The Bible — World English Bible
Psalm 35
In brief
Psalm 35 is a prayer of David, persecuted without cause. He asks God to defend him, describes the false witnesses and the traps set for him, then declares his trust and his promise of praise. It is classed among the imprecatory psalms, which call on God's justice against adversaries. Christians read this harsh language as a cry handed over to God rather than personal revenge. The psalm offers a model for bringing injustice into prayer.
The heading attributes this psalm to David without naming the occasion. Commentators often think of the time when Saul hunted him down for no reason, or of Absalom's revolt, when those close to him betrayed him; the text does not say. It is an individual lament: an innocent man, accused by false witnesses and betrayed by those he had helped, asks God to defend him. The psalm moves in three stages (verses 1-10, 11-18, 19-28), each ending with a promise of praise. It is counted among the imprecatory psalms, because it asks God to strike the adversaries in harsh terms. Today it helps those who suffer an unjust accusation, harassment or betrayal to bring their anger before God instead of taking revenge. Christians also read it in the light of Jesus, hated without a cause.
The chapter in 4 parts
1Contend, Yahweh, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me.
2Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help.
3Brandish the spear and block those who pursue me. Tell my soul, “I am your salvation.”
4Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
5Let them be as chaff before the wind, Yahweh’s angel driving them on.
6Let their way be dark and slippery, Yahweh’s angel pursuing them.
7For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
8Let destruction come on him unawares. Let his net that he has hidden catch himself. Let him fall into that destruction.
9My soul shall be joyful in Yahweh. It shall rejoice in his salvation.
10All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”
11Unrighteous witnesses rise up. They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
12They reward me evil for good, to the bereaving of my soul.
13But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I afflicted my soul with fasting. My prayer returned into my own bosom.
14I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother. I bowed down mourning, as one who mourns his mother.
15But in my adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together. The attackers gathered themselves together against me, and I didn’t know it. They tore at me, and didn’t cease.
16Like the profane mockers in feasts, they gnashed their teeth at me.
17Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my precious life from the lions.
18I will give you thanks in the great assembly. I will praise you among many people.
19Don’t let those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me; neither let those who hate me without a cause wink their eyes.
20For they don’t speak peace, but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
21Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me. They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”
22You have seen it, Yahweh. Don’t keep silent. Lord, don’t be far from me.
23Wake up! Rise up to defend me, my God! My Lord, contend for me!
24Vindicate me, Yahweh my God, according to your righteousness. Don’t let them gloat over me.
25Don’t let them say in their heart, “Aha! That’s the way we want it!” Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”
26Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.
27Let those who favor my righteous cause shout for joy and be glad. Yes, let them say continually, “May Yahweh be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant!”
28My tongue shall talk about your righteousness and about your praise all day long.
Understanding Psalm 35 verse by verse
v. 1-3God called to plead and fight for the innocent
David opens his psalm with a double appeal. The verb translated contend belongs to the vocabulary of the courtroom: he asks God to plead his case against those who accuse him. Then he moves to the battlefield: shield and buckler, spear and javelin. God is summoned both as an advocate and as a warrior. Notice what David does not do: he does not take up arms himself, he puts them in God's hands. In the midst of this military vocabulary comes a very intimate request: Tell my soul, “I am your salvation.” Even before he is rescued, David needs to hear God speak to him deep in his heart. When you are under attack, you need a defense, but also a word that reassures you from within.
v. 4-8May the trap turn against those who set it
Here come the imprecations, those harsh requests that often shock the reader: may his enemies be put to shame, scattered like chaff before the wind, pursued by the angel of the Lord, caught in their own net. These words should not be softened but understood. David is not taking revenge: he entrusts his cause to God, the only judge. He repeats that he is attacked without cause: he is the victim of a hunter's trap, a hidden net and a pit dug to take his life. What he asks is that the evil fall back on those who prepared it, as Proverbs also says: whoever digs a pit will fall into it (Proverbs 26:27). Asking God to judge means giving up the idea of taking justice into your own hands, as David showed when he spared Saul (1 Samuel 24).
v. 9-10The joy of the one God rescues from someone stronger
In the heart of the storm, the tone changes: David looks ahead to the joy of deliverance. His soul will rejoice in the Lord, not in the downfall of his enemies: his joy is about God's salvation, not about other people's misfortune. Then he involves his whole being, down to his very bones, in a question that is really praise: who is like you, who rescues the poor from someone stronger than they are? The God of the Bible takes the side of the weak, the poor, the one who is being robbed. This is the first of the three promises of praise that close each part of the psalm. If you are being overpowered by someone stronger, at work, in your family or elsewhere, this verse reminds you that God sees how unequal the contest is, and he is not on the side of the one who crushes.
v. 11-16Betrayed by those he had prayed and fasted for
The second part describes the deepest wound of the psalm: betrayal. False witnesses accuse David of things he knows nothing about, as in a rigged trial. Even more painful, his accusers repay him evil for good. When they were sick, David wore sackcloth, fasted and prayed for them with his head bowed, as for a friend, a brother or a mother. And now that he stumbles, they gather to mock him and tear at him without letting up, gnashing their teeth along with the scoffers. This scene foreshadows that of Jesus, accused by false witnesses and then mocked during his passion (Matthew 26:59-60). If you have been hurt by someone you had helped, these verses tell you that God knows this particular pain, and that it has its place in prayer.
