorn and derision of the people; the subject of it is pretty much of the same kind with the seventh psalm, and might be written about the same time that was, and on the same occasion; and it may be applied to the church and people of God in like cases. There is a passage in it, Ps 35:19, which our Lord seems to refer to and apply to himself, Joh 15:25; and some interpret the whole of it concerning him. The Arabic version calls it a prophecy of the incarnation; though there does not appear any thing in it applicable to that.

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