Psalm 35:5-15

5 Let them be like ¹chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away!

6 Let their way be dark and ²slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

7 For ³without cause ⁴they hid their net for me; without cause they dug ⁵a pit for my life. ^[a]

8 Let ⁶destruction come upon him ⁷when he does not know it! And let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his destruction!

9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord, ⁸exulting in his salvation.

10 All my ⁹bones shall say, “O Lord, ¹⁰who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him? ”

11 ¹¹Malicious^[b] witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know.

12 ¹²They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft. ^[c]

13 But I, ¹³when they were sick—I ¹⁴wore sackcloth; I ¹⁵afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed ¹⁶with head bowed^[d] on my chest.

14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I ¹⁷bowed down in mourning.

15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered; they gathered together against me; ¹⁸wretches whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;

Psalm 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.

Cross References

• 1. 35:5 See Job 21:18
• 2. 35:6 Ps. 73:18; Jer. 23:12
• 3. 35:7 See Ps. 69:4
• 4. 35:7 See Job 18:8
• 5. 35:7 See Ps. 7:15
• 6. 35:8 [1 Thess. 5:3]
• 7. 35:8 Isa. 47:11
• 8. 35:9 Luke 1:47; See Ps. 9:14
• 9. 35:10 Ps. 51:8
• 10. 35:10 Ps. 71:19; 86:8; 89:6, 8; 113:5; Ex. 15:11
• 11. 35:11 See Ps. 27:12
• 12. 35:12 Ps. 38:20; 109:4; Jer. 18:20; [John 10:32]
• 13. 35:13 [Job 30:25]
• 14. 35:13 Ps. 69:11; [1 Kgs. 20:31]
• 15. 35:13 Ps. 69:10; Num. 29:7
• 16. 35:13 [Matt. 10:13]; Luke 10:6
• 17. 35:14 See Ps. 38:6
• 18. 35:15 Job 30:1, 8, 12

Footnotes

• [a] 35:7 The word 'pit' is transposed from the preceding line; Hebrew 'For without cause they hid the pit of their net for me; without cause they dug for my life'
• [b] 35:11 Or 'Violent'
• [c] 35:12 Hebrew 'it is bereavement to my soul'
• [d] 35:13 Or 'my prayer shall turn back'