Psalms 35:1–21

In these verses we have, I. David's representation of his case to God, setting forth the restless rage and malice of his persecutors. He was God's servant, expressly appointed by him to be what he was, followed his guidance, and aimed at his glory in the way of duty, had lived (as St. Paul speaks) in all good conscience before God unto this day; and yet there were those that strove with him, that did their utmost to oppose his advancement, and made all the interest they could against him; they fought against him (Psa 35:1), not only undermined him closely and secretly, but openly avowed their opposition to him and set themselves to do him all the mischief they could. They persecuted him with an unwearied enmity, sought after his soul (Psa 35:4), that is, his life, no less would satisfy their bloody minds; they aimed to disquiet his spirit and put that into disorder. Nor was it a sudden passion against him that they harboured, but inveterate malice: They devised his hurt, laid their heads together, and set their wits on work, not only to do him a mischief, but to find out ways and means to ruin him. They treated him, who was the greatest blessing of his country, as if he had been the curse and plague of it; they hunted him as a dangerous beast of prey; they digged a pit for him and laid a net in it, that they might have him at their mercy, Psa 35:7. They took a great deal of pains in persecuting him, for they digged a pit (Psa 7:15); and very close and crafty they were in carrying on their designs; the old serpent taught them subtlety: they hid their net from David and his friends; but in vain, for they could not hide it from God. And, lastly, he found himself an unequal match for them. His enemy, especially Saul, was too strong for him (Psa 35:10), for he had the army at his command, and assumed to himself the sole power of making laws and giving judgment, attainted and condemned whom he pleased, carried not a sceptre, but a javelin, in his hand, to cast at any man that stood in his way; such was the manner of the king, and all about him were compelled to do as he bade them, right or wrong. The king's word is a law, and every thing must be carried with a high hand; he has fields, and vineyards, and preferments, at his disposal, Sa1 22:7. but David is poor and needy, has nothing to make friends with, and therefore has none to take his part but men (as we say) of broken fortunes (Sa1 22:2); and therefore no marvel that Saul spoiled him of what little he had got and the interest he had made. If the kings of the earth set themselves against the Lord and his anointed, who can contend with them? Note, It is no new thing for the most righteous men, and the most righteous cause, to meet with many mighty and malicious enemies: Christ himself is striven with and fought against, and war is made upon the holy seed; and we are not to marvel at the matter: it is a fruit of the old enmity in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman. II. His appeal to God concerning his integrity and the justice of his cause. If a fellow-subject had wronged him, he might have appealed to his prince, as St. Paul did to Caesar; but, when his prince wronged him, he appealed to his God, who is prince and Judge of the kings of the earth: Plead my cause, O Lord! Psa 35:1. Note, A righteous cause may, with the greatest satisfaction imaginable, he laid before a righteous God, and referred to him to give judgment upon it; for he perfectly knows the merits of it, holds the balance exactly even, and with him there is no respect of persons. God knew that they were, without cause, his enemies, and that they had, without cause, digged pits for him, Psa 35:7. Note, It will be a comfort to us, when men do us wrong, if our consciences can witness for us that we have never done them any. It was so to St. Paul. Act 25:10, To the Jews have I done no wrong. We are apt to justify our uneasiness at the injuries men do us by this, That we never gave them any cause to use us so; whereas this should, more than any thing, make us easy, for then we may the more confidently expect that God will plead our cause. III. His prayer to God to manifest himself both for him and to him, in this trial. 1. For him. He prays that God would fight against his enemies, so as to disable them to hurt him, and defeat their designs against him (Psa 35:1), that he would take hold of shield and buckler, for the Lord is a man of war (Exo 15:3), and that he would stand up for his help (Psa 35:2), for he had few that would stand up for him, and, if he had ever so many, they would stand him in no stead without God. he prays that God would stop their way (Psa 35:3), that they might not overtake him when he fled from them. This prayer we may put up against our persecutors, that God would restrain them and stop their way. 2. To him: "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation; let me have inward comfort under all these outward troubles, to support my soul which they strike at. Let God be my salvation, not only my Saviour out of my present troubles, but my everlasting bliss. Let me have that salvation not only which he is the author of, but which consists in his favour; and let me know my interest in it; let me have the comfortable assurance of it in my own breast." If God, by his Spirit, witness to our spirits that he is our salvation, we have enough, we need desire no more to make us happy; and this is a powerful support when men persecute us. If God be our friend, no matter who is our enemy. IV. His prospect of the destruction of his enemies, which he prays for, not in malice or revenge. We find how patiently he bore Shimei's curses (so let him curse, for the Lord has bidden him); and we cannot suppose that he who was so meek in his conversation would give vent to any intemperate heat or passion in his devotion; but, by the spirit of prophecy, he foretells the just judgments of God that would come upon them for their great wickedness, their malice, cruelty, and perfidiousness, and especially the enmity to the counsels of God, the interests of religion, and that reformation which they knew David, if ever he had power in his hand, would be an instrument of. They seemed to be hardened in their sins, and to be of the number of those who have sinned unto death and are not to be prayed for, Jer 7:16; Jer 11:14; Jer 14:11; Jo1 5:16. As for Saul himself, David, it is probable, knew that God had rejected him and had forbidden Samuel to mourn for him, Sa1 16:1. And these predictions look further, and read the doom of the enemies of Christ and his kingdom, as appears by comparing Rom 11:9, Rom 11:10. David here prays, 1. Against his many enemies (Psa 35:4-6): Let them be confounded, etc. Or, as Dr. Hammond reads it, They shall be confounded, they shall be turned back. This may be taken as a prayer for their repentance, for all penitents are put to shame for their sins and turned back from them. Or, if they were not brought to repentance, David prays that they might be defeated and disappointed in their designs against him and so put to shame. Though they should in some degree prevail, yet he foresees that it would be to their own ruin at last: They shall be as chaff before the wind, so unable will wicked men be to stand before the judgments of God and so certainly will they be driven away by them, Psa 1:4. Their way shall be dark and slippery, darkness and slipperiness (so the margin reads it); the way of sinners is so, for they walk in darkness and in continual danger of falling into sin, into hell; and it will prove so at last, for their foot shall slide in due time, Deu 32:35. But this is not the worst of it. Even chaff before the wind may perhaps be stopped, and find a place of rest, and, though the way be dark and slippery, it is possible that a man may keep his footing; but it is here foretold that the angel of the Lord shall chase them (Psa 35:5) so that they shall find no rest, shall persecute them (Psa 35:6) so that they cannot possibly escape the pit of destruction. As God's angels encamp against those that fight against him. They are the ministers of his justice, as well as of his mercy. Those that make God their enemy make all the holy angels their enemies. 2. Against his one mighty enemy (Psa 35:8): Let destruction come upon him. It is probable that he means Saul, who laid snares for him and aimed at his destruction. David vowed that his hand should not be upon him; he would not be judge in his own cause. But, at the same time, he foretold that the Lord would smite him (Sa1 26:10), and here that the net he had hidden should catch himself, and into that very destruction he should fall. This was remarkably fulfilled in the ruin of Saul; for he had laid a plot to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines (Sa1 18:25), that was the net which he hid for him under pretence of doing him honour, and in that very net was he himself taken, for he fell by the hand of the Philistines when his day came to fall. V. His prospect of his own deliverance, which, having committed his cause to God, he did not doubt of, Psa 35:9, Psa 35:10. 1. He hoped that he should have the comfort of it: "My soul shall be joyful, not in my own ease and safety, but in the Lord and in his favour, in his promise and in his salvation according to the promise." Joy in God and in his salvation is the only true, solid, satisfying joy. Those whose souls are sorrowful in the Lord, who sow in tears and sorrow after a godly sort, need not question but that in due time their souls shall be joyful in the Lord; for gladness is sown for them, and they shall at last enter into the joy of their Lord. 2. He promised that then God should have the glory of it (Psa 35:10): All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee? (1.) He will praise God with the whole man, with all that is within him, and with all the strength and vigour of his soul, intimated by his bones, which are within the body and are the strength of it. (2.) He will praise him as one of peerless and unparalleled perfection. We cannot express how great and good God is, and therefore must praise him by acknowledging him to be a non-such. Lord, who is like unto thee? No such patron of oppressed innocency, no such punisher of triumphant tyranny. The formation of our bones so wonderfully, so curiously (Ecc 11:5; Psa 139:16), the serviceableness of our bones, and the preservation of them, and especially the life which, at the resurrection, shall be breathed upon the dry bones and make them flourish as a herb, oblige every bone in our bodies, if it could speak, to say, Lord, who is like unto thee? and willingly to undergo any services or sufferings for him.

Psalm 35:1-3 1. Plead my cause, O Jehovah! with them that plead against me; fight against them who fight against me. 2. Take the shield and the buckler, and rise up for my help. 3. Bring forth the spear, and oppose my persecutors: say unto my soul, "I am thy salvation." 1. Plead my cause, O Jehovah! As the enemies of David not only avowedly sought to take away his life, but also troubled him by calumny and misrepresentation, he pleads for the redress of both these grievances. In the first place, by appealing to God for his aid in defense of his cause, he intimates, that he has to do with wicked and maligning men. In the second place, by urging him to take up arms, he shows that he was grievously oppressed. It was a very dishonorable thing, that this holy man, alike eminent for his beneficence and inoffensiveness towards all men, and who by his courtesy and meekness had merited, both in public and private, the esteem and favor of all, was not permitted to escape the reproach and calumny of wicked men; but it is important for us to know this, and it sets before us a very profitable example. If even David did not escape the malice of wicked men, it ought not to seem wonderful or strange to us, if they blame and bite at us. The injuries they inflict upon us may be grievous and painful, but there is incomparable consolation presented to us in this consideration, that God himself interposes for our protection and defense against false accusations. Though calumniators, then, should arise, and tear us, as it were, to pieces, by falsely charging us with crimes, we need not be disturbed, so long as God undertakes to plead our cause against them. There can be no doubt, that in the second clause of the verse David implores God to resist the armed violence of his enemies. The amount of the whole is, that being falsely accused and cruelly persecuted, and finding no help at the hands of men, the Prophet commits the preservation of his life and his reputation to God. 2. Take the shield. These words certainly cannot be applied, in the strict and proper sense, to God, who has no need of the spear or buckler: for by the breath of his mouth alone, or merely with his nod, he is able to overthrow all his enemies. But although such figures at first sight appear rude, yet the Holy Ghost employs them in accommodation to the weakness of our understanding, for the purpose of impressing more effectually upon our minds the conviction that God is present to aid us. When troubles and dangers arise, when terrors assail us on every side, when even death presents itself to our view, it is difficult to realize the secret and invisible power of God, which is able to deliver us from all anxiety and fear; for our understandings, which are gross and earthly, tend downward to the earth. That our faith, therefore, may ascend by degrees to the heavenly power of God, he is here introduced armed, after the manner of men, with sword and shield. In the same way, also, when he is in another place termed "a man of war," it is doubtless in adaptation to the imperfection of our present state, because our minds, from their limited capacity, could in no other way comprehend the extent of that infinite power, which contains in itself every form of help, and has no need of aid from any other quarter. This, therefore, is a prayer that God, by the exercise of his secret and intrinsic power, would show that he alone is able to encounter the whole strength and forces of the ungodly. Some suppose that the Hebrew word tsnh, tsinnah, here used, means a dart, or some other kind of weapon; but as we have already seen, in the fifth psalm, that it properly signifies a buckler, I see no reason why it should be differently interpreted in this place. Nor is there any thing at all inconsistent in connecting here, as is often done in other places, the buckler and the shield. [702] If the expression here employed had been designed to signify a dart, or a similar weapon, it would have been more natural to connect it with the spear, of which mention is made in the following verse. David, then, first makes mention of defensive armor, praying that God would sustain and repel the assaults of the enemy. The Hebrew word ryq, rik, which signifies to unsheath, or make bare, I take simply to mean, to draw out, or bring forth. The Hebrew word sgvr, segor, which I have translated to oppose, literally signifies to shut or to close. But as David's meaning is, that God, by setting himself as a wall or rampart, would prevent his enemies from approaching him, it appears to me that I have faithfully translated it. At the same time, if any should prefer the translation to shut, or close the way, or to impede it by some obstacle, the meaning; is substantially the same. The opinion of those who contend that it is a noun, [703] is not at all probable. 3. Say to my soul. Some expound these words thus: Declare to me by secret inspiration; and others, Make me to feel indeed that my salvation is in thy hand. In my opinion, David desires to have it thoroughly fixed in his mind, and to be fully persuaded that God is the author of his salvation. This he was unable, from the present aspect of things, to ascertain and determine; for such is the insensibility and dulness of our natures, that God often delivers us whilst we sleep and are ignorant of it. Accordingly, he makes use of a very forcible manner of expression, in praying that God would grant him a lively sense of his favor, so that being armed with this buckler, he might sustain every conflict, and surmount every opposing obstacle; as if he had said, Lord, whatever may arise to discourage me, confirm me in this persuasion, that my salvation is assuredly in thee; and although temptations drive me hither and thither, recall my thoughts to thee in such a manner, as that my hope of salvation may rise superior to all the dangers to which I shall be exposed; [704] nay, more, that I may become as infallibly certain as if thou hadst said it, that through thy favor I shall be saved. Footnotes: [702] The word rendered shield is in the Hebrew text mgk, magen, which was a short buckler intended merely for defense. The word rendered buckler is tsnh, tsinnah, for an account of which see [12]note, p. 64. The tsinnah was double the weight of the magen, and was carried by the infantry; the magen, being lighter and more manageable, was used by the cavalry. The tsinnah answered to the scutum, and the magen to the clypeus, among the Romans. -- See Paxton's Illustrations of Scripture, vol. 3, pp. 866, 867. [703] Those who are of opinion that sgvr, segor, is a noun, translate it "the scymitar," and read, "Draw out the spear, and the scymitar, to oppose my persecutors." According to Drusius, Vitringa, Michaelis, Dr Kennicott, and others, the word means sagaris, or scymitar, a sort of battle-axe, which was used by the Persians, Scythians, and other nations in ancient times. [704] "Que l'esperance de mon salut surpasse tous les dangers qui me seront livrez." -- Fr.

