Psalms 35:11-18 - Homilies By C. Short

The wicked and the good.

The general subject in this section of the psalm is a contrast between the wicked and the good, setting forth the baseness of the wicked nature, and the generous sympathies of the good.

I. THE BASENESS OF THE WICKED . Their general characteristics are:

1 . They often bring false malicious charges against good men. ( Psalms 35:11 .) "They demand satisfaction at my hands for injuries of which I have never even heard."

2 . They return evil for good. ( Psalms 35:12 .) They had been former friends: this was the sting of their ingratitude and injustice. Former favours sour the minds of the ungrateful, and intensify their hatred.

3 . They exult over the calamities of the good , and insult and injure them. ( Psalms 35:15 .) "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel," and cruelty always embrutes the bad mind.

4 . They incite the senseless rabble to persecute good men. ( Psalms 35:16 .) The multitude ever ready without reason to join in a hue and cry, and, without thinking, are ready to become the instruments of bad men.

II. THE NOBILITY OF THE GOOD .

1 . Broken friendships fill them with a sense of bereavement. ( Psalms 35:12 .) The good hunger for love, as well as give it; and, when denied it, are afflicted with a sense of loneliness.

2 . They are deeply sympathetic with the afflictions of others. ( Psalms 35:13 , Psalms 35:14 .) They fast and pray in token of the sincerity and depth of their sympathy.

3 . In the calamities and sorrows of life the good turn to God for help and deliverance. ( Psalms 35:17 .) Especially the more they feel deserted by former friends.

4 . They are constrained to give thanks to God for his mercies. ( Psalms 35:18 .) They are not ungrateful, like the wicked. Gratitude is a joy to the generous and religious mind.—S.