A verse by verse commentary on Psalm 35 dealing with David's prayer for God's help against his enemies, and his promise of praise when he is rescued. He described his anguish when his prayer went unanswered for so long. He pleads for God to vindicate him and lead all to praise Him for doing so.

1. PSALM 35 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
I TRODUCTIO
SPURGEO , "Title. A Psalm of David. Here is all we know concerning this Psalm,
but internal evidence seems to fix the date of its composition in those troublous
times when Saul hunted David over hill and dale, and when those who fawned upon
the cruel king, slandered the innocent object of his wrath, or it may be referred to
the unquiet days of frequent insurrections in David's old age. The whole Psalm is
the appeal to heaven of a bold heart and a clear conscience, irritated beyond
measure by oppression and malice. Beyond a doubt David's Lord may be seen here
by the spiritual eye.
Divisions. The most natural mode of dividing this Psalm is to note its triple
character. Its complaint, prayer, and promise of praise are repeated with
remarkable parallelism three times, even as our Lord in the Garden prayed three
times, using the same words. The first portion occupies from Psalms 35:1-10, the
second from Psalms 35:11-18, and the last from Psalms 35:19-28; each section
ending with a note of grateful song.
ELLICOTT, "This psalm opens in a warlike tone, so as to suggest a soldier for its
author, and for its occasion the eye of some battle. But we soon (Psalms 35:7-8;
Psalms 35:11-12) perceive that these warlike expressions are only metaphors, and
that the foes of the poet are malicious slanderers and scoffers of the pious
Israelites—it may be the court party in the time of one of the later kings, or, more
probably, the anti-national party (see ote, Psalms 35:16) at a later time, the
innovators affected by Persian or Grecian influence.
Few good critics, at all events, consider the psalm Davidic. Some ascribe it to
Jeremiah. But whoever was its author, it expresses, not an individual feeling alone,
but that of a community despised and maligned for its piety, and appealing to
Jehovah against its oppressors, with that longing for retributive justice which in an
individual becomes, in a Christian view, wickedly vindictive, but to the Old
Testament Church was the vindication of the Divine honour which was pledged to
do justice to the chosen but afflicted people. The parallelism is fine and well
sustained.

2. 1 Contend, Lord, with those who contend with
me;
fight against those who fight against me.
BAR ES, "Plead my cause, O Lord - The word “plead” means, properly, to argue
in support of a claim, or against the claim of another; to urge reasons for or against; to
attempt to persuade one by argument or supplication; as, to plead for the life of a
criminal, that is, to urge reasons why he should be acquitted or pardoned; and then, to
supplicate with earnestness in any way. The original word used here - ‫רוב‬ rûb - means to
contend, strive, quarrel; and then, to contend before a judge, to manage or plead a cause.
The idea here is, that the psalmist desires that God would undertake his cause against
those who had risen up against him, as if it were managed before a tribunal, or before a
judge, and God should be the advocate. The same word is used, in another form, in the
other member of the sentence - “with them that strive - ‫יריבי‬ yârıybāy - against me.” The
idea is, that they were “pleading” against him, or were urging arguments, as it were,
before a tribunal or a judge, why he should be condemned. They were his bitter
opponents, engaged in bringing all manner of false accusations against him, and seeking
his condemnation. The psalmist felt that he could not manage his own cause against
them; and he, therefore, pleads with God that He would interpose, and stand up for him.
Fight against them that fight against me - The same idea substantially occurs
here as in the former member of the verse. It is a prayer that God would undertake his
cause; that He would exert His power against those who were opposed to him.
CLARKE, "Plead my cause, O Lord - Literally, Contend, Lord, with then that
contend with me. The word is often used in a forensic or law sense.
GILL, "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, 1Sa_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

3. side he is; but miserable all such who are found fighters against him and his; for none
ever opposed him and prospered.
HE RY, "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, 1Sa_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 (1Sa_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

4. this should, more than any thing, make us easy, for then we may the more confidently
expect that God will plead our cause.
JAMISO , "Psa_35:1-28. The Psalmist invokes God’s aid, contrasting the hypocrisy,
cunning, and malice of his enemies with his integrity and generosity. The imprecations
of the first part including a brief notice of their conduct, the fuller exposition of their
hypocrisy and malice in the second, and the earnest prayer for deliverance from their
scornful triumph in the last, are each closed (Psa_35:9, Psa_35:10, Psa_35:18, Psa_
35:27, Psa_35:28) with promises of praise for the desired relief, in which his friends will
unite. The historical occasion is probably 1Sa_24:1-22.
God is invoked in the character of a warrior (Exo_15:3; Deu_32:41).
CALVI , "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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 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 advisers 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