Two very wicked things David here lays to the charge of his enemies, to make good his appeal to God against them - perjury and ingratitude. I. Perjury, Psa 35:11. When Saul would have David attainted of treason, in order to his being outlawed, perhaps he did it with the formalities of a legal prosecution, produced witnesses who swore some treasonable words or overt acts against him, and he being not present to clear himself (or, if he was, it was all the same), Saul adjudged him a traitor. This he complains of here as the highest piece of injustice imaginable: False witnesses did rise up, who would swear anything; they laid to my charge things that I knew not, nor ever thought of. See how much the honours, estates, liberties, and lives, even of the best men, lie at the mercy of the worst, against whose false oaths innocency itself is no fence; and what reason we have to acknowledge with thankfulness the hold God has of the consciences even of bad men, to which it is owing that there is not more mischief done in that way than is. This instance of the wrong done to David was typical, and had its accomplishment in the Son of David, against whom false witnesses did arise, Mat 26:60. If we be at any time charged with what we are innocent of let us not think it strange, as though some new thing happened to us; so persecuted they the prophets, even the great prophet. II. Ingratitude. Call a man ungrateful and you can call him no worse. This was the character of David's enemies (Psa 35:12): They rewarded me evil for good. A great deal of good service he had done to his king, witness his harp, witness Goliath's sword, witness the foreskins of the Philistines; and yet his king vowed his death, and his country was made too hot for him. This is to the spoiling of his soul; this base unkind usage robs him of his comfort, and cuts him to the heart, more than any thing else. Nay, he had deserved well not only of the public in general, but of those particular persons that were now most bitter against him. Probably it was then well known whom he meant; it may be Saul himself for one, whom he was sent for to attend upon when he was melancholy and ill, and to whom he was serviceable to drive away the evil spirit, not with his harp, but with his prayers; to others of the courtiers, it is likely, he had shown this respect, while he lived at court, who now were, of all others, most abusive to him. Herein he was a type of Christ, to whom this wicked world was very ungrateful. Joh 10:32. Many good works have I shown you from my Father; for which of those do you stone me? David here shows, 1. How tenderly, and with what a cordial affection, he had behaved towards them in their afflictions (Psa 35:13, Psa 35:14): They were sick. Note, Even the palaces and courts of princes are not exempt from the jurisdiction of death and the visitation of sickness. Now when these people were sick, (1.) David mourned for them and sympathized with them in their grief. They were not related to him; he was under no obligations to them; he would lose nothing by their death, but perhaps be a gainer by it; and yet he behaved himself as though they had been his nearest relations, purely from a principle of compassion and humanity. David was a man of war, and of a bold stout spirit, and yet was thus susceptible of the impressions of sympathy, forgot the bravery of the hero, and seemed wholly made up of love and pity; it was a rare composition of hardiness and tenderness, courage and compassion, in the same breast. Observe, He mourned as for a brother or mother, which intimates that it is our duty, and well becomes us, to lay to heart the sickness, and sorrow, and death of our near relations. Those that do not are justly stigmatized as without natural affection. (2.) He prayed for them. He discovered not only the tender affection of a man, but the pious affection of a saint. He was concerned for their precious souls, and, since he helped them with his prayers to God for mercy and grace; and the prayers of one who had so great an interest in heaven were of more value than perhaps they knew or considered. With his prayers he joined humiliation and self-affliction, both in his diet (he fasted, at least from pleasant bread) and in his dress; he clothed himself with sackcloth, thus expressing his grief, not only for their affliction, but for their sin; for this was the guise and practice of a penitent. We ought to mourn for the sins of those that do not mourn for them themselves. His fasting also put an edge upon his praying, and was an expression of the fervour of it; he was so intent in his devotions that he had no appetite to meat, nor would allow himself time for eating: "My prayer returned into my own bosom; I had the comfort of having done my duty, and of having approved myself a loving neighbour, though I could not thereby win upon them nor make them my friends." We shall not lose by the good offices we have done to any, how ungrateful soever they are; for our rejoicing will be this, the testimony of our conscience. 2. How basely and insolently and with what a brutish enmity, and worse than brutish, they had behaved towards him (Psa 35:15, Psa 35:16); In my adversity they rejoiced. When he fell under the frowns of Saul, was banished the court, and persecuted as a criminal, they were pleased, were glad at his calamities, and got together in their drunken clubs to make themselves and one another merry with the disgrace of this great favourite. Well, might he call them abjects, for nothing could be more vile and sordid than to triumph in the fall of a man of such unstained honour and consummate virtue. But this was not all. (1.) They tore him, rent his good name without mercy, said all the ill they could of him and fastened upon him all the reproach their cursed wit and malice could reach to. (2.) They gnashed upon him with their teeth; they never spoke of him but with the greatest indignation imaginable, as those that would have eaten him up if they could. David was the fool in the play, and his disappointment all the table-talk of the hypocritical mockers at feasts; it was the song of the drunkards. The comedians, who may fitly be called hypocritical mockers (for which does a hypocrite signify but a stage-player?) and whose comedies, it is likely, were acted at feasts and balls, chose David for their subject, bantered and abused him, while the auditory, in token of their agreement with the plot, hummed, and gnashed upon him with their teeth. Such has often been the hard fate of the best of men. The apostles were made a spectacle to the world. David was looked upon with ill-will for no other reason than because he was caressed by the people. It is a vexation of spirit which attends even a right work that for this a man is envied of his neighbour, Ecc 4:4. And who can stand before envy? Pro 27:4.

Psalm 35:4-7 4. Let those who seek my soul be confounded and put to shame; and let those who devise my hurt be turned back, and brought to confusion. 5. Let them be as chaff before the wind, and let the angel of Jehovah thrust [or impel] them. [705] 6. Let their way be darkness and slipperiness, and let the angel of Jehovah pursue them. 7. For they have hid for me without cause their net in a pit, without cause they have digged a pit [706] for my soul. 4. Let those who seek my soul be confounded. David now calls upon God to take vengeance upon his enemies; and he asks not only that he would disappoint and destroy their designs, but also that he would recompense them according to their deserts. In the first place, he desires that they may be confounded and put to shame in seeing their expectation and desire fail; and then he proceeds farther, desiring that while they imagine themselves to be firmly established, and deeply rooted, they may be like chaff or stubble. As the chaff is driven with the wind, so also he desires, that, being disquieted by the secret impulse of the angel of the Lord, they may never have rest. The imprecation which follows is even more dreadful, and it is this: that wherever they go they may meet with darkness and slippery places; and that in their doubt and perplexity the angel of the Lord would pursue them. In fine, whatever they devise, and to whatever side they turn, he prays that all their counsels and enterprises may come to a disastrous termination. When he desires that they may be driven by the angel of the Lord, we learn from this that the reason why the ungodly are troubled, though no man pursues them, is, that God smites them with a spirit of amazement, and distracts them with such fears that they tremble and are troubled. The same thing he expresses more clearly in the following verse, praying that the angel of the Lord would drive them through dark and slippery places, so that reason and understanding might fail them, and that they might not know whither to go, nor what to become, nor have even time given them to draw their breath. We need not be surprised that this work should be assigned to the angels, by whose instrumentality God executes his judgments. At the same time, this passage may be expounded of the devils as well as of the holy angels, who are ever ready to execute the divine behests. We know that the devil is permitted to exercise his dominion over the reprobate; and hence it is often said that "an evil spirit from God came upon Saul," (1 Samuel 18:10.) But as the devils never execute the will of God, unless compelled to do it when God wishes to serve himself of them; the Sacred Scriptures declare that the holy and elect angels are in a much higher sense the servants of God. God, then, executes his judgments by the wicked and reprobate angels; but he gives the elect angels the pre-eminence over them. On this account, also, good angels only are called rightfully "principalities," as in Ephesians 3:10; Colossians 1:16, and other similar passages. If it is objected that it is not meet that the angels, who are the ministers of grace and salvation, and the appointed guardians of the faithful, should be employed in executing judgment upon the reprobate, the explanation is simply this, that they cannot watch for the preservation of the godly without being prepared for fighting -- that they cannot succor them by their aid without also opposing their enemies, and declaring themselves to be against them. The style of imprecation which the Psalmist here employs can be explained only by bearing in mind what I have elsewhere said, namely, that David pleads not simply his own cause, nor utters rashly the dictates of passion, nor with unadvised zeal desires the destruction of his enemies; but under the guidance of the Holy Spirit he entertains and expresses against the reprobate such desires as were characterised by great moderation, and which were far removed from the spirit of those who are impelled either by desire of revenge or hatred, or some other inordinate emotion of the flesh. 7. For they have hid for me without a cause. He here declares that he did not take the name of God in vain, nor call upon him for protection without just cause, for he openly asserts his innocence, and complains that he was thus severely afflicted without having committed any crime, or given any occasion to his enemies. It becomes us carefully to mark this, so that no one may rush unadvisedly into God's presence, nor call upon him for vengeance, without the assurance and testimony of a good conscience. When he says that he was assailed by stratagem, fraud, and wicked practices, there is implied in this a tacit commendation of his own integrity. Footnotes: [705] "C'est, chasse et presse." -- Note, Fr. marg. "That is, chase and pursue them." [706] The allusion here is to the custom of digging pits and putting nets in them, covered with straw, etc., to catch wild beasts.

Psalm 35:8-10 8. Let confusion of which he is not aware come upon him; and let his own net which he hath hidden catch himself: let him fall into it with confusion. 9. And my soul is joyful in Jehovah, it shall be glad in his salvation. 10. All my bones shall say, O Jehovah! who is like thee, that deliverest the poor from him that is stronger than he, the poor and miserable from him that spoileth him? 8. Let confusion of which he is not aware come upon him. David again prays that God would cause to return upon the head of his enemies the mischief which they had directed against a just and an inoffensive man. The change from the plural to the singular number, even when the same subject, is spoken of, is, we know, a thing very common among the Hebrews. Accordingly, what is here said of one man is applicable to all David's enemies in general, unless, perhaps, we are rather inclined to suppose that allusion is here made to Saul or some one of his nobles. But as it is certain that the prayer which he here offers against Saul as the head extends to the whole body, in other words, to all his followers, [707] it matters little in which way we understand it. The Hebrew word sv'h, shoah, sometimes signifies confusion, and sometimes destruction; and, therefore, many translate it, Let destruction, or desolation, or ruin, come upon him. The other rendering, however, seems more suitable, for he immediately adds, Let his own net which he hath hidden catch him, let him fall into it with confusion The way in which others render it, Let him fall into destruction itself, is certainly forced and unnatural. But the meaning of the clause will be brought out very suitable if it is viewed as a prayer of David, that as the wicked settle down like wine upon the lees, in present enjoyments, and fear nothing, as if they were placed beyond the reach of all danger, some calamity which they think not of may suddenly come upon them like a tempest, and overwhelm them. It never for a moment occurs to them as at all possible that their stratagems and craft, their wicked practices, and all the snares which they lay for the good and the simple, turn to the destruction of themselves who have devised them. David, therefore, very properly desires that they may fall with confusion into the nets which they have laid; in other words, that they may be filled with amazement and terror when they are suddenly and unexpectedly visited with calamity. The more unbounded and extravagant the exultation of men is, through their vainly and foolishly imagining that they shall escape unpunished, the more are they filled with amazement and fear when calamity suddenly overtakes them. I have, however, no doubt that David here refers to some strange and extraordinary calamity. Let confusion, then, of which he thinks not, come upon him; that is to say, when he shall have persuaded himself that all goes well with him, and promised himself peace in his deceitful fascinations, then let unwonted terror strike him to the heart, and let him feel by his tumultuous fear that he is caught in his own snares. 9. And my soul is joyful in Jehovah. Others read this in the optative mood, May my soul rejoice in Jehovah, and may it be glad in his salvation But instead of continuing to express his desires, David, in my opinion, rather promises in this verse that he will be grateful to God. This is still more evident from the following verse, in which extolling very highly the goodness of God, he says that he will celebrate the remembrance of it with every member of his body. While, therefore, some ascribe to fortune, and others to their own skill, the praise of their deliverance from danger, and few, if any, yield the whole praise of it to God, David here declares that he will not forget the favor which God had bestowed upon him. My soul, says he, shall rejoice, not in a deliverance of the author of which it is ignorant, but in the salvation of God. To place the matter in a still stronger light, he assigns to his very bones the office of declaring the divine glory. As if not content that his tongue should be employed in this, he applies all the members of his body to the work of setting forth the praises of God. The style of speaking which he employs is hyperbolical, but in this way he shows unfeignedly that his love to God was so strong that he desired to spend his sinews and bones in declaring the reality and truth of his devotion. 10. O Jehovah! who is like thee? Here he explains more fully the nature of his joy in the salvation of God of which he had spoken, showing that it consisted in his ascribing entirely to God the deliverance which he had obtained. Men, in general, praise God in such a manner that he scarcely obtains the tenth part of his due. But David, distinguishing him from all others, distinctly declares that the whole glory of his deliverance is due to him alone. And, certainly, we then only yield to God what belongs to him, when, investing him with his own power, we rest all our hopes on him. For what purpose does it serve, loudly to celebrate the name of God with our mouths, if we tear in pieces his power and goodness at our pleasure? David, therefore, in the true spirit of godliness, extols the greatness of God by this high encomium, that he is the guardian and defender of the poor, and rescues the needy and afflicted from the hand of those who oppress them; as if he had said, It is God's peculiar duty to succor the miserable. By these words we are taught to cling to the hope of better things in adversity; for the power and resources of our enemies, however great they may be, is no reason why we should lose our confidence, since God declares to us from heaven that he reigns expressly for the purpose of resisting the strong and powerful. If the children of this world, who employ their power in injuring and oppressing the weak, had the least degree of sound understanding, it would certainly serve to restrain their audacity, and prevent them proceeding farther in provoking the wrath of God. Footnotes: [707] "Qu'il fait yci contre Saul comme le chef, s'estend a tout le corps, c'est a dire, tous ses adherens." -- Fr.

