seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Psalm 35:1 Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up shield and armor;
arise and come to my aid.
3 Brandish spear and javelin[a]
against those who pursue me.
Say to me,
“I am your salvation.”
fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up shield and armor;
arise and come to my aid.
3 Brandish spear and javelin[a]
against those who pursue me.
Say to me,
“I am your salvation.”
4 May those who seek my life
be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin
be turned back in dismay.
5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away;
6 may their path be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin
be turned back in dismay.
5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away;
6 may their path be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7 Since they hid their net for me without cause
and without cause dug a pit for me,
8 may ruin overtake them by surprise—
may the net they hid entangle them,
may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord
and delight in his salvation.
10 My whole being will exclaim,
“Who is like you, Lord?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
the poor and needy from those who rob them.”
and without cause dug a pit for me,
8 may ruin overtake them by surprise—
may the net they hid entangle them,
may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord
and delight in his salvation.
10 My whole being will exclaim,
“Who is like you, Lord?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
the poor and needy from those who rob them.”
11 Ruthless witnesses come forward;
they question me on things I know nothing about.
12 They repay me evil for good
and leave me like one bereaved.
13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
and humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayers returned to me unanswered,
14 I went about mourning
as though for my friend or brother.
I bowed my head in grief
as though weeping for my mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.
They slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;(b)
they gnashed their teeth at me.
they question me on things I know nothing about.
12 They repay me evil for good
and leave me like one bereaved.
13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
and humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayers returned to me unanswered,
14 I went about mourning
as though for my friend or brother.
I bowed my head in grief
as though weeping for my mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.
They slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;(b)
they gnashed their teeth at me.
17 How long, Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their ravages,
my precious life from these lions.
Rescue me from their ravages,
my precious life from these lions.
18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly;
among the throngs I will praise you.
19 Do not let those gloat over me
who are my enemies without cause;
do not let those who hate me without reason
maliciously wink the eye.
20 They do not speak peaceably,
but devise false accusations
against those who live quietly in the land.
21 They sneer at me and say, “Aha! Aha!
With our own eyes we have seen it.”
22 Lord, you have seen this; do not be silent.
Do not be far from me, Lord.
23 Awake, and rise to my defense!
Contend for me, my God and Lord.
24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, Lord my God;
do not let them gloat over me.
25 Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
or say, “We have swallowed him up.”
Do not be far from me, Lord.
23 Awake, and rise to my defense!
Contend for me, my God and Lord.
24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, Lord my God;
do not let them gloat over me.
25 Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
or say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 May all who gloat over my distress
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 May those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and gladness;
may they always say, “The Lord be exalted,
who delights in the well-being of his servant.”
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 May those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and gladness;
may they always say, “The Lord be exalted,
who delights in the well-being of his servant.”
28 My tongue will proclaim your righteousness,
your praises all day long.
your praises all day long.
a. Psalm 35:3 Or and block the way
b. Psalm 35:16 Septuagint; Hebrew may mean Like an ungodly circle of mockers,
Wow... powerful.... I can almost see a big pit with a net thrown across it.... and leaves or straw thrown over it to hide the net and the pit.... a trap... ready for anyone who might wander past it. Joseph [yep... coat of many colors Joseph] was put in a pit to die.... till his brother figured selling his brother into slavery might be less offensive to his father than just letting him die in the pit. I'm told... in one of our wars [in my lifetime] the enemy would dig a pit, fill the bottom with sharpened sticks that would gouge right through anything that fell into the pit... it's a horrible weapon. David compared his life on the run as running though a bunch of hidden pits. David thinks God saves him from the pits.
This is the easy English commentary.
David may have written this:
· either when Saul was trying to catch him
· or when David’s son Absalom was fighting him
Saul was king of Israel before David. Absalom was David’s son, who wanted to be king in David’s place. In the psalm David asks God to fight for him. He asks God to take Saul (or Absalom) away from the earth. To us the language is not very nice, but they would not think this 3 000 years ago. It is the language of war.
War is when countries fight each other. David sees God as a soldier, fighting for him with shields and spears. This is what we call a "human picture" of God. We believe that God sends people or angels to do his work for him. In the psalm the angel is probably one that the Jews called Michael.
The important thing to learn from this psalm is this: David does not try to kill his enemies himself. He wants God to do it in God’s way. When we have enemies we must ask God to do something. We must not try to hurt them ourselves.
What Psalm 35 means
Parts of the psalm | What David did wrong | What David’s enemies did | What David will do when God sends help |
1: verses 1 - 10 | nothing, verse 7 | they wanted to kill him, verse 4 | be very happy, verses 9 – 10 |
2: verses 11 - 18 | nothing, verses 12 – 14 | they mocked him, and did evil things to him, verses12, 15-16 | thank and praise God, verse 18 |
3: verses 19 - 28 | Nothing, verse 19 | they say lies, verses 20 –21 | praise God all day, verse 28 |
Some of the ideas are a bit strange to us, but they are how the Jews thought.
Verse 10: "all my bones" means "all of me".
Verse 13: we are not sure what "my prayer comes back" means; there are 2 ways to explain it: either God did, or did not, answer David.
Verse 17: "the thing that I love most" is probably "my life".
Many years ago... I had a job downtown in Washington DC. I've written about this before. I would arrive about the time the last of the hookers were leaving. The smell of the night was still on the air some mornings when I came out of the metro. On those mornings... I would imagine God... walking with a loaded 12 gage right beside me... I would imagine I could feel His huge arm around my shoulders.... I knew I would be ok. Ok... I admit it... I'm a chicken... who liked to get to work really early so I could get home to the best part of my life.... and I walked into a few scrapes in my life.... but God straightened them out... the shotgun was imaginary... but God's protection.... there is no other explanation works... no one is as lucky as I am. God has to be protecting me....Back when I lived in Va Beach... I use to frequent an after hours bar.... private bars are always open to pretty women.... and back then I was a knock out! Guys would offer me all kinds of things.... just come out to the my van and we'll smoke a joint... back then sailors had the best pot. Sometimes, though, it wasn't a joint.... it turned out to be a line.... me with my addictive personality facing a line of cocaine.... This is how I know God has been protecting me.... EVERY SINGLE TIME I was supposed to snort in.... I would blow out..... blowing that expensive addicting stuff into the air where no one could have it.... EVERY SINGLE TIME.... He knew I would be instantly addicted.... and that's the only explanation I can ever come up with.... God was watching over me.... soon the dealers called me "snort" and wouldn't invite me out there anymore.... come to think of it... the stopped asking everyone I hung out with... just to make sure I didn't tag along.
God is our Salvation.... He keeps an eye out for us.