5. 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.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Whole Psalm. Bonar entit
les this Psalm, "The awful utterance of the Righteous One regarding those that hate
him without cause, "and he makes the following remarks thereupon: --"Throughout
the endless day of eternity the Lord Jesus shall himself speak the Father's `praise,
'and shall put marked emphasis on his `righteousness'-- that righteousness which
shall have been exhibited, both in the doom of those who hated the offered
Redeemer, and in the salvation of those who received him. There is nothing in all
this wherein his own may not fully join, especially on that day when their views of
justice shall be far clearer and fuller than now. On that day we shall be able to
understand how Samuel could hew Agag in pieces, and the godly hosts of Israel slay
utterly in Canaan man and woman and child, at God's command. We shall be able,
not only fully agree in the doom, `Let them be confounded, 'etc., but even to sing,
`Amen, Hallelujah, ' over the smoke of torment. Revelation 19:1-2. We should in
some measure now be able to see every verse of this Psalm in the spirit in which the
Judge speaks it, we feeling ourselves his assessors in judging the world. 1
Corinthians 6:2. We shall, at all events, be able to use it on that day when what is
written here shall be all accomplished." Andrew A. Bonar.
Ver. 1. Plead my cause, O God, with them that strive with me.
1. Doth the world condemn thee for thy zeal in the service of God? Reproachfully
scorn thee for thy care to maintain good works? not blush to traduce thee with
imputations of preciseness, conceited singularity, pharisaical hypocrisy? Oh, but if
thy conscience condemn thee not all this while, if that be rectified by the sacred
word of God, if thou aim at his glory in pursuing thine own salvation, and side not
with the disturbers of the church, go on, good Christian, in the practice of piety,
discourage not thyself in thy laudable endeavours, but recount with comfort that the
Lord is thy judge 1 Corinthians 4:4, with a scio cui crediderim, "I know whom I
have believed." 2Ti 1:12. 2. Art thou wrongfully adjudged in the erroneous courts of
men? are truth and righteousness gone aside from their proper places? Is equity
neglected, and poverty overlaid? Well, have patience awhile, cheer up thy fainting
spirits, there is a God that beholdeth the innocency of thy cause, unto whom thou
hast liberty to make thy last appeal: Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive
with me: fight against them that fight against me. Or, 3. Art thou otherwise injured
by the hands of malicious men? and doth a penurious estate disable thee to sue for
amends? Doth a imrod oppress thee? A Laban defraud thee? A covetous landlord
gripe thee? Well, yet take not the matter into thine own hands by attempting
unlawful courses; presume not to be judge in thine own cause, for default of a
present redress; but often remember what the apostle taught his Thessalonians: "It
is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you."
Isaac Craven's Sermon at Paul's Cross, 1630.
COKE, "David prayeth for his own safety, and his enemies' confusion: he
complaineth of their wrongful dealing, whereby God is incited against them.