Psalm 35:11-15 11. Violent witnesses rise up, they charge me with things which I know not. 12. They render me evil for good, to the bereaving [708] of my soul. 13. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I afflicted my soul with fasting; and have poured my prayer into my own bosom. 14. I behaved myself towards him as if he had been my friend and brother: I humbled myself as one that mourneth heavily for his mother. 15. But they rejoiced at my halting, they gathered themselves together; yea, even the abjects whom I knew not gathered themselves against me: they have torn me with their lips, and have not ceased. 11. Violent witnesses [709] rise up. The Hebrew is, they shall rise up; but in using the future tense, the Psalmist intimates that he is speaking of what he had suffered for a long time. And he complains that he was so oppressed with calumny that he had no opportunity of defending himself; than which nothing more grievous and painful can ever happen to those of an ingenuous mind, and who are conscious of no blame. Besides, he not only says that he had been falsely accused, but he also condemns the audacity and insolence of those who violently rose up to bear witness against him. To this belongs what he adds, They charge me with things which I know not. David then was not only spoiled of his worldly goods, and basely driven into exile, but was also accused and loaded with infamy under color of justice. Being involved in such distress, he resorted directly to God, hoping that he would maintain his innocence. So ought the children of God to walk through good report and bad report, and patiently suffer reproach, until he assert and declare their innocence from on high. In old times, it was a common proverb among the heathen, "There is no theater more beautiful than a good conscience;" and in this they uttered a noble sentiment; but no man can be sustained and supported by the purity of his conscience unless he has recourse to God. 12. They render me evil for good. David again shows that the malice of his enemies was of a very aggravated character, because they not only oppressed him wrongfully, seeing he was innocent, and had given them no occasion of offense, but also because even those who had received much enjoyment and many favors from him, recompensed him in a very strange and ungrateful manner. Such disgraceful conduct wounds the feelings of good men very severely, and seems quite intolerable. But it is an inexpressibly great consolation when we can testify before God, that we have attempted by every means in our power to soothe the minds of our enemies, and to bow them to gentleness, although, notwithstanding, they are hurried on by insatiable cruelty in desiring our hurt; for God will not suffer this barbarous and brutal ingratitude to pass unpunished. Their cruelty is farther expressed when it is said that they endeavored to bereave (for so it is properly in the Hebrew [710] ) the soul of a meek and peaceable man; that is to say, to deprive it of comfort, and render it so desolate as to overwhelm it with despair and destroy it. David afterwards recounts certain acts of kindness which he had done them, and which, if they had had any sense of equity and humanity, ought to have been as so many sacred bonds of mutual love. He does not say that he aided them with money or with goods, or that he had by some other means exercised liberality towards them, for it may sometimes happen that when the hand is open the heart may be shut; but he mentions certain tokens of true and genuine love -- that he lamented their misfortunes before God, and was troubled for them, as if he had mourned for the death of his mother; and, finally, that he felt for and took an interest in them as if they had been his own brothers. Since then he had thus laid them under high obligations to him, of what baser ingratitude could they be guilty than to vomit against him in his adversity the poison of their hatred? With respect to the meaning of the words, I take the term sickness, in this place, to signify metaphorically any kind of trouble or sorrow. David's meaning is, that as often as any calamity had befallen them he was a partaker of their grief. A good evidence of this was the prayer which he says he poured out into his own bosom. The proper meaning of the expression is, that he did not ostentatiously utter his prayers aloud before men, like many who pretend much more affection than they really feel, but that by praying in secret, and without making the world privy to it, he showed that he was sincerely and from the heart distressed by reason of their affliction. As we say that a man rejoices in his own bosom, who is satisfied with the secret and inward feeling of his heart, without declaring it to others, so also one may be said to weep or pray in his own bosom, who pours not forth his tears and prayers before men to secure their favor, but, contented with having God alone for his witness, conceals his emotions in his own heart. I do not, however, deny that in this manner of speaking there is expressed the attitude of one who prays, as if the Psalmist had said, that he bowed down his body, and prayed with his head hanging down, and his arms folded, as men in heaviness are accustomed to do. [711] But this especially we ought to regard as his meaning, that there was no dissimulation in his prayer. Some think that there is an imprecation in his words, and they explain them in this sense. Lord, if it is true that I have not desired all prosperity to them, let all mischief fall upon me: but this is a forced explanation. There is still another exposition, which has as little plausibility in it; and it is this: Because I profited nothing by praying for them, the fruit of my prayer returned to myself. The sense, which is more in unison with the purpose and also the words of the prophet, is, I prayed for them just as I pray for myself. But what I have already advanced concerning the secret affection of the Psalmist will, I hope, prove satisfactory to the judicious reader. With respect to sackcloth and fasting, he used them as helps to prayer. The faithful pray even after their meals, and do not observe fasting every day as necessary for prayer, nor consider it needful to put on sackcloth whenever they come into the presence of God. But we know that those who lived in ancient times resorted to these exercises when any urgent necessity pressed upon them. In the time of public calamity or danger they all put on sackcloth, and gave themselves to fasting, that by humbling themselves before God, and acknowledging their guilt, they might appease his wrath. In like manner, when any one in particular was afflicted, in order to excite himself to greater earnestness in prayer, he put on sackcloth and engaged in fasting, as being the tokens of grief. When David then, as he here tells us, put on sackcloth, it was the same as if he had taken upon himself the sins of his enemies, in order to implore from God mercy for them, while they were exerting all their power to accomplish his destruction. Although we may reckon the wearing of sackcloth and sitting in ashes among the number of the legal ceremonies, yet the exercise of fasting remains in force amongst us at this day as well as in the time of David. When God, therefore, calls us to repentance, by showing us signs of his displeasure, let us bear in mind that we ought not only to pray to him after the ordinary manner, but also to employ such means as are fitted to promote our humility. In conclusion, the Psalmist says that he behaved and acted towards them as if each of them had been his brother. 15. But they rejoiced at my halting. I see no reason why interpreters should trouble themselves as they do about the word halting. Some conjecture that David had his leg put out of joint, and others suppose that he halted from some disease. But when we consider carefully the whole passage, nothing is more evident than that he refers by this expression to the calamities which befell him; as if he had said, As soon as they saw me begin to stagger and ready to fall, they did as it were gather together against me, and endeavored entirely to overthrow me. There is, therefore, in this expression almost the same metaphor as we have already seen in the word sickness. Now, as men often relent at seeing the misfortunes of their enemies, so that they cease to hate or persecute those who are already miserably wretched, it was an evidence of the very cruel and fierce spirit by which David's former friends were actuated against him, when, upon seeing him cast down and afflicted, they were rather by this incited furiously and insolently to assail him. At the commencement he speaks only of a few; but immediately after, in order to show still farther the indignity which had been done to him, he adds to them the base and ignoble of the common people; not that he blames all alike, but that he may the better show with what bitter hostility he was assailed on all sides. It is probable that those who were then in power were as it were firebrands, who endeavored to kindle every where the flame of hatred against David, that the people every where might rise up to destroy him, and strive with each other in this enterprise. And he repeats twice that they gathered themselves together, in order to show how resolute and determined they were in their opposition to him; unless, perhaps, some would prefer to explain the words thus: They gathered themselves together, not only those who had some pretext for doing so, but even the lowest of the people. The Hebrew word nkym, nekim, literally signifies the whipped, or beaten, [712] but it is here to be understood as denoting base and disreputable persons. Some interpreters, indeed, derive it from the word k'h, ka?h, which signifies to make sad, and expound it actively, Those who make me sad: but the previous interpretation agrees better with the design of the passage, namely, that David was shamefully treated by the lowest dregs of the people. The words, I knew not, may be referred to the cause as well as to the persons. I, however, explain it as referring to the persons in this sense: So far from having any cause to complain that I have offended them, or done them any harm, I did not even know them. At the same time, these words may be understood as implying a complaint on the part of David, that the people were enraged against him without any cause, since he is conscious of no crime, and can conceive of no ground for such fierce hatred towards him. As to the last clause of the verse, also, although interpreters entertain different opinions, it appears to me that I have given the true and natural meaning. Literally it is, they did cut, and ceased not; but there can be no doubt that the language is metaphorical, and that the word cut [713] signifies that they opened their mouth; as if David had said, They have insolently poured forth with open mouth their scoffing and reproachful words against me. The additional clause in the sentence, and ceased not, is a repetition common in the Hebrew language, and is employed to express the vehemence with which David's enemies proceeded against him. It implies that there was no end or measure to their evil-speaking, and that they continued to pour forth with distended throats whatever first occurred to them. Footnotes: [708] "C'est, desconforter." Note, Fr. marg. "That is, to the discomfort;" [709] "dy chms witnesses of wrong or violence; i.e., witnesses deponing to acts of violence, as committed by the person accused. See Psalm 27:12." -- Horsley. [710] "Ont tasch, de rendre orpheline car il y a ainsi proprement en Hebrieu." -- Fr. [711] "When the Orientals," says Boothroyd, "pray seriously in grief, they hide their face in their bosom: and to this custom the Psalmist here alludes. Rabbi Levi, Dathe, and others, explain it in like manner." [712] The word is derived from nkh, nakah, to strike or …

Psalm 35:16-18 16. Among perfidious jesters at feasts, they gnash upon me with their teeth. 17. O Lord! [714] how long wilt thou look on? deliver my soul from their tumults, and my only one [715] from the lions. 18. I will magnify thee in the great congregation: [716] I will praise thee before a great people. [717] 16. Among perfidious jesters. Others translate it, With hypocrites, but in my opinion David simply relates the combination of his enemies. And the meaning of the expression is to this effect, That among men of a crafty disposition, who had been addicted to deceit, and were consequently lost to all sense of shame, the only and the constant subject of their deliberations was, how they might destroy this afflicted man. David again reverts to the leaders of the people, and to those in power, as the source whence all the mischief took its rise; for this description could not apply to a great part of the common people, who acted rather by thoughtless impulse. He therefore speaks particularly of the rulers, and others of a similar character, and accuses them of cruelty, saying, that they gnash their teeth upon him like furious wild beasts. He first calls them perfidious or wicked, that he may the more easily obtain help and aid of God, as if calling upon him in the extremity of distress; and, secondly, he calls them jesters or mockers, by which he means that they have such effrontery, and are so far lost to all sense of shame, that there is nothing which they will not dare to do. As to the meaning of the word mvg, maog, which follows, interpreters are not agreed. Properly, it signifies bread baked upon the hearth upon the embers. Some, however, because they could not elicit from it a meaning suitable to the passage, have thought that it should be taken for talkative jesting, or idle speech. Others, presuming to give a still wider range to their fancy, have supposed the meaning of the Psalmist to be, that the scoffing of such persons was as bread to them, because they take pleasure in scoffing and jesting. To me, it appears that we ought to retain the proper signification of the word, while, at the same time, it may be understood in a twofold sense. Some taking mvg, maog, for a cake or tart, are of opinion that David here censures people of a delicate taste, who seek after fine and dainty fare, many of whom are always to be found in the courts of princes. Others rather suppose that he rebukes persons of a servile and sordid spirit, who, for the most trifling consideration, would employ their tongues in reviling others, just as in all ages there have been found men who, for a bit of bread, as we say, set their tongues to sale. When I carefully consider other passages in which David describes the nature and character of his enemies, I am disposed to think that those who indulged in jesting and scoffing at feasts, and who, in sitting over their cups, consulted about putting David to death, are here referred to. He therefore complains, that even in the midst of their feasting and banqueting, the ungodly, who had shaken off all shame, communed how they might take away his life. 17. O Lord! how long wilt thou look on? The meaning of the word which I have translated how long, is ambiguous in the Hebrew. In Latin it signifies, How long wilt thou see it, and suffer it without uttering a word? But the other interpretation is equally appropriate, namely, After having seemed to take no notice of the matter for a long time, when wilt thou at length begin to see it? The meaning, however, is substantially the same, for David complains of God's long forbearance, declaring that while the wicked are running to every excess, God connives at them, and delays too much to take vengeance. And although God inculcates upon the faithful the duty of quietly and patiently waiting till the time arrive when he shall judge it proper to help them, yet he allows them to bewail in prayer the grief which they experience on account of his delay. At the same time, David shows, that in so speaking he is not carried headlong merely by the importunity of his desire, but that he is constrained to it by the extremity of his distress. For he says that they tumultuously rush upon him to take away his life, and he compares them to lions, and calls his soul solitary, or alone. Some think that the expression, only soul, means clear and precious, or well beloved; but such do not sufficiently consider the design of David, as has been stated in the 22nd Psalm at the twenty-first verse. 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, [718] 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. Footnotes: [714] Domine -- Lat 'dny, Adonai -- Hebrews "More than fifteen copies collected by Dr Kennicott have yhvh here instead of 'dny Among which is one of the best manuscripts that has been collated. The Jews, in later ages, had a superstitious fear of pronouncing the word yhvh and therefore inserted 'dny or 'lhym, c'est a dire in the place of it very frequently." -- Street. [715] "Assavoir, mon ame unique; c'est a dire, solitaire et delaissee." -- Note, Fr. marg. "Namely, my soul alone; that is to say, solitary and forsaken." See [13]note 3, p. 432. In our English Bible the phrase is, "My darling;" but David rather means to intimate his forsaken and unprotected condition, unless God interposed in his behalf. Green reads, "my helpless person." [716] "Devant un grand peuple." -- Fr. [717] "C'est, beaucoup de peuple." -- Note, Fr. marg. "That is, much people." [718] Horsley takes this view. He reads, "Among a mighty people;" and observes, that this is the rendering of the Chaldee, and that tsm, seems more properly to express strength or power than number.

