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Psalm 35

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

Of David.

Contend, O L ord, with those who contend with me;

fight against those who fight against me!

Take hold of shield and buckler,

and rise up to help me!

Draw the spear and javelin

against my pursuers;

say to my soul,

“I am your salvation.”

Let them be put to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life.

Let them be turned back and confounded

who devise evil against me.

Let them be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the L ord driving them on.

Let their way be dark and slippery,

with the angel of the L ord pursuing them.

For without cause they hid their net for me;

without cause they dug a pit for my life.

Let ruin come on them unawares.

And let the net that they hid ensnare them;

let them fall in it—to their ruin.

Then my soul shall rejoice in the L ord,

exulting in his deliverance.

All my bones shall say,

“O L ord, who is like you?

You deliver the weak

from those too strong for them,

the weak and needy from those who despoil them.”

Malicious witnesses rise up;

they ask me about things I do not know.

They repay me evil for good;

my soul is forlorn.

But as for me, when they were sick,

I wore sackcloth;

I afflicted myself with fasting.

I prayed with head bowed on my bosom,

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.

But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,

they gathered together against me;

ruffians whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

they impiously mocked more and more,

gnashing at me with their teeth.

How long, O L ord, will you look on?

Rescue me from their ravages,

my life from the lions!

Then I will thank you in the great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,

or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.

For they do not speak peace,

but they conceive deceitful words

against those who are quiet in the land.

They open wide their mouths against me;

they say, “Aha, Aha,

our eyes have seen it.”

You have seen, O L ord; do not be silent!

O Lord, do not be far from me!

Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defense,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

Vindicate me, O L ord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and do not let them rejoice over me.

Do not let them say to themselves,

“Aha, we have our heart’s desire.”

Do not let them say, “We have swallowed you up.”

Let all those who rejoice at my calamity

be put to shame and confusion;

let those who exalt themselves against me

be clothed with shame and dishonor.

Let those who desire my vindication

shout for joy and be glad,

and say evermore,

“Great is the L ord,

who delights in the welfare of his servant.”

Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all day long.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

18. I will magnify thee in the great congregation. In this verse David again engages to give thanks to God for all his goodness, since the faithful can render him no other recompense than the sacrifice of praise, as we shall see in Psalm 116:17. Thus even whilst he was surrounded by the impetuous billows of fear and danger, he sets himself to the exercise of giving thanks, as if he had already obtained his desire; and by this he intended to encourage and confirm himself in the assurance of obtaining his requests. In this we may discern a striking and decided evidence of invincible fortitude, for though an outcast and a fugitive, destitute of all help, and, in short, in a state of great extremity and despair as to all his affairs, yet still he thinks of praising God’s grace, and makes vows of solemn sacrifice to him, as if, in the midst of the darkness of death, he saw deliverance clearly shining upon him. And he speaks not only of giving thanks in private, but of such thanksgiving as those who were delivered out of any great perils were wont to yield in the public assembly, by the appointment of the law. Some translate the latter clause of the verse a strong and powerful people, ⁷¹⁸⁷¹⁸ Horsley takes this view. He reads, “Among a mighty people;” and observes, that this is the rendering of the Chaldee, and that עצם, seems more properly to express strength or power than number. but I do not see the propriety of it. It is a mere subtilty to argue that the Church is endued with great strength, and therefore is called a strong people. But as David simply means the great crowd and multitude of people who were wont to go up to the sanctuary to hold their solemn assembly before God, I have no doubt that when he speaks of the great congregation, and afterwards of much people, he only repeats, according to his custom, the same thing twice, for the Hebrew word is used in both these senses.

⁷¹⁸ Horsley takes this view. He reads, “Among a mighty people;” and observes, that this is the rendering of the Chaldee, and that עצם, seems more properly to express strength or power than number.