6. A Psalm of David.
Title. ‫לדוד‬ ledavid.— This Psalm is thought to have been composed by David when
he was persecuted by Saul; whose forces, which were unjustly raised against him, he
beseeches God to dissipate, and especially to stop the mouths of his false accusers;
such as Doeg and the Ziphites, of whom he complains bitterly. Many commentators
suppose, that David is here speaking in the person of Christ; and, consequently, that
the enemies here referred to, are more especially the rulers of the darkness of this
world, whose destruction is prophetically foretold.
Psalms 35:1. Plead my cause, &c.— Contend, O Lord, with them who contend with
me.
BE SO , "Verses 1-3
Psalms 35:1-3. Plead my cause, O Lord, &c. — Take my part, and maintain my
cause against those that contend with me, and have raised war against me; for I am
not able to defend myself, and have none else to appear for me. Take hold of shield
and buckler — Wherewith to cover and defend me; that is, Be thou my protector,
and preserve me under the shield of thy almighty providence. And stand up for my
help — Oppose thyself to them, and keep off all their assaults. Draw out also the
spear — Thy offensive as well as defensive weapons. Strike them through, as well as
defend me. He alludes to the practice of soldiers in battle. Stop the way, &c. — In
which they are advancing directly and furiously against me. Let them run upon the
spear and the sword, if they continue to pursue me. Say unto my soul — That is,
unto me, either, 1st, By thy Spirit assuring me of it; or, 2d, By thy providence
effecting it. Confirm my soul in this belief, that thou wilt at last deliver me from this
persecution.
K&D 1-3, "The psalmist begins in a martial and anthropomorphical style such as we
have not hitherto met with. On the ultima-accentuation of ‫ה‬ ָ‫יב‬ ִ‫,ר‬ vid., on Psa_3:8. Both ‫את‬
are signs of the accusative. This is a more natural rendering here, where the psalmist
implores God to subjugate his foes, than to regard ‫את‬ as equivalent to ‫עם‬ (cf. Isa_49:25
with ib. Psa_27:8; Job_10:2); and, moreover, for the very same reason the expression in
this instance is ‫ם‬ ַ‫ח‬ ְ‫,ל‬ (in the Kal, which otherwise only lends the part. ‫ם‬ ֵ‫ּח‬‫ל‬, Psa_56:2., to
the Niph. ‫)נלחם‬ instead of the reciprocal form ‫ם‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ָ ִ‫.ה‬ It is usually supposed that ‫ם‬ ַ‫ח‬ ָ‫ל‬ means
properly vorare, and war is consequently conceived of as a devouring of men; but the
Arabic offers another primary meaning: to press close and compact (Niph. to one
another), consequently ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ָ‫ח‬ ְ‫ל‬ ִ‫מ‬ means a dense crowd, a dense bustle and tumult (cf. the
Homeric κλόνος). The summons to Jahve to arm, and that in a twofold manner, viz., with
the ‫ן‬ִ‫ג‬ ָ‫מ‬ for warding off the hostile blow and ‫ה‬ָ ִ‫צ‬ (vid., Ps 5:13) which covers the body like a
testudo - by which, inasmuch as it is impossible to hold both shields at the same time,
the figure is idealised - is meant to express, that He is to make Himself felt by the foes, in
every possible way, to their own confounding, as the unapproachable One. The ‫ב‬ of ‫י‬ ִ‫ת‬ ַ‫ר‬ְ‫ז‬ ֶ‫ע‬ ְ

7. (in the character of help turned towards me) is the so-called Beth essentiae,
(Note: The Hebrew Beth essentiae is used much more freely and extensively than
the Arabic, which is joined exclusively to the predicate of a simple clause, where in
our language the verb is “to be,” and as a rule only to the predicate of negative
clauses: laisa bi-hakımim, he is not wise, or laisa bi-l-hakımi, he is not the wise man.
The predicate can accordingly be indeterminate or determinate. Moreover, in
Hebrew, where this ‫ב‬ is found with the predicate, with the complement of the
subject, or even, though only as a solecism (vid., Gesenius' Thesaurus p. 175), with
the subject itself, the word to which it is prefixed may be determinate, whether as an
attribute determined by itself (Exo_6:3, ‫י‬ ַ ַ‫שׁ‬ ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ ְ ), by a suffix (as above, Psa_35:2, cf.
Psa_146:5; Exo_18:4; Pro_3:26), or even by the article. At all events no syntactic
objection can be brought against the interpretations of ‫ן‬ ָ‫שׁ‬ ָ‫ע‬ ֶ‫,ב‬ “in the quality of
smoke,” Psa_37:20; cf. ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ב‬ ֶ‫ה‬ ַ , Psa_78:33, and of ‫שׁ‬ ֶ‫פ‬ֶ ַ , “in the character of the soul,”
Lev_17:11.)
as in Exo_18:4; Pro_3:26; Isa_48:10 (tanquam argentum), and frequently. ‫יק‬ ִ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ה‬ has the
same meaning as in Exo_15:9, cf. Gen_14:14, viz., to bring forth, draw forth, to draw or
unsheath (a sword); for as a sword is sheathed when not in use, so a spear is kept in the
δουροδόκη (Odyss. i. 128). Even Parchon understands ‫ּר‬‫ג‬ ְ‫ס‬ to mean a weapon; and the
word σάγαρις, in Herodotus, Xenophon, and Strabo, a northern Asiatic, more especially
a Scythian, battle-axe, has been compared here;
(Note: Probably one and the same word with the Armenian sakr, to which are
assigned the (Italian) meanings mannaja, scure, brando ferro, in Ciakciak's
Armenian Lexicon; cf. Lagarde's Gesammelte Abhandlungen, 1866, S. 203.)
but the battle-axe was not a Hebrew weapon, and ‫ּר‬‫ג‬ ְ‫,ס‬ which, thus defectively written,
has the look of an imperative, also gives the best sense when so taken (lxx σύγκλεισον,
Targ. ‫ּוק‬‫ר‬ ְ‫,)וּט‬ viz., close, i.e., cut off, interclude scil. viam. The word has Dechî, because
‫י‬ ָ‫פ‬ ְ‫ּד‬‫ר‬ ‫את‬ ַ‫ר‬ ְ‫ק‬ ִ‫,ל‬ “casting Thyself against my persecutors,” belongs to both the preceding
summonses. Dachselt rightly directs attention to the similar sequence of the accents in
Psa_55:19; Psa_66:15. The Mosaic figure of Jahve as a man of war (‫מלחמה‬ ‫,אישׁ‬ Exo_15:3;
Deu_32:41.) is worked out here with brilliant colours, under the impulse of a wrathful
spirit. But we see from Psa_35:3 what a spiritual meaning, nevertheless, the whole
description is intended to convey. In God's intervention, thus manifested in facts, he
would gladly hear His consolatory utterance to himself. The burden of his cry is that
God's love may break through the present outward appearance of wrath and make itself
felt by him.