Psalm 35:19-23 19. Let not those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me; neither let those who hate me without a cause wink with the eye. 20. For they speak not peace; [719] but devise deceitful words upon the clefts of the earth. 21. They have opened their mouth against me: they have said, Aha! aha! our eye hath seen it. [720] 22. O Jehovah! thou hast also seen it: keep not silence: O Lord! be not far from me. 23. Stir up thyself, and awake for my judgment, O my God! even for my cause, O my Lord! 19. Let not those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me. Because David's enemies already exulted in the hope of seeing his overthrow and destruction, he prays that God would not suffer them to realize a desire so wicked. In order to render God favorable to his cause, he again protests that they hated him without any fault or occasion on his part, and that it was their own malice which urged them to such cruelty against him; for in order to secure the help of God, it is necessary to come before him with the testimony of a good conscience. The Hebrew word sqr, sheker, which we have rendered wrongfully, is by some translated deceitfully, as if David meant that his enemies lay in wait for him. But this is to reason with too much subtilty. Besides, the repetition which immediately follows shows that he complains of their wilful hatred, inasmuch as of their own accord, and from deliberate design, they persecuted a man who had given them no cause of offense, but was their friend and benefactor. The Hebrew word qrph, karats, here signifies to wink with the eyes askance in mockery, as in Psalm 22:8, it denotes, to wag the head, and to shoot out the lip. In the following verse, that he may cherish still greater confidence in God, David again declares, that he has to do with enemies of an irreconcilable character, and who are fully bent upon cruelty. Of this we ought to be firmly persuaded, that the more grievously we are oppressed, so much the more certainly ought we to expect deliverance. He therefore says, that they speak of nothing but of tumults and slaughter. The meaning of the latter clause is somewhat obscure, arising from the ambiguous signification of the word rg, rige. As the word from which it is derived sometimes signifies to cut, and sometimes to rest, or to be quiet and peaceable, there are some who translate it the meek and peaceable of the earth: others translate it, with the tranquil and easy of the earth; meaning by this, those who live in the midst of riches and abundance, in the enjoyment of undisturbed repose. Both these seem to me to be forced interpretations. Others, too, though not more correctly, expound the word in caves or secret places, in order that, as they say, the wicked and deceitful counsels of such persons may not come to light. But it may be very appropriately rendered, the clefts of the earth, and by this metaphor are meant the miserable and afflicted, who are, as it were, broken and maimed. David, therefore, declares that as soon as his enemies see any opening, that is to say, some calamity befall him, they instantly put forth all their efforts to accomplish his destruction. Those who, in the time of his prosperity and power, never dared even to utter a word against him, began now, when they saw that his influence was feeble, to plot his ruin, just as we know that the wicked are for the most part persons of a servile and cowardly disposition, and assume not the tone of insolence save when an advantageous opportunity presents itself, as when the good and simple are in adversity. To the same purpose he represents them in the next verse, as crying out with open mouth, Aha! aha! and clapping their hands for joy that they saw David overcome, and, as it were, laid prostrate in the dust, a spectacle in which they took great delight. 22. O Jehovah! thou hast also seen it. There is in these words an implied contrast between the view which God is here represented as taking, and the sight at which, as we are told in the preceding verse, the ungodly rejoiced. The import of David's language is, You have rejoiced exceedingly at the sight of my miseries; but God also sees and takes notice of the cruelty and malice of those who feel a pleasure and gratification in seeing others afflicted and in trouble. David, however, in thus speaking, stays not to reason with his enemies, but rather addresses himself directly to God, and sets his providence as a rampart of defense in opposition to all the assaults of those who sought to shake his confidence, and who caused him much trouble. And certainly, if we would fortify ourselves against the scoffing and derision of our enemies, the best means which we can employ for this end is to overlook them, and to elevate our thoughts to God, and in the confidence of his fatherly care over us, to entreat him to show, in very deed, that our troubles are not unknown to him; yea, that the more he sees the wicked eagerly watching every opportunity to accomplish our ruin, he would the more speedily come to our aid. This David expresses by these various forms of expression -- Keep not silence, be not far from me, stir up thyself, awake for my judgment He might justly make use of such expressions, seeing he was already fully persuaded that God regards the poor and afflicted, and marks all the wrongs which are done to them. If, therefore, we would frame our requests aright, a clear conviction and persuasion of the providence of God must first shine into our hearts; nor is it necessary only that this should precede, in point of order, all our desires; it must also restrain and govern them. Footnotes: [719] "C'est, ne tienent propos d'amis." -- Note, Fr. marg. "That is, their discourse is not that of friends." [720] "C'est, ce que nous desirions." -- Note, Fr. marg. "That is, that which we desire." French and Skinner read, "Aha! aha! our eye seeth!" "that is," they observe, "beholds our enemy in the fallen condition in which we desire to see him. See [14]verse 25, compare Psalm 92:11."

fight against--literally, "devour my devourers." stop the way against--literally, "shut up" (the way), to meet or oppose, &c. I . . . thy salvation--who saves thee.

(Compare Psa 1:4) --a terrible fate; driven by wind on a slippery path in darkness, and hotly pursued by supernatural violence (Sa2 24:16; Act 12:23).

net in a pit--or, "pit of their net"--or, "net-pit," as "holy hill" for "hill of holiness" (Psa 2:6); a figure from hunting (Psa 7:15). Their imprecations on impenitent rebels against God need no vindication; His justice and wrath are for such; His mercy for penitents. Compare Psa 7:16; Psa 11:5, on the peculiar fate of the wicked here noticed.

Though they rendered evil for good, he showed a tender sympathy in their affliction. spoiling--literally, "bereavement." The usual modes of showing grief are made, as figures, to express his sorrow.

prayer . . . bosom--may denote either the posture--the head bowed--(compare Kg1 18:42) --or, that the prayer was in secret. Some think there is a reference to the result--the prayer would benefit him if not them.

behaved--literally, "went on"--denoting his habit. heavily--or, "squalidly," his sorrowing occasioning neglect of his person. Altogether, his grief was that of one for a dearly loved relative.

On the contrary, they rejoiced in his affliction. Halting, or, "lameness," as in Psa 38:17 for any distress. abjects--either as cripples (compare Sa2 4:4), contemptible; or, degraded persons, such as had been beaten (compare Job 30:1-8). I knew it not--either the persons, or, reasons of such conduct. tear me, and ceased not--literally, "were not silent"--showing that the tearing meant slandering.

enemies wrongfully--by false and slanderous imputations. wink with the eye--an insulting gesture (Pro 6:13). without a cause--manifests more malice than having a wrong cause.

1. “Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me.” Plead against those who plead against me; strive with my strivers; contend with my contenders. If they urge their suit in the law-court, Lord, meet them there, and beat them at their own weapons. Every saint of God shall have this privilege: the accuser of the brethren shall be met by the Advocate of the saints. “Fight against them that fight against me.” If my adversaries try force as well as fraud, be a match for them; oppose thy strength to their strength. Jesus does this for all his beloved—for them he is both intercessor and champion; whatever aid they need they shall receive from him, and in whatever manner they are assaulted they shall be effectually defended. Let us not fail to leave our case into the Lord’s hand. Vain is the help of man, but ever effectual is the interposition of heaven. What is here asked for as a boon, may be regarded as a promise, to all the saints; in judgment they shall have a divine advocate, in warfare a divine protection. 2 “Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.” In vivid metaphor the Lord is pictured as coming forth armed for battle, and interposing himself between his servant and his enemies. The greater and lesser protections of providence may be here intended by the two defensive weapons, and by the Lord’s standing up is meant his active and zealous preservation of his servant in the perilous hour. This poetic imagery shows how the Psalmist realised the existence and power of God; and thought of him as a real and actual personage, truly working for his afflicted. 3. “Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me.” Before the enemy comes to close quarters the Lord can push them off as with a long spear. To stave off trouble is no mean act of lovingkindness. As when some valiant warrior with his lance blocks up a defile, and keeps back a host until his weaker brethren have made good their escape, so does the Lord often hold the believer’s foes at bay until the good man has taken breath, or clean fled from his foes. He often gives the foes of Zion some other work to do, and so gives rest to his church. What a glorious idea is this of Jehovah blocking the way of persecutors, holding them at the pike’s end, and giving time for the hunted saint to elude their pursuit! “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.” Besides holding off the enemy the Lord can also calm the mind of his servant by express assurance from his own mouth, that he is, and shall be, safe under the Almighty wing. An inward persuasion of security in God is of all things the most precious in the furnace of persecution. One word from the Lord quiets all our fears. 4. “Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul.” There is nothing malicious here, the slandered man simply craves for justice, and the petition is natural and justifiable. Guided by God’s good spirit the Psalmist foretells the everlasting confusion of all the haters of the righteous. Shameful disappointment shall be the portion of the enemies of the gospel, nor would the most tender-hearted Christian have it otherwise: viewing sinners as men, we love them and seek their good, but regarding them as enemies of God, we cannot think of them with anything but detestation, and a loyal desire for the confusion of their devices. No loyal subject can wish well to rebels. Squeamish sentimentality may object to the strong language here used, but in their hearts all good men wish confusion to mischief-makers. 5. “Let them be as chaff before the wind.” They were swift enough to attack, let them be as swift to flee. Let their own fears and the alarms of their consciences unman them so that the least breeze of trouble shall carry them hither and thither. Ungodly men are worthless in character, and light in their behaviour, being destitute of solidity and fixedness; it is but just that those who make themselves chaff should be treated as such. When this imprecation is fulfilled in graceless men, they will find it an awful thing to be for ever without rest, without peace of mind, or stay of soul, hurried from fear to fear, and from misery to misery. “And let the angel of the Lord chase them.” Fallen angels shall haunt them, good angels shall afflict them. To be pursued by avenging spirits will be the lot of those who delight in persecution. Observe the whole scene as the Psalmist sketches it: the furious foe is first held at bay, then turned back, then driven to headlong flight, and chased by fiery messengers from whom there is no escape, while his pathway becomes dark and dangerous, and his destruction overwhelming. 6. “Let their way be dark and slippery.” What terrors are gathered here! No light, no foothold, and a fierce avenger at their heels! What a doom is appointed for the enemies of God! They may rage and rave to-day, but how altered will be their plight ere long! “And let the angel of the Lord persecute them.” He will follow them hot-foot, as we say, never turning aside, but like a trusty pursuivant serving the writ of vengeance upon them, and arresting them in the name of unflinching justice. Woe, woe, woe, unto those who touch the people of God; their destruction is both swift and sure. 7. In this verse the Psalmist brings forward the gravamen of his charge against the servants of the devil. “For without cause”—without my having injured, assailed, or provoked them; out of their own spontaneous malice “have they hid for me their net in a pit,” even as men hunt for their game with cunning and deception. Innocent persons have often been ruined by traps set for them, into which they have fallen as guilelessly as beasts which stumble into concealed pits, and are taken as in a net. It is no little thing to be able to feel that the enmity which assails us is undeserved—uncaused by any wilful offence on our part. Twice does David assert in one verse that his adversaries plotted against him “without cause.” Net-making and pit-digging require time and labour, and both of these the wicked will expend cheerfully if they may but overthrow the people of God. Fair warfare belongs to honourable men, but the assailants of God’s church prefer mean, ungenerous schemes, and so prove their nature and their origin. We must all of us be on our guard, for gins and pitfalls are still the favourite weapons of the powers of evil. 8. “Let destruction come upon him at unawares.” This tremendous imprecation is frequently fulfilled. God’s judgments are often sudden and signal. Death enters the persecutor’s house without pausing to knock at the door. The thunderbolt of judgment leaps from its hiding-place, and in one crash the wicked are broken for ever. “And let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.” There is a lex talionis with God which often works most wonderfully. Men set traps and catch their own fingers. They throw up stones, and they fall upon their own heads. How often Satan outwits himself, and burns his fingers with his own coals! This will doubtless be one of the aggravations of hell, that men will torment themselves with what were once the fond devices of their rebellious minds. They curse and are cursed; they kick the pricks and tear themselves; they pour forth floods of fire, and it burns them within and without. 9. “And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord.” Thus rescued, David ascribes all the honour to the Judge of the right; to his own valorous arm he offers no sacrifice of boasting. He turns away from his adversaries to his God, and finds a deep unbroken joy in Jehovah, and in that joy his spirit revels. “It shall rejoice in his salvation.” We do not triumph in the destruction of others, but in the salvation given to us of God. Prayer heard should always suggest praise. It were well if we were more demonstrative in our holy rejoicings. We rob God by suppressing grateful emotions. 10. As if the tongue were not enough to bless God with, David makes every limb vocal—“All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee?” His whole anatomy he would make resonant with gratitude. Those bones which were to have been broken by my enemies shall now praise God; every one of them shall bring its tribute, ascribing unrivalled excellence to Jehovah the Saviour of his people. Even if worn to skin and bone, yet my very skeleton shall magnify the Lord, “which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him.” God is the champion, the true knight-errant of all oppressed ones. Where there is so much condescension, justice, kindness, power, and compassion, the loftiest songs should be rendered. Come, dear reader, have you not been delivered from sin, Satan, and death, and will not you bless the Redeemer? You were poor and weak, but in due time Christ sought you, and set you free. O magnify the Lord to-day, and speak well of his name.

