Psalms 35:19

"Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me;

Neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.

For they speak not peace;

But they devise deceitful words against them that are quiet in the land.

Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me;

They said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.

Thou hast seen it, O Jehovah; keep not silence:

O Lord, be not far from me.

Stir up thyself, and awake to the justice due unto me,

Even unto my cause, My God and my Lord.

Judge me, O Jehovah my God, according to thy righteousness;

And let them not rejoice over me.

Let them not say in their heart,

Aha, so would we have it:

Let them not say, We have swallowed him up.

Let them be put to shame and confounded together that rejoice at my hurt:

Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor that magnify themselves against me.

Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor my righteous cause:

Yea, let them say continually, Jehovah be magnified,

Who hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

And my tongue shall talk of thy righteousness

And of thy praise all the day long."

David's relentless enemies in the court of King Saul were not content with having driven him out of Jerusalem and having caused him to flee like a hunted animal into the cave of Adullum; they were determined to kill him. "They stirred up the jealousy and hatred of King Saul by false, lying charges, causing him to be `hunted upon the mountains' (1 Samuel 26:20)."[17]

"Our eye hath seen it" (Psalms 35:21) "... Thou hast seen it, O Jehovah" (Psalms 35:22). What a remarkable contrast is this! The lying tongues of the enemies are claiming that they had seen David's terrible deeds; and David's answer is, "God, you did indeed really see, and know the falsity of the charges.' .... Thou hast seen,' is a perfect foil to the claim of enemies that, `our eye hath seen it.'"[18]

"The justice due unto me" (Psalms 35:23). Here David appeals to God for justice to be done. What could possibly be wrong with such a plea? Oh yes, he pleaded for his enemies to be put to shame, but not for their death. But what else could he have done? In the situation in which David found himself someone was most certainly doomed to be put to shame. The only thing David pleaded for here is that it would not be himself, but his lying enemies who would be the ones thus dishonored.

This writer can find nothing wrong with this prayer. It would really be interesting to hear the prayers of some of the critics of this psalm if they were confronted with the same kind of life or death situation that faced David.

"Judge me, O Jehovah my God, according to thy righteousness" (Psalms 35:24). Rawlinson gave the meaning of this appeal thus: "Let thy law of righteousness be the rule by which I am judged, and mine enemies also."[19] This clearly indicates that David was not requesting anything against his enemies that was, in any sense, contrary to God's justice.

"Let them not say, Aha, so would we have it" (Psalms 35:25). "Another more colloquial rendering of these words would be, `Aha, this is what we wanted.'"[20]

"Let them shout for joy ... that favor my righteous cause" (Psalms 35:27). It is important to remember that David's prayer here is not for himself alone. "If Saul had captured David when he `hunted him upon the mountains,' David and all of his followers would have been put to death or exiled."[21]

In that situation, a plea on David's part that God would not allow his enemies to rejoice over his defeat and downfall, was automatically a plea that all of his friends and followers should rejoice and praise Jehovah. There was absolutely no `middle ground' in this unhappy circumstance.

Psalms 35:28, like Psalms 35:9-10,18, marks the close of this third section with the same promise of thanksgiving to God that marked the close of the first two sections.

One other word shall close our discussion of this psalm. Back in verse 8, the prayer has these words, "Let destruction come upon him unawares." Rawlinson's comment on this was, "Them is always something in David's imprecations from which Christians shrink; and this is particularly the case here where he asks for the `destruction' of his enemies."[22]

We do not believe that it was David's meaning here that God would `kill' his enemies; but that he would accomplish the destruction of their purposes. The clothing of his enemies in "dishonor" in Psalms 35:26 is a request that does not imply the death of enemies but their defeat; and we believe that this is the meaning of Psalms 35:8 also.