8. 2 Take up shield and armor;
arise and come to my aid.
BAR ES, "Take hold of shield and buckler - That is, Arm thyself as if for the
contest. It is a prayer, in a new form, that God would interpose, and that he would go
forth as a warrior against the enemies of the psalmist. On the word “shield,” see the
notes at Psa_5:12. Compare the notes at Eph_6:16. On the word “buckler,” see the notes
at Psa_18:2. These terms are derived from the armor of a warrior, and the prayer here is
that God would appear in that character for his defense.
And stand up for my help - As a warrior stands up, or stands firm, to arrest the
attack of an enemy.
CLARKE, "Take hold of shield and buckler - Let them be discomfited in battle
who are striving to destroy my life. It is by the shield and buckler of others, not any of his
own that God overthrows the enemies of his people. This is spoken merely after the
manner of men.
GILL, "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.
CALVI , "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

9. 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 ‫,צנה‬ 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. or 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 ‫ריק‬ , rik, which signifies to unsheath, or make bare, I take
simply to mean, to draw out, or bring forth. The Hebrew word ‫,סגור‬ 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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 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.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 2. Shield and buckler. The word rendered shield is in the Hebrew text ( gm),
magen, which was a short buckler intended merely for defence. The word rendered
buckler is (hnu) tsinnah; it was double the weight of the magen, and was carried by
the infantry; the magen, being lighter and more manageable, was used by the
calvary. The tsinnah answered to the scutum, and the magen to the clypeus, among
the Romans. The word tsinnah, means that kind of shield from the middle of which
there arose a large boss, surmounted by a dagger, and which was highly useful both
as a defensive and an offensive weapon in ancient warfare. James Anderson, note to
Calvin in loc.

10. 3 Brandish spear and javelin[a]
against those who pursue me.
Say to me,
“I am your salvation.”
BAR ES, "Draw out also the spear - The word here rendered “draw out” means
properly to pour out; to empty; and it is applied to the act of emptying sacks, Gen_
42:35; to emptying bottles, Jer_48:12; to drawing a sword from a sheath, Exo_15:9;
Lev_26:33; Eze_5:12. It is applied to a “spear” either as drawing it out of the place
where it was kept, or as stretching it out for the purposes of attack. The former probably
is the meaning, and the idea is, that David prayed God to “arm himself” - as a warrior
does - in order to defend him. The spear was a common weapon in ancient warfare. It
was sometimes so short that it could be brandished as a sword in the hand, or hurled at
an enemy, 1Sa_18:11; 1Sa_19:10; 1Sa_20:33; but it was usually made as long as it could
be to be handled conveniently. The spear was a weapon of “attack.” The parts of armor
referred to in Psa_35:2 were designed for defense. The idea of the psalmist is that of a
warrior prepared alike for attack or defense.
And stop the way against them that persecute me - The words “