11. “False witnesses did rise up.” This is the old device of the ungodly, and we must not wonder if it be used against us as against our Master. To please Saul, there were always men to be found mean enough to impeach David. “They laid to my charge things that I knew not.” He had not even a thought of sedition; he was loyal even to excess; yet they accused him of conspiring against the Lord’s anointed. He was not only innocent, but ignorant of the fault alleged. It is well when our hands are so clean that no trace of dirt is upon them. 12. “They rewarded me evil for good.” This is devilish; but men have learned the lesson well of the old Destroyer, and practise it most perfectly. “To the spoiling of my soul.” They robbed him of comfort, and even would have taken his life had it not been for special rescues from the hand of God. The wicked would strip the righteous naked to their very soul: they know no pity. There are only such limits to human malice as God himself may see fit to place. 13. “But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.” David had been a man of sympathy; he had mourned when Saul was in ill health, putting on the weeds of sorrow for him as though he were a near and dear friend. His heart went into mourning for his sick master. “I humbled my soul with fasting.” He prayed for his enemy, and made the sick man’s case his own, pleading and confessing as if his own personal sin had brought on the evil. This showed a noble spirit in David, and greatly aggravated the baseness of those who now so cruelly persecuted him. “And my prayer returned into mine own bosom.” Prayer is never lost: if it bless not those for whom intercession is made, it shall bless the intercessors. Clouds do not always descend in showers upon the same spot from which the vapours ascended, but they come down somewhere; and even so do supplications in some place or other yield their showers of mercy. If our dove find no rest for the sole of her foot among our enemies, it shall fly into our bosoms and bring an olive branch of peace in its mouth. How sharp is the contrast all through this Psalm between the righteous and his enemies! We must be earnest to keep the line of demarcation broad and clear. 14. “I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother:” I waited on him assiduously, comforted him affectionately, and sympathised with him deeply. This may refer to those days when David played on the harp, and chased away the evil spirit from Saul. “I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.” He bowed his head as mourners do. The strongest natural grief was such as he felt when they were in trouble. The mother usually wins the deepest love, and her loss is most keenly felt: such was David’s grief. How few professors in these days have such bowels of compassion; and yet under the gospel there should be far more tender love than under the law. Had we more hearty love to manhood, and care for its innumerable ills, we might be far more useful; certainly we should be infinitely more Christ-like. “He prayeth best that loveth best.” 15. “But in mine adversity they rejoiced.” In my halting they were delighted. My lameness was sport to them. Danger was near, and they sang songs over my expected defeat. How glad are the wicked to see a good man limp! “Now,” say they, “he will meet with his downfall.” “And gathered themselves together,” like kites and vultures around a dying sheep. They found a common joy in my ruin, and a recreation in my sorrow, and therefore met together to keep the feast. They laid their heads together to devise, and their tongues to deceive. “Yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me.” Those who deserved horsewhipping, fellows the soles of whose feet were needing the bastinado, came together to plot, and held hole and corner meetings. Like curs around a sick lion, the mean wretches taunted and insulted one whose name had been their terror. The very cripples hobbled out to join the malicious crew. How unanimous are the powers of evil; how heartily do men serve the devil; and none decline his service because they are not endowed with great abilities! “I knew it not.” It was all done behind my back. What a fluster the world may be in, and the cause of it all may not even know that he has given offence. “They did tear me, and ceased not.” It is such dainty work to tear to pieces a good man’s character, that when slanderers have their hand in they are loath to leave off. A pack of dogs tearing their prey is nothing compared with a set of malicious gossips mauling the reputation of a worthy man. That lovers of the gospel are not at this time rent and torn as in the old days of Mary, is to be attributed to the providence of God rather than to the gentleness of men. 16. “With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.” Like professional buffoons who grin around the banquet to make sport, so they made a business of jeering at the good man; not, however, out of mirth, but from violent, insatiable hatred. Like cake-scoffers, or men who will jeer for a bit of bread, these hireling miscreants persecuted David in order to get a bellyful for themselves from Saul’s table: having moreover an inward grudge against the son of Jesse because he was a better man than themselves. Very forcibly might our Lord have used the words of these verses! Let us not forget to see the Despised and Rejected of men here painted to the life. Calvary and the ribald crew around the cross seem brought before our eyes. 17. “Lord, how long wilt thou look on?” Why be a mere spectator? Why so neglectful of thy servant? Art thou indifferent? Carest thou not that we perish? We may thus reason with the Lord. He permits us this familiarity. There is a time for our salvation, but to our impatience it often seems to be very slow in coming; yet wisdom has ordained the hour, and nothing shall delay it. “Rescue my soul from their destructions.” From their many devices; their multiplied assaults, be pleased to set me free. “My darling,” my lovely, only, precious soul, do thou rescue “from the lions.” His enemies were fierce, cunning, and strong as young lions; God only could deliver him from their jaws, to God he therefore addresses himself. 18. “I will give thee thanks in the great congregation.” Notable deliverances must be recorded, and their fame emblazoned. All the saints should be informed of the Lord’s goodness. The theme is worthy of the largest assembly; the experience of a believer is a subject fit for an assembled universe to hear of. Most men publish their griefs, good men should proclaim their mercies. “I will praise thee among much people.” Among friends and foes will I glorify the God of my salvation. Praise—personal praise, public praise, perpetual praise—should be the daily revenue of the King of heaven. Thus, for the second time, David’s prayer ends in praise, as indeed all prayer should.

2. “Judge Thou, O Lord” (saith he), “them that hurt me, and fight Thou against them that fight against me” (ver. 1). “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Rom. viii. 31. Ps. v. 12. Eph. vi. 16, 17.

3. “Pour forth the weapon, and stop the way against them that persecute me” (ver. 3). Who are they that persecute thee? Haply thy neighbour, or he whom thou hast offended, or to whom thou hast done wrong, or who would take away what is thine, or against whom thou preachest the truth, or whose sin thou rebukest, or whom living ill by thy well living thou offendest. There are indeed even these enemies to us, and they persecute us: but other enemies we are taught to know, those against whom we fight invisibly, of whom the Apostle warneth us, saying, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood,” Eph. vi. 12. 1 John v. 19. [Gr. “in the Wicked One.”—C.]

4. And what follows? “Let them be confounded and put to shame, that seek after my soul” (ver. 4): for to this end they seek after it, to destroy it. For I would that they would seek it for good! for in another Psalm he blameth this in men, that there was none who would seek after his soul: “Refuge failed me: there was none that would seek after my soul.” Ps. cxlii. 4. “Who is,” etc. Most mss. read, “That is, who asks, Who is that who is crucified? There is no one that saith, It is haply He,” etc. Ps. xxii. 16–18. 5. …Many have been confounded to their health: many, put to shame, have passed over from the persecution of Christ to the society of His members with devoted piety; and this would not have been, had they not been confounded and put to shame. Therefore he wished well to them.…Let them not go before, but follow; let them not give counsel, but take it. For Peter would go before the Lord, when the Lord spake of His future Passion: he would to Him as it were give counsel for His health. The sick man to the Saviour give counsel for His health! And what said he to the Lord, affirming that His future Passion? “Be it far from Thee, Lord. Be gracious to Thyself. This shall not be to Thee.” He would go before that the Lord might follow; and what said He? “Get thee behind Me, Satan.” Matt. xvi. 22, 23.

6. What of others? For all are not so conquered as to be converted and believe: many continue in obstinacy, many preserve in heart the spirit of going before, and if they exert it not, yet they labour with it, and finding opportunity bring it forth. Of such, what followeth? “Let them be as dust before the wind” (ver. 5). “Not so are the ungodly, not so; but as the dust which the wind driveth away from the face of the earth.” Ps. i. 4.

7. But wherefore these so great evils? By what desert? Hear by what desert. “For without cause have they hid for me the corruption of their trap” (ver. 7). For Him that is our Head, observe, the Jews did this: they hid the corruption of their trap. For whom hid they their trap? For Him who saw the hearts of those that hid. But yet was He among them like one ignorant, as though He were deceived, whereas they were in that deceived, that they thought Him to be deceived. For therefore was He as though deceived, living among them, because we among such as they were so to live, as to be without doubt deceived. He saw His betrayer, and chose him the more to a necessary work. By his evil He wrought a great good: and yet among the twelve was he chosen, lest even the small number of twelve should be without one evil. This was an example of patience to us, because it was necessary that we should live among the evil: it was necessary that we should endure the evil, either knowing them or knowing them not: an example of patience He gave thee lest thou shouldest fail, when thou hast begun to live among the evil. And because that School of Christ in the twelve failed not, how much more ought we to be firm, when in the great Church is fulfilled what was predicted of the mixture of the evil.…

8. But yet what is to be done? “Without a cause have they hid for me the corruption of their trap.” What meaneth, “Without a cause”? I have done them no evil, I have hurt them not at all. “Vainly have they reviled my soul.” What is, “Vainly”? Speaking falsely, proving nothing. “Let a trap come upon them which they know not of” (ver. 8). A magnificent retribution, nothing more just! They have hidden a trap that I might know not: let a trap come upon them which they know not of. For I know of their trap. But what trap is coming upon them? That which they know not of. Let us hear, lest haply he speak of that. “Let a trap come upon them, which they know not of.” Perhaps that is one which they hid for him, that another which shall come upon themselves. Not so: but what? “The wicked shall be holden with the cords of his own sins.” Prov. v. 22.

9. This then for the wicked that would hurt me: what for me? “But my soul shall rejoice in the Lord” (ver. 9); as in Him from whom it hath heard, “I am thy salvation;” as not seeking other riches from without; as not seeking to abound in pleasures and good things of earth; but loving freely the true Spouse, not from Him wishing to receive aught that may delight, but Him alone proposing to itself, by whom it may be delighted. For what better than God will be given unto me? God loveth me: God loveth thee. See He hath proposed to thee, Ask what thou wilt. Matt. vii. 7. Tribunatus.

10. “All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto Thee” (ver. 10). Who can speak anything worthily of these words? I think them only to be pronounced, not to be expounded. Why seekest thou this or that? What is like unto thy Lord? Him hast thou before thee. “The unrighteous have declared unto me delights, but not after Thy law, O Lord!” Ps. cxix. 85. Ps. cxv. 5, 6. 11. O Body of Christ, Holy Church, let all thy bones say, “Lord, who is like unto thee?” And if the flesh under persecution hath fallen away, let the bones say, “Lord, who is like unto Thee?” For of the righteous it is said, “The Lord keepeth all their bones; not one of them shall be broken.” Ps. xxxiv. 20. Rom. i. 17. [P. 78, supra.—C.] Rom. iv. 5. fieth He any except believing and confessing? “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Rom. x. 10. Luke xxiii. 43. John xix. 33. 12. “Which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him; yea, the poor and needy from him that spoileth him.”…Who that deliverest, but He who is Strong in hand? Even that David shall deliver the poor from him that is too strong for him. For the devil was too strong for thee, and held thee, because he conquered thee, when thou consentedst unto him. But what hath the Strong in hand done? “No man entereth into a strong man’s house, to spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man.” Matt. xii. 29. Ps. lxxii. 12. Ps. xix. 14.

Comitivas. [Part Second begins with ver. 11.—C.] “But my soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation.” The salvation of God is Christ: “For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” Luke ii. 30. 13. Let then our Head say, “False witnesses did rise up, they laid to My charge things that I knew not” (ver. 11). But let us say to our Head, Lord, what knewest Thou not? Didst Thou indeed know not anything? Didst Thou not know the hearts of them that charged Thee? Didst Thou not foresee their deceits? Didst Thou not give Thyself into their hands knowingly? Hadst Thou not come that Thou mightest suffer by them? What then knewest Thou not? He knew not sin, and thereby He knew not sin, not by not judging, but by not committing. There are phrases of this kind also in daily use, as when thou sayest of any one, He knoweth not to stand, that is, he doth not stand; and, He knoweth not to do good, because he doth not good; and, He knoweth not to do ill, because he doth not ill.…What knew not Christ so much, as to blaspheme? Thereof was He called in question by His persecutors, and because He spake truth, He was judged to have spoken blasphemy. Matt. xxvi. 65. Matt. xxi. 19. Rom. ii. 21, 22.

14. “But I, when they troubled me, clothed myself with sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer shall return into mine own bosom” (ver. 13)…Brethren, if for some little space with pious curiosity we lift the veil, and search with the intent eye of the heart the inner part of this Scripture, we find that even this the Lord did. Sackcloth, haply He calleth His mortal flesh. Wherefore Sackcloth? For the likeness of sinful flesh. For the Apostle saith, “God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, that through sin He might condemn sin in the flesh:” Rom. viii. 3. Lat. de cilicio; i.e., sackcloth made of goats’ hair. [Acts xvii. 3 and xxi. 39.—C.] Compare Matt. xxv. 32, 33. Rom. v. 12. had It not been mortal, It had not died; had It not died, It had not risen again; had It not risen again, It had not showed us an example of eternal life. So then death, which is caused by sin, is called sin; as we say the Greek tongue, the Latin tongue, meaning not the very member of flesh, but that which is done by the member of flesh. For the tongue in our members is one among others, as the eyes, nose, ears, and the rest: but the Greek tongue is Greek words, not that the tongue is words, but that words are by the tongue.…So then the sin of the Lord is that which was caused by sin; because He assumed flesh, of the same lump which had deserved death by sin. For to speak more briefly, Mary who was of Adam died for sin, [“All, without one exception, were dead in sins.” See (City of God, book xx. cap. 6) vol. ii. p. 425, supra. Mary is not excepted by any of the Fathers; and the Latin Fathers, the last of whom is St. Bernard, unanimously ascribe to Christ the only immaculate conception.—C.] John xviii. 4, 6. 15. Again, if we have understood the sackcloth, how understand we the fasting? Wished Christ to eat, when He sought fruit on the tree, Mark xi. 13. John iv. 7. John xix. 28. [On assimilation, compare p. 86, n. 2.—C.] 16. “And My prayer shall return into Mine Own Bosom.” In the bosom of this verse is plainly a great depth, and may the Lord grant that it be fathomable by us. For in the “bosom” a secret is understood. And we ourselves, Brethren, are here well admonished to pray within our own bosom, where God seeth, where God heareth, where no human eye penetrateth, where none seeth but He who succoureth; where Susanna prayed, and her voice, though it was not heard by men, yet by God was heard. Susanna i. 35, 44. Matt. xiv. 23. Luke vi. 12.