v. 17-18How long, Lord? From waiting to praise
The cry of verse 17 is one of the most human in the Bible: “Lord, how long will you look on?” David does not doubt that God sees; he does not understand why he lets it happen. The martyrs ask the same question in the book of Revelation, when they ask God how long he will wait to judge (Revelation 6:10). The Bible never reproaches believers for asking it. The enemies are compared to lions, young, ravenous and without pity. Yet the complaint ends on a promise: I will give you thanks in the great assembly. This is the psalm's second ending in praise. David commits to making public a deliverance he has not yet seen. You too can tell God how impatient you are and, in the same prayer, choose to trust him.
v. 19-21Hated without a cause: words Jesus applies to himself
The third part returns to groundless hatred: those who hate David without a cause cast hostile glances at him and gloat over his misfortune. Their language is not the language of peace, and they plot deceit against the quiet people of the land, those who only want to live in peace. Then they open their mouths wide: “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!” It is the laughter of people who think they have won. Jesus will take up the phrase hated without a cause to speak of himself, on the eve of his death (John 15:25); it also appears in Psalm 69. David's prayer thus becomes the prayer of the Righteous One above all. For you, this is a comfort: if you are hated for no reason, you are not alone, Jesus went through this before you.
v. 22-26Wake up and judge me: entrusting your cause to the righteous Judge
David answers his enemies' mocking gaze with another gaze: “You have seen it, Yahweh.” He begs God not to stay silent, to wake up, to take up his cause. Then he makes a surprising request: judge me according to your righteousness (the verb is often translated vindicate). He is not asking for special treatment: he accepts that the same justice applies to him, because he knows his cause is right in this matter. The imprecations return: may his adversaries be covered with shame and clothed in disgrace. Christians do not all read these words in the same way. Some see a legitimate cry against injustice, one that can still be addressed to God; others believe that Jesus, by asking us to love our enemies and by praying for his executioners (Matthew 5:44; Luke 23:34), invites us to pray these words differently; still others read in them an announcement of the final judgment. All agree on one point: vengeance belongs to God alone (Romans 12:19).
v. 27-28The peace God wants for his servant
The psalm does not end with the enemies, but with a crowd that rejoices. Those who take pleasure in David's innocence, who want justice done for him, are invited to proclaim God's greatness without ceasing. Their praise says something wonderful: the Lord wants the peace of his servant. The Hebrew word is shalom, which some translations render as prosperity or well-being: a complete peace that touches every part of life. God is not indifferent to what you are going through: he wants your good. The last verse is the third ending in praise: the tongue that cried out against injustice will now celebrate God's justice, every day. That is the road of the psalm: from complaint to trust, and from trust to praise, before everything has been settled.
How to pray Psalm 35
When to pray this psalm
- When you are wrongly accused at work, in your family or in your church.
- When someone you had helped turns against you.
- When you suffer harassment, mockery or rumors that you cannot stop.
- When anger at the person who wronged you keeps you awake at night.
- When you have been waiting a long time for justice to be done.
- When you are tempted to take revenge or to answer evil with evil.
A prayer inspired by Psalm 35
Lord, my God, defend me. You see what I am going through: the false words, the accusations about things I know nothing of, the evil I am repaid for good. I do not hide my anger or my pain from you; I lay them before you instead of brooding over them. Fight for me, you who rescue the weak from someone stronger than they are. Let the lies be exposed and the traps set against me fail. I give up taking revenge: justice belongs to you, and I entrust my cause to you. Judge me according to your righteousness, and show me my share of the blame too, if there is one. Lord Jesus, you who were hated without a cause and who prayed for those who crucified you, teach me to pray for those who do me harm, so that they may change and meet you. I do not know how long I will have to wait. So tell my soul that you are my salvation, and keep me from bitterness. You who want the peace of your servant, give me your peace right now, and my tongue will celebrate your righteousness every day. Amen.
Key verses
Contend, Yahweh, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me.
David does not take revenge himself: he asks the Lord to plead his cause and to fight in his place. Handing the matter over to God is the central gesture of the psalm.
They reward me evil for good, to the bereaving of my soul.
Evil returned for good is the wound that comes back most in this psalm. David had prayed and fasted for those who now attack him.
You have seen it, Yahweh. Don’t keep silent. Lord, don’t be far from me.
The cry moves from accusation to God himself: you see it, do not stay silent. This verse gives words for telling God that we need him to act.
Let those who favor my righteous cause shout for joy and be glad. Yes, let them say continually, “May Yahweh be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant!”
The psalm does not end on hatred, but on praise and on the peace that God wants for his servant.
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Frequently asked questions about Psalm 35
What does Psalm 35 mean?
Psalm 35 is the prayer of a man wrongly accused. David asks God to defend him, describes the traps and false testimony he suffers, then promises to praise God publicly once he is delivered. It shows that we can tell God our distress with complete honesty and leave justice to him.
What is an imprecatory psalm?
It is a psalm that asks God to judge enemies, sometimes in violent terms, as in verses 4 to 8. It is an appeal to divine justice, not an order to take revenge. Jesus also teaches us to love our enemies. Christians see in it a cry of suffering that teaches us to hand our anger over to God.
Who wrote Psalm 35?
The title attributes it to David. The text does not name the event, but the pursuit by Saul and the betrayal of close friends during Absalom's revolt are the contexts commentators suggest most often. The psalm expresses a situation David lived through more than once.
How can I pray Psalm 35 today?
If you are a victim of injustice, read it aloud and tell God what you feel, without censoring yourself. Then place the matter in his hands, as in verse 1, and ask him to keep you from bitterness. Finish with the praise of verses 27 and 28, which open onto peace.
Articles quoting Psalm 35
World English Bible translation — public domain.