Psalms 35:3-13

3 Get ready to throw the spear, aim the javelin, at the people who are out to get me. Reassure me; let me hear you say, "I'll save you."

4 When those thugs try to knife me in the back, make them look foolish. Frustrate all those who are plotting my downfall.

5 Make them like cinders in a high wind, with God's angel working the bellows.

6 Make their road lightless and mud-slick, with God's angel on their tails.

7 Out of sheer cussedness they set a trap to catch me; for no good reason they dug a ditch to stop me.

8 Surprise them with your ambush - catch them in the very trap they set, the disaster they planned for me.

9 But let me run loose and free, celebrating God's great work,

10 Every bone in my body laughing, singing, "God, there's no one like you. You put the down-and-out on their feet and protect the unprotected from bullies!"

11 Hostile accusers appear out of nowhere, they stand up and badger me.

12 They pay me back misery for mercy, leaving my soul empty.

13 When they were sick, I dressed in black; instead of eating, I prayed.

Psalms 35:3-13 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.