Matt. xxvi. 36; Mark xiv. 35; Luke xxii. 41. [A significant hint of the improvised character of many of the saint’s expositions.—C.] 2 Cor. v. 19. John xiv. 10.

17. “As a Neighbour, as our Brother, so I pleased Him: as one mourning and sorrowful, so I humbled myself” (ver. 14). Now looketh He back to His Own Body: let us now look to this. When we rejoice in prayer, when our mind is calmed, not by the world’s prosperity, but by the light of Truth: (who perceiveth this light, knoweth what I say, and he seeth and acknowledgeth what is said, “As a Neighbour, as our Brother, so I pleased Him”): even then our soul pleaseth God, not placed afar off, for, “In Him,” saith one, “we live and move and have our being,” Acts xvii. 28. sorrowful, so I humbled Myself. As our Brother, so I pleased Him,” said He, drawing near; “As one mourning and sorrowful, so I humbled Myself,” said He, removed and set afar off.…Did not Peter draw near, when he said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God”? And yet the same man became afar off by saying, “Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee.” Lastly, what said He, his Neighbour, as it were, to him drawing near? “Blessed art thou, Simon, Barjona.” To him afar off, as it were, and unlike, what said He? “Get thee behind Me, Satan.” Matt. xvi. 16–23. Ps. xxxii. 22. [See p. 70, supra.] 18. “And against Me they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together” E.V. “But in mine adversity they rejoiced and gathered themselves together.” Matt. v. 5. E.V. “Yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not.” 19. “They tempted Me, and mocked Me with mocking” E.V. “They did tear Me and ceased not:” 16. “With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon Me with their teeth.” The words here omitted are mentioned on Ps. lvii.—Ben.

20. “Lord, when wilt Thou look on? Rescue My Soul from their deceits, My Darling from the lions” (ver. 17). For to us the time is slow; and in our person is this said, “When wilt Thou look on?” that is, when shall we see vengeance upon those who insult us? When shall the Judge, overcome by weariness, hear the widow? Luke xviii. 3. 21. Lastly, wouldest thou know what is that Darling? Read the words following: “I will confess unto Thee, O Lord, in the great Congregation; in a weighty Latin, “in populo gravi.” [The recitation of the Creed, perhaps; but in the ancient Church the confession of sin, also, was public. Bingham, b. xviii. cap. 3.—C.]

22. “Let not them that are Mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over Me:” for they rejoice over Me because of My chaff. “Who hate Me without a cause;” that is, whom I never hurt; “winking with their eyes” (ver. 19): that is, pretending hypocrites, “For they spake indeed peace to Me” (ver. 20). What is, “winking with their eyes”? Declaring by their looks, what they carry not in their heart. And who are these “winking with their eyes”? “For they spake indeed peace to Me; and with wrath devised craftily.” “Yea they opened their mouth wide against Me” (ver. 21). First winking with their eyes, those lions sought to ravish and devour; first fawning they spake peace, and then with wrath devised craftily. What peace spake they? “Master, we know that Thou acceptest not man’s person, and teachest the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not?” They spake indeed peace unto Me. What then? Didst not Thou know them, and deceived they Thee, winking with their eyes? Truly He knew them; therefore said He, “Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites?” Matt. xxii. 16–18. Luke xxiii. 21. Matt. xxvi. 68. Matt. xxvii. 42; Luke xxiii. 35. John xix. 7.

Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me,.... Meaning Saul and his courtiers; concerning whom he elsewhere desires that the Lord would judge between them, plead his cause, and deliver him; as he accordingly did, and maintained it, and the righteousness of it, 1 Samuel 24:12. So Christ pleaded not his own cause as man, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously; and his people leave their cause with him, who is their advocate, and is able to plead it thoroughly; and does plead it against wicked and ungodly men, who unrighteously charge them; against. Satan the accuser of the brethren, who stands at their right hand to resist them; and against their own hearts, and the sins of them, which lust and war against them, and condemn them; fight against them that fight against me: so the Lord is sometimes represented as a man of war, and Christ as a warrior fighting for the saints; and safe are they on whose side he is; but miserable all such who are found fighters against him and his; for none ever opposed him and prospered.

Take hold of shield and buckler,.... Defensive weapons; not that the Lord stands in need of any of these to defend himself with: but the sense is, that he would be as these to David; as he was to him, and is to all his people; namely, their shield and buckler: he gives unto them the shield of salvation; he encompasses them about with his favour as with a shield, and keeps them by his power safe from all their enemies; and stand up for mine help; for which the Lord arises, and stands by his people, and against their enemies, delivering them out of their hands.

Draw out also the spear,.... An offensive weapon; expressive of the vengeance which God sometimes takes of the enemies of his people, when he bends his bow, shoots his arrows, whets his glittering sword, and his hand takes hold of judgment; and stop the way against them that persecute me; that they might not overtake him; God can hinder, and he sometimes does hinder persecutors from overtaking his people in their straits; and as he hedges up their way with thorns, that they cannot proceed as they have begun, so he hedges up the way of their enemies; interposes himself and his power, and is a wall of fire about them; a wall for the defence and security of his saints, and a wall of fire for the consumption of those that rise up against them. The words may be rendered, "draw out the spear and sword, to meet those that persecute me" (p); for is a noun, and signifies a sword shut up in its scabbard; from whence "sagaris" comes, which is kind of a sword; say unto my soul, I am thy salvation; Christ is the salvation of his people; he is the only person appointed, provided, promised, and sent to be the Saviour; and he is the alone author of salvation it is wrought out by him, and it is in him, and in him only; and therefore he is called their salvation, and the salvation of God: and they are interested in the salvation which is in him; it was designed, prepared, and wrought out for them, and for them only; and is applied unto them by the Spirit, and they shall perfectly enjoy it to all eternity: find yet sometimes they are at a loss about their interest in it, and desire might be made known unto them, which was the case of the psalmist here; they, as he, see their necessity it, and that there is no comfort nor safety without it they are wonderfully delighted with the excellency of it, that it is so great in itself, so suitable to them, so complete and perfect, and of an everlasting duration yet, what through the hidings of God's face, the temptations of Satan, the greatness of their sins, and the prevalence of unbelief, they cannot tell how to believe their interest in it; yet most earnestly desire the Lord would show it to them, and assure them of it; which favour, when granted, is by the witnessings of the Spirit to their spirits, that they are the children of God, and the redeemed of the Lamb: and this is said particularly to them; it is not a discovery of salvation by Christ in general; that they have before; but it is a saying to their souls, that it is theirs; and when this is spoken bathe to the soul by the Spirit of God, it is effectual; and removes unbelief at once, and fills with joy unspeakable and full of glory. (p) So Grotius, Amama, Ainsworth, and some in Mollerus.

Let them be confounded, and put to shame, that seek after my soul,.... This petition, and what follows, which seem to be by way of imprecation, are to be considered as prophecies of what would be, and as expressions of faith that so it should be; and are not to be drawn into examples, and to be imitated by private persons; nor are they contrary to those evangelical rules, which require men to love their enemies, and pray for them; to give place to wrath, and not meditate vengeance, nor take it: and so it was with David's enemies. Saul, who hunted after his soul or life, to take it away, was filled with shame and confusion, when David, having cut off the skirt of his garment, held it up to him; by which he was convinced that his life was in his hands, and he did not take it away, though he was seeking after his: and so it will fare with the enemies of Christ, the Jews; who sought to take away his life and did take it away, when they shall see him come in the clouds of heaven, whom they have pierced; and in like manner will it be with the enemies of all his people, whom nothing will content but their lives, when they shall see the lambs they have worried and butchered on Christ's right hand, and they on the left; and to the sheep said, Come, ye blessed; and to them, Go, ye cursed, Matthew 25:34; let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt; as Saul did David's, even when he made the most specious show of affection and respect unto him, as well as when he more openly persecuted him; and more than once was he turned back with shame, and departed home; see 1 Samuel 24:22. The Jews, that came to apprehend Christ, together with the Roman soldiers, and who had devised and intended his hurt, went backward, and fell to the ground with shame and confusion, when, having asked them who they sought, and they had replied, told them he was the person; and how often has it been, that when wicked men have devised, deceitful matters against the members of Christ, that their counsel has been carried headlong, they have not been able to perform their enterprises; a hook has been put into their nose, and a bridle in their jaws, and they have been turned back the way they came, with shame and disgrace.

Let them be as chaff before the wind,.... As they are; see Psalm 1:4; and let the angel of the Lord chase them; either a good angel, who is the Lord's, his creature that ministers unto him, and is ready to obey his orders; and who, as he encamps about the saints and protects them, so he is able to destroy their enemies; as one angel in a night destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, and another the whole army of the Assyrians, Exodus 12:29; an angel of the Lord, who is swift to fly, and so to chase and overtake, and able to execute whatever is the will of the Lord; or else an evil angel, who is the Lord's, being made by him, though not made evil by him; and who is under his restraints, and can do nothing but by his permission; and who sometimes is employed by the Lord, as the executioner of his wrath upon wicked men; is suffered to distress and torture their consciences in this life, and hereafter drag them into everlasting burnings, prepared for the devil and his angels.

Let their way be dark and slippery,.... In which they run before the angel, chasing and pursuing them; so that they know not where they are, at what they stumble, whither to flee, nor how to stand; the ways of wicked men are as darkness, they know not in what condition they are, and whither they are going; and utter darkness, even blackness of darkness, is reserved for them: but here it means a calamitous, uncomfortable, fickle, and unstable situation in this life; see Jeremiah 23:11. The allusion is to some of the valleys in the land of Palestine, which were dark, and the roads in them very smooth and slippery, as travellers in those parts have observed (q); and let the angel of God persecute them; See Gill on Psalm 35:5. (q) See Maundrell's Travel's, p. 7.

For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit,.... This is said in allusion to the custom of digging pits, and putting nets into them, for the catching of wild beasts; and covering them with straw or dust, or such like things, as Jarchi observes, that they might not be discerned; and which intends the secret and crafty methods taken by David's enemies to ensnare him and destroy him; though he had given them no cause to use him in such a manner; which is an aggravation of their sins, and a reason of the above imprecations, as well as of what follows: and in the same manner, and without any just cause, Christ and his members have been treated by wicked men, and therefore their damnation is just, and will be inevitable: which without cause they have digged for my soul; which is added for further explanation's sake, and to aggravate their sin, and to show the justness of their punishment.

Let destruction come upon him at unawares,.... Or a "storm" (r), such as is caused in the eastern countries by a south wind, very sudden, violent, and destructive (s): the singular number being here used, some Jewish commentators, as Kimchi, have thought Saul is particularly meant; and some Christian interpreters have been of opinion that Judas is intended: the imprecations here may be compared with those which respect him, Psalm 109:6. Though this may regard every one of the enemies of David, or of Christ and his people, whose ruin and destruction will come upon them unawares; see 1 Thessalonians 5:3; and let his net that he hath laid catch himself; a figurative expression, agreeable to the allusion before made, and which is explained in the next clause; into that very destruction let him fall, which he had designed and contrived for others; so Haman was hanged on the same gallows he had prepared for Mordecai; and so it often is in the course of Providence, that the wicked fall into the same calamity they have intended and endeavoured to bring others into; see Psalm 7:15. (r) "tumultuosa calamitas", Cocceius; so Ainsworth; "tumultus", Vatablus. (s) See Thevenot, Tavernier, &c.

And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord,.... Not in the destruction of his enemies, but in the God of his salvation; the Targum is, "in the Word of the Lord"; the essential Word of God, the promised Messiah, Saviour, and Redeemer. Christ is the object of a believer's joy; he rejoices in his person, as he is the mighty God, able to save him, and to keep what he has committed to him, and to preserve him from falling; as he is God and man in one person, and so fit to be a Mediator between God and man; and as he is a Prophet to instruct him, a Priest to expiate his sin and make intercession for him, and as a King to rule over, protect, and defend him; and as he stands in the relations of a father, husband, brother, and friend: he rejoices in what he has done and is doing; in that this Word is made flesh, and has obtained eternal redemption, and now appears in the presence of God, as an advocate and intercessor: it follows, it shall rejoice in his salvation; that which Jehovah the Father has determined upon, provided for, and has formed the scheme of; that which Jehovah the Son undertook to accomplish, and now has finished; and that which Jehovah the Spirit had made a discovery and application of unto the psalmist, in answer to his request in Psalm 35:3. This filled him with so much joy, as it does every believer that has a view of interest in it; seeing hereby the law is fulfilled, justice is satisfied, sin is atoned for, the pardon of it is procured, an everlasting righteousness is brought in, and a solid foundation laid for hope of eternal glory and happiness.

