This thou hast seen, O Lord . Nothing of this has been hid from thee; thine eye, O Lord, has seen it. Therefore I call upon thee. Keep not silence . Refrain not thyself. "Up, and let not man have the upper hand" ( PS . Psalms 9:19 ). O Lord, be not far from me . Draw near, hasten, vindicate my name (comp. Psalms 22:19 ; Psalms 38:21 ; Psalms 70:1-5 :12). read more
God's silence. "There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak" ( Ecclesiastes 3:7 ). So it is with man, and with reverence it may be said, so it is with God. There is a sense in which God is never silent. In manifold ways his voice is ever sounding in our ears. But there are times when God may be said to be silent, even with regard to his own people. There is speech on the one side, but no answer on the other. This silence may be prolonged till it becomes distressingly painful.... read more
Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment (camp. Psalms 80:2 ; Psalms 44:23 ; Psalms 78:65 ). The psalmists call on God to awake, not as though he were really asleep, but as a sort of stirring appeal to him to arise and manifest himself. Even unto my cause, my God and my Lord. "Awake," i.e; "to judge my cause—to acquit me, and condemn my enemies" (camp. Psalms 9:4 ; Psalms 35:1 ; Psalms 43:1 , etc.). read more
Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness , Let thy law of righteousness be the rule by which I am judged, and my enemies also. Then the victory will remain with me; thou wilt not let them rejoice over me. read more
Let them not say in their hearts, Ah! so would we have it (camp. Psalms 35:21 ); literally, ah! our soul, i.e. "our heart's desire is accomplished; we have got our wish." Let them not say, We have swallowed him up; i.e. destroyed him, ruined him, brought him to an evil end. read more
Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt : let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me (camp. Psalms 35:4 , of which this is an enlargement, with variations, the sentiment being exactly the same). Very similar maledictions will be found in Psalms 40:14 ; Psalms 70:2 ; Psalms 71:13 ; Psalms 109:29 . read more
Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause. When David's enemies are "ashamed and put to confusion" ( Psalms 35:26 ), his friends will naturally "shout for joy, and be glad." This they will do, partly, out of sympathy; partly because their own interests are bound up with those of their leader. Had Saul captured David when he "hunted him upon the mountains," the fate of David's followers would have been death or exile. Yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be... read more
And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long (camp. Psalms 35:9 , Psalms 35:10 , and Psalms 35:18 ). David means to premise perpetual gratitude and thankfulness. He will not merely return thanks publicly, once for all, in the great congregation ( Psalms 35:18 ), but will continue to praise God always. read more
This psalm is ascribed to David. The title in the original, לדוד ledâvid - “by David” or, “of David” - is without anything to designate the occasion on which it was composed, or anything to mark the character of the psalm, as distinguished from others. Occasionally in the titles of the psalms there is a special reference to the circumstances in which the psalm was composed, as in Psalms 3:1-8; Psalms 7:0; Psalms 18:0; Psalms 30:1-12; Psalms 34:0; and, much more frequently, there is something... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 35:21
Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha! our eye hath seen it. They "opened their mouth wide" in scornful derision; and shouted triumphantly, "Ha, ha! our eye hath seen his downfall!" read more