Psalms 35:7-17

7 For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.

8 Let ruin come on them unawares. And let the net that they hid ensnare them; let them fall in it—to their ruin.

9 Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, exulting in his deliverance.

10 All my bones shall say, "O Lord, who is like you? You deliver the weak from those too strong for them, the weak and needy from those who despoil them."

11 Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me about things I do not know.

12 They repay me evil for good; my soul is forlorn.

13 But as for me, when they were sick, I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting. I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,

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

15 But at my stumbling they gathered in glee, they gathered together against me; ruffians whom I did not know tore at me without ceasing;

16 they impiously mocked more and more, gnashing at me with their teeth.

17 How long, O Lord, will you look on? Rescue me from their ravages, my life from the lions!

Psalms 35:7-17 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb [a pit, their net]
• [b]. The word [pit] is transposed from the preceding line
• [c]. Or [My prayer turned back]
• [d]. Cn Compare Gk: Heb [like the profanest of mockers of a cake]