All my bones shall say,.... So, in a figurative sense, vexation and disquietude are ascribed to the bones, Psalm 6:2; and sometimes joy and gladness, Psalm 51:8. His soul is said to rejoice in Psalm 35:9; and here his bones are said to show forth the praises of the Lord; and both together design the whole man, as heart and flesh in Psalm 84:2; and the bones being the strength of the body may denote his saying what follows, with all his might, and with all his strength, and with the utmost fervency of spirit: Lord, who is like unto thee; on account of the perfections of his nature, which appear in the salvation and deliverance of his people: there is none like unto him for his wisdom, holiness, power, grace, and mercy; for his foreknowledge, wisdom, and counsel, in forming the scheme of salvation; for his holiness and justice, which are glorified by it; for his might and power in effecting it; and for his grace, mercy, goodness, and faithfulness shown in keeping covenant with his people, in pardoning and passing by their iniquity and transgression, and in condescending to take notice of his poor and needy, to deliver them, as follows; see Psalm 113:5; which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him: yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him? in which words the psalmist doubtless respects himself and his own case, who was poor and afflicted, and stood in need of help when he was persecuted by Saul, who was his enemy, too strong for him, and who sought to spoil and ruin him, but the Lord delivered him out of his hands; see Psalm 18:17. They agree with the case of all the Lord's poor and needy, who are so not only in a temporal sense, as they commonly be; and in such sense as all mankind are, though everyone is not sensible of his spiritual poverty through sin; having neither food nor raiment, nor anything to procure them with, and yet think themselves rich and increased with goods; but in the best sense, being poor in spirit and rich in faith; these have enemies stronger than they. Sin is sometimes represented as a person, their antagonist that fights against them, wars with them, prevails over them sometimes, and carries them captive: sin is too strong for a man without the grace of God; nay, it was too strong for Adam in innocence, and spoiled him of the image of God, stripped him of his righteousness, and marred all the glory and honour in which he was; and it is too strong for a man that has the grace of God, when left to himself: but the Lord delivers his people from it; they; are redeemed from it, and saved from punishment for it by the blood of Christ; and they are freed from the power and dominion of it, by the Spirit and grace of Christ at conversion, and at death they are delivered from the being of it. Satan is the strong man armed, and is more than a match for the poor and needy; but Christ the mighty God is stronger than he, and has ransomed them out of the hands of him that was stronger than they; and the prey, or they that were made a spoil by him, are taken out of the hands of the mighty, and the lawful captive is delivered: they are, indeed, assaulted by his temptations, in which he would be too many for them, but that they are strengthened against him by the Lord, and are enabled to withstand him; who, in the issue, flees from them; nor can he do as he pleases with them, nor reassume his power over them he once had, nor lead them captive at his will as he once did: God is on their side, Christ is their patron and defender, that pleads their cause against him; the Spirit that is within them is greater than he that is in the world; angels are all around them, and in a little while these poor and needy will be in heaven, and out of his reach, and so of every oppressor and persecutor; now they are the weak things of this world, and their enemies are the mighty ones, and too strong for them, who spoil them of their good name and character, and sometimes of their goods and property; but the Lord does and will deliver them out of their hands, and enter them into rest, where the wicked cease from troubling.

False witnesses did rise up,.... Against David, saying he sought the hurt of Saul, 1 Samuel 24:9, as did against David's antitype, the Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew 26:59; and against his apostles, Acts 24:5; and very frequently do they rise up and bear false witness against his people, which is a very heinous crime; they laid to my charge things that I knew not: such as David was not conscious of, never thought of doing, much less attempted to do; as the taking away of Saul's life, the contrary of which appeared by his cutting off his skirt only when he was in his hands, and taking away his spear from his bolster when he could have taken off his head; and such were the things laid to the charge of the Messiah, David's son, who knew no sin, nor did any; and the like are exhibited against his members, who go through good report and bad report, and whose good conversation is falsely accused by malicious men.

They rewarded me evil for good,.... For the good David did in killing Goliath, and slaying his ten thousands of the Philistines, and thereby saving his king and country, Saul and his courtiers envied him, and sought to slay him: so our Lord Jesus Christ, for all the good he did to the Jews, by healing their bodies of diseases, and preaching the Gospel to them for the benefit of their souls, was rewarded with reproaches and persecutions, and at last with the shameful death of the cross; and in like manner are his people used; but this is an evil that shall not go unpunished; see Proverbs 17:13. It is added, to the spoiling of my soul; or "to the bereaving of it" (t); causing it to be fatherless; that is, to the bereaving it of its joy, peace, and comfort; so fatherless is put for comfortless, John 14:18; or to the taking away of his soul, which being separated from the body, its companion is left alone, as one that is fatherless. (t) "orbitatem", Montanus, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

But as for me, when they were sick,.... Or under any disorder or distress of body or mind, when any misfortune or infirmity attended them; meaning Saul and his courtiers, before David was persecuted by them; my clothing was sackcloth; that is, he was grieved, and mourned for them, it being usual to put on sackcloth in time of mourning; see Genesis 37:34; I humbled my soul with fasting; on the account of them, giving up himself to prayer for them, as follows: and my prayer returned into mine own bosom; that is, he prayed privately and heartily for them, as for himself; he was constant in it, his heart was in it, and he took delight in it, and he was heard and answered; unless the sense should be, that his prayer was slighted by them, and so returned back to himself, as a present despised is returned; but however it was not without its effect, the good for which he prayed for them was returned by the Lord unto him.

I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother,.... Meaning either Saul or Doeg the Edomite, or some such evil man; somewhat like this he says of Ahithophel, Psalm 41:9; and Arama thinks he is meant here; as Christ of Judas, whom he called friend, when he came to betray him; and who not only ate with him at table of his bread, but was steward of his family, and carried the bag, Matthew 26:50; I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother; or as a mother that mourneth for her son, as Jarchi interprets it, whose affections are very strong; and thus Christ wept over Jerusalem, and had a tender concern for and sympathy with the Jews, his implacable enemies, and wept over them, and prayed for them, Luke 19:41.

But in mine adversity they rejoiced,.... Or "at my halting" (u), either by means of falling into sin; good men are subject to slips and falls, and that to the dislocating or breaking of their bones, which cause them to go halting all their days; wicked men watch for their halting, as Jeremiah's familiars did for his, Jeremiah 20:10; and rejoice at it; see Psalm 38:16; or by falling into some misfortune or calamity; hence we render it "adversity", and may design some affliction or other, as in Micah 4:6, at which wicked men rejoice; see Ezekiel 35:15; so David's enemies rejoiced at his afflictions; and the enemies of his son and antitype, the Lord Jesus Christ, were glad when Judas offered to betray him to them; more so when they had got him into their hands; and most of all when he was condemned and crucified: and so do the enemies of his people, as the Philistines sported with Samson when he was in his adversity, and as the antichristian party will rejoice and send gifts one to another when the two witnesses are slain; but the saints have a gracious God, who knows their souls in adversity; a sympathizing high priest, who is touched with a feeling of their infirmities; and fellow saints that are afflicted with them in all their afflictions, and bear a part of their burdens; and gathered themselves together; not to pity him, but to insult him; not to help him in his distress, but to add to it; yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me; mean persons, the refuse and scum of the earth; such as Job describes, Job 30:1; the word may be rendered "smitten" (w), either in spirit, as in Isaiah 66:2; they pretending sorrow of heart for his troubles; or rather smitten in body, in their feet, as Mephibosheth was; yet as lame as they were, and notwithstanding their lameness, they got together to rejoice at David's halting: or it may be best of all to understand it of their being smitten of God and afflicted; and the sense may be, that though the hand of God was upon them, this did not deter them from gathering together to insult David in his afflictions; some render the word "smiters" (x), that is, with their tongues, and so the Targum, "the wicked who smite with their words"; see Jeremiah 18:18; and such sort of persons were they that gathered together against Christ: it is true indeed that some of them were men of rank and figure, were the princes of this world, as Herod and Pontius Pilate, and the Jewish rulers, Acts 4:27, compared with Psalm 2:1; but the greater part of them were the meaner sort of people; particularly the Roman soldiers that gathered about him, and sported with him in Pilate's hall, and that surrounded him with scoffs when upon the cross; these also were literally "smiters" of him, both with words and with their hands, and are so called, Isaiah 50:6; and I knew it not; David knew his enemies, or he could not have shown so much concern for them, as he did in the preceding verses; but either he knew not of their gathering together against him; until he saw them in great numbers about him; or he was not conscious to himself of any evil he had done them, that should be the reason of it; and this was the case of his son the Messiah, he who they were that gathered about him, even those that blindfolded him, and bid him prophesy who smote him; but he knew no sin he had done why he should be treated in the manner he was; they did tear me, and ceased not; not their own garments, as some supply it, pretending great grief of heart for him; nor their mouth with laughing at him, as others; see Psalm 35:21; but either his character and reputation, with hard sayings and reproachful words, or his flesh with blows; and this they did incessantly; and which was literally true of Christ, whose enemies tore his flesh, by plucking off the hair, by buffeting and scourging him, and by piercing his hands and his feet with nails, when they crucified him; and they ceased not, even after death, to pierce his side with a spear. (u) "in claudicatione mea", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth. (w) "percussi", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Cocceius. (x) So Ainsworth.

With hypocritical mockers in feasts,.... That is, the abjects gathered, themselves together with such; these may design Saul's courtiers, his parasites and flatterers, and who were hypocrites in religion also, and made it their business at Saul's table, and in their banquetings and revellings, to mock at David; and who were "hypocritical mockers of" or "for a piece of bread" (y), as it may be rendered; the same word is used for a pastry, or cake, and for flatterers; and they used at their feasts to throw a pastry baked with honey to parasites (z), for the word signifies a cake, or a piece of bread, 1 Kings 17:12; and the sense may be, that they mocked at David as wanting a piece of bread, and that he had brought himself to one; or else those, and they that gathered with them especially, mocked at David for the sake of a meal; or for a piece of bread; see Proverbs 28:27; and such sort of men were the enemies of Christ, the Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites to God, flatterers of men, who loved feasts, and the uppermost places there, and whose god was their belly; and who were mockers of Christ, derided his doctrine, and scoffed at his person, especially when he hung upon the cross; they gnashed upon me with their teeth; in indignation and contempt; as Stephen's enemies did on him, Acts 7:54. (y) "subsannatoribus subcineritii panis", Vatablus; "subsanmantes propter placentam", Piscator; "scoffers for a cake of bread", Ainsworth; hence a "parasite", a "table companion", or "trencher friend", is used for a "flatterer", vid. Suidam in voce (z) Weemse's Christ. Synag. l. 1. c. 6. s. 8. p. 209. of the Moral Law, l. 2. c. 9. p. 310.

Lord, how long wilt thou look on?.... And behold these injuries and insults, and not arise to help and save? The psalmist firmly believed the omniscience of God, and was well assured he saw all that was done; but he was ready to consider him only as a spectator; or, however, seems impatient until he arose and showed himself strong on his behalf; see Psalm 35:22; rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions; his "soul" and his "darling" mean the same; either his life, than which nothing is dearer to a man; or his soul, his more noble part, and which was now "alone", or solitary, as the word (a) used signifies; being forsaken of God and men, and was desolate and afflicted, as it is rendered Psalm 25:16; or his whole person, which was among men comparable to lions, for their strength and savageness, who breathed out nothing but cruelty and destruction; from which he desires he might be rescued, or returned to the quiet possession of his own house, and the house of God: the words are much the same with those of the Messiah; see Gill on Psalm 22:20 and See Gill on Psalm 22:21. (a) "solitariam meam", Piscator, Gejerus, Schmidt, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

I will give thee thanks in the great congregation,.... This is the resolution the psalmist came unto; the promise he made, that should he be delivered from his enemies, he would give God thanks in the most public manner; that is, he would acknowledge God to be the author of the mercy, and himself unworthy of it; and would ascribe glory, honour, blessing, and thanksgiving to him, in the midst of the church and people of God; they joining with him in it, when he should be restored to an attendance with them he before prays for; I will praise thee among much people; meaning the same as before, the people of God meeting together for solemn worship; the great congregation of all, and the much people, will be the saints in heaven, when they shall be gathered together, and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. The words will bear to be applied to the Messiah, see Psalm 22:22.

Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me,.... The word "wrongfully" is to be joined not to the word "rejoice", but to the word "enemies"; and the sense is, that they were his enemies wrongfully, for false reasons, unjust causes, or without any cause that was just; as follows; neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause; such were David's enemies, particularly Saul, Psalm 7:4; and such were the enemies of Christ: this last clause is thought to be referred to by him, and applied to himself, John 15:25; and the whole of this is said him and by him, Psalm 69:4; see also Psalm 109:3. These were the Jews, of whom he came, among whom he was, and who had no reason to be his enemies, and to hate him; since he was harmless and inoffensive in his life and conversation among them; went about doing a great deal of good to them, both for soul and body, and always expressed the most tender concern for them: they had reasons for their hatred and rejection of him, but not justifiable ones; such as the meanness of his person and state in their view, the doctrines he preached relating to his deity, divine sonship, and the distinguishing grace of God; and his inveighing against the sins and vices which prevailed among them; and such are the enemies of his people, who hate them, though they are the quiet in the land, as is said in Psalm 35:20; and are harmless and inoffensive in their behaviour towards men: these are hated for Christ's sake; and because he has chosen and called them out of the world; and because of their principles, which are distinguishing, and their practices, which are good: now the psalmist entreats that such might not be suffered to go on rejoicing over him, and at his calamities, but that he might be delivered out of all troubles, and out of their hands; and that they might not have any reason to wink with their eyes in a scornful and deriding way to him, and as expressing their pleasure to one an other at his distresses; see Proverbs 1:12.

For they speak not peace,.... Meaning to himself, or any good man; as Joseph's brethren could not to him, Genesis 37:4; such were the men David had to do with, Psalm 120:6; and such were the enemies of Christ, who could not give him a good word, nor speak one to him, John 10:20; and such are the enemies of his people, who breathe out nothing but threatenings and slaughter, and not anything that tends to peace, to promote and maintain it. Some versions, as the Septuagint, and they that follow that, render it, "they do speak peace to me"; but then it was in an hypocritical way, as in Psalm 28:3; and as the Jews did to Christ, Matthew 22:16; for it follows: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land; meaning not the wicked, as Kimchi thinks; the rich, who live at ease and in quietness, having as much as heart can wish, "with" whom, as he renders it, David's enemies devised mischief in a deceitful way; but the righteous of the earth, as the Targum; such as David and his men were, who desired to live peaceable and quiet lives under Saul's government; and had no intention to disturb his government, or wrest the crown from him; and as the Messiah, David's son, was, "the humble one in the earth"; as the Arabic version renders it in the singular number; a character that well agrees with Christ, who showed great humility in coming into this world, and during his stay in it; it was a state of humiliation with him, and in which he behaved in the most lowly and humble manner; he was the quiet one in the land; he strove not, nor cried, nor was his voice heard in the street; he was not noisy and clamorous, quarrelsome and litigious; but all the reverse; he bore all insults, reproaches, and sufferings, patiently and quietly: and such are his people, so far as they are influenced by his grace and Spirit; they are quiet and peaceable in kingdoms, cities, and neighbourhoods, and in the churches of God; and yet the wicked are continually plotting against them, and devising things, to their hurt.

Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me,.... In laughter, scorn, and derision; see Psalm 22:7; and said, Aha, aha: a word expressive of joy; and the doubling it shows the greatness of it; our eye hath seen it; what their heart wished for; namely, the distress of him, whose enemies they were.

(Compare Psa 9:17). devise my hurt--purpose for evil to me.

All my bones--every part. him that spoileth him--(Compare Psa 10:2).

False witnesses--literally, "Witnesses of injustice and cruelty" (compare Psa 11:5; Psa 25:19).

mockers--who were hired to make sport at feasts (Pro 28:21).

darling--(Compare Psa 22:20-21).

(Compare Psa 22:22).

deceitful matters--or, "words of deceit." quiet in the land--the pious lovers of peace.

On the gesture compare Psa 22:7; and on the expressions of malicious triumph, compare Psa 10:13; Psa 28:3.

In these verses, as before, I. David describes the great injustice, malice, and insolence, of his persecutors, pleading this with God as a reason why he should protect him from them and appear against them. 1. They were very unrighteous; they were his enemies wrongfully, for he never gave them any provocation: They hated him without a cause; nay, for that for which they ought rather to have loved and honoured him. This is quoted, with application to Christ, and is said to be fulfilled in him. Joh 15:25, They hated me without cause. 2. They were very rude; they could not find in their hearts to show him common civility: They speak not peace; if they met him, they had not the good manners to give him the time of day; like Joseph's brethren, that could not speak peaceably to him, Gen 37:4. 3. They were very proud and scornful (Psa 35:21): They opened their mouth wide against me; they shouted and huzzaed when they saw his fall; they bawled after him when he was forced to quit the court, "Aha! aha! this is the day we longed to see." 4. They were very barbarous and base, for they trampled upon him when he was down, rejoiced at his hurt, and magnified themselves against him, Psa 35:26. Turba Remi sequitur fortunam, ut semper, et odit damnatos - The Roman crowd, varying their opinions with every turn of fortune, are sure to execrate the fallen. Thus, when the Son of David was run upon by the rulers, the people cried, Crucify him, crucify him. 5. They set themselves against all the sober good people that adhered to David (Psa 35:20): They devised deceitful matters, to trepan and ruin those that were quiet in the land. Note, (1.) It is the character of the godly in the land that they are the quiet in the land, that they live in all dutiful subjection to government and governors, in the Lord, and endeavour, as much as in them lies, to live peaceably with all men, however they may have been misrepresented as enemies to Caesar and hurtful to kings and provinces. I am for peace, Psa 120:7. (2.) Though the people of God are, and study to be, a quiet people, yet it has been the common practice of their enemies to devise deceitful matters against them. All the hellish arts of malice and falsehood are made use of to render them odious or despicable; their words and actions are misconstrued, even that which they abhor is fathered upon them, laws are made to ensnare them (Dan 6:4, etc.), and all to ruin them and root them out. Those that hated David thought scorn, like Haman, to lay hands on him alone, but contrived to involve all the religious people of the land in the same ruin with him. II. He appeals to God against them, the God to whom vengeance belongs, appeals to his knowledge (Psa 35:22): This thou hast seen. They had falsely accused him, but God, who knows all things, knew that he did not falsely accuse them, nor make them worse than really they were. They had carried on their plots against him with a great degree of secresy (Psa 35:15): "I knew it not, till long after, when they themselves gloried in it; but thy eye was upon them in their close cabals and thou art a witness of all they have said and done against me and thy people." He appeals to God's justice: Awake to my judgment, even to my cause, and let it have a hearing at thy bar, Psa 35:23. "Judge me, O Lord my God! pass sentence upon this appeal, according to the righteousness of thy nature and government," Psa 35:24. See this explained by Solomon, Kg1 7:31, Kg1 7:32. When thou art appealed to, hear in heaven, and judge, by condemning the wicked and justifying the righteous. III. He prays earnestly to God to appear graciously for him and his friends, against his and their enemies, that by his providence the struggle might issue to the honour and comfort of David and to the conviction and confusion of his persecutors. 1. He prays that God would act for him, and not stand by as a spectator (Psa 35:17): "Lord, how long wilt thou look on? How long wilt thou connive at the wickedness of the wicked? Rescue my soul from the destructions they are plotting against it; rescue my darling, my only one, from the lions. My soul is my only one, and therefore the greater is the shame if I neglect it and the greater the loss if I lose it: it is my only one, and therefore ought to be my darling, ought to be carefully protected and provided for. It is my soul that is in danger; Lord, rescue it. It does, in a peculiar manner, belong to the Father of spirits, therefore claim thy own; it is thine, save it. Lord, keep not silence, as if thou didst consent to what is done against me! Lord, be not far from me (Psa 35:22), as if I were a stranger that thou wert not concerned for; let not me beheld afar off, as the proud are." 2. He prays that his enemies might not have cause to rejoice (Psa 35:19): Let them not rejoice over me (and again, Psa 35:24); not so much because it would be a mortification to him to be trampled upon the abjects, as because it would turn to the dishonour of God and the reproach of his confidence in God. It would harden the hearts of his enemies in their wickedness and confirm them in their enmity to him, and would be a great discouragement to all the pious Jews that were friends to his righteous cause. He prays that he might never be in such imminent danger as that they should say in their hearts, Ah! so would we have it (Psa 35:25), much more that he might not be reduced to such extremity that they should say, We have swallowed him up; for then they will reflect upon God himself. But, on the contrary, that they might be ashamed and brought to confusion together (Psa 35:26, as before, Psa 35:4); he desires that his innocency might be so cleared that they might be ashamed of the calumnies with which they had loaded him, that his interest might be so confirmed that they might be ashamed of their designs against him and their expectations of his ruin, that they might either be brought to that shame which would be a step towards their reformation or that that might be their portion which would be their everlasting misery. 3. He prays that his friends might have cause to rejoice and give glory to God, Psa 35:27. Notwithstanding the arts that were used to blacken David, and make him odious, and to frighten people from owning him, there were some that favoured his righteous cause, that knew he was wronged and bore a good affection to him; and he prays for them, (1.) That they might rejoice with him in his joys. It is a great pleasure to all that are good to see an honest man, and an honest cause, prevail and prosper; and those that heartily espouse the interests of God's people, and are willing to take their lot with them even when they are run down and trampled upon, shall in due time shout for joy and be glad, for the righteous cause will at length be a victorious cause. (2.) That they might join with him in his praises: Let them say continually, The Lord be magnified, by us and others, who hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. Note, [1.] The great God has pleasure in this prosperity of good people, not only of his family, the church in general, but of every particular servant in his family. He has pleasure in the prosperity both of their temporal and of their spiritual affairs, and delights not in their griefs; for he does not afflict willingly; and we ought therefore to have pleasure in their prosperity, and not to envy it. [2.] When God in his providence shows his good-will to the prosperity of his servants, and the pleasure he takes in it, we ought to acknowledge it with thankfulness, to his praise, and to say, The Lord be magnified. IV. The mercy he hoped to win by prayer he promises to wear with praise: "I will give thee thanks, as the author of my deliverance (Psa 35:18), and my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness, the justice of thy judgments and the equity of all thy dispensations;" and this, 1. Publicly, as one that took a pleasure in owning his obligations to his God, so far was he from being ashamed of them. he will do it in the great congregation, and among much people, that God might be honoured and many edified. 2. Constantly. he will speak God's praise every day (so it may be read) and all the day long; for it is a subject that will never be exhausted, no, not by the endless praises of saints and angels.

19. He earnestly prays that as they have no cause for their enmity, they may have no cause for triumph either in his folly, sin, or overthrow. “Neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.” The winking of the eye was the low-bred sign of congratulation at the ruin of their victim, and it may also have been one of their scornful gestures as they gazed upon him whom they despised. To cause hatred is the mark of the wicked, to suffer it causelessly is the lot of the righteous. God is the natural Protector of all who are wronged, and he is the enemy of all oppressors. 20. “For they speak not peace.” They love it not; how can they speak it? They are such troublers themselves that they cannot judge others to be peaceable. Out of the mouth comes what is in the heart. Riotous men charge others with sedition. “They devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.” David would fain have been an orderly citizen, but they laboured to make him a rebel. He could do nothing aright, all his dealings were misrepresented. This is an old trick of the enemy to brand good men with S.S. on their cheeks, as sowers of sedition, though they have ever been a harmless race, like sheep among wolves. When mischief is meant, mischief is soon made. Unscrupulous partisans could even charge Jesus with seeking to overturn Cæsar, much more will they thus accuse his household. At this very hour, those who stand up for the crown rights of King Jesus are called enemies of the church, favourers of Popery, friends of Atheists, levellers, red republicans, and it were hard to say what besides. Billingsgate and Babylon are in league. 21. “Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me.” As if they would swallow him. Uttering great lies which needed wide mouths. They set no bounds to their infamous charges, but poured out wholesale abuse, trusting that if all did not stick, some of it would. “And said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.” Glad to find out a fault or a misfortune, or to swear they had seen evil where there was none. Malice has but one eye; it is blind to all virtue in its enemy. Eyes can generally see what hearts wish. A man with a mote in his eye sees a spot in the sun. How like a man is to an ass when he brays over another’s misfortunes! how like to a devil when he laughs a hyæna-laugh over a good man’s slips! Malice is folly, and when it holds a festival its tones and gestures far exceed all the freaks and mummeries of the Lord of misrule. 22. “This thou hast seen, O Lord.” Here is comfort. Our heavenly Father knows all our sorrow. Omniscience is the saint’s candle which never goes out. A father will not long endure to see his child abused. Shall not God avenge his own elect? “Keep not silence.” Rebuke thine enemies and mine, O Lord. A word will do it. Clear my character, comfort my heart. “O Lord, be not far from me.” Walk the furnace with me. Stand in the pillory at my side. The sweet presence of God is the divine cordial of the persecuted; his painful absence would be their deepest misery. 23. “Stir up thyself.” Be upon thy mettle. Prove that thou art no indifferent witness to all this infamy. “Awake to my judgment.” Take the sceptre and summon the great assize; vindicate justice, avenge oppression. Do not tarry as men do who sleep. “Even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.” He claims a nearness to his God, he holds him with both hands; he leaves his case with the righteous Judge. He begs that the suit may be brought on, heard, tried, and verdict given. Well is it for a man when his conscience is so clear that he dares to make such an appeal. 24. The appeal is here repeated; the plaintiff feels that the joy of his accusers will be shortlived as soon as impartial justice rules. The oppressors’ wrong, the proud man’s contumely, the fool’s grimace—all, all will cease when the righteous Lord sits down upon the judgment seat. 25. “Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.” Disappoint them of their prey when their mouths are ready to swallow it. Saints are too dear a morsel for the powers of evil; God will not give his sheep over to the wolfish jaws of the persecutors. Just when they are tuning their pipes to celebrate their victory, they shall be made to laugh on the other side of their mouths. They are all too sure, and too boastful; they reckon without their host: little do they dream of the end which will be put to their scheming. Their bird shall be flown, and they themselves shall be in the trap. The prayer of this text is a promise. Even before the lips of the wicked can frame a speech of exultation, they shall be disappointed; their heart-speech shall be forestalled, their wishes frustrated, their knavish tricks exposed. 26. Here is the eternal result of all the laborious and crafty devices of the Lord’s enemies. God will make little of them, though they “magnified themselves;” he will shame them for shaming his people, bring them to confusion for making confusion, pull off their fine apparel and give them a beggarly suit of dishonour, and turn all their rejoicing into weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Truly, the saints can afford to wait. 27. “Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause.” Even those who could not render him active aid, but in their hearts favoured him, David would have the Lord reward most abundantly. Men of tender heart set great store by the good wishes and prayers of the Lord’s people. Jesus also prizes those whose hearts are with his cause. The day is coming when shouts of victory shall be raised by all who are on Christ’s side, for the battle will turn, and the foes of truth shall be routed. “Yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified.” He would have their gladness contributory to the divine glory; they are not to shout to David’s praise, but for the honour of Jehovah. Such acclamations may fitly be continued throughout time and eternity. “Which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.” They recognised David as the Lord’s servant, and saw with pleasure the Lord’s favour to him. We can have no nobler title than “servant of God,” and no greater reward than for our Master to delight in our prosperity. What true prosperity may be we are not always best able to judge. We must leave that in Jesus’ hand; he will not fail to rule all things for our highest good. “For by his saints it stands confessed, That what he does is always best.” 28. Unceasing praise is here vowed to the just and gracious God. From morning till evening the grateful tongue would talk and sing, and glorify the Lord. O for such a resolve carried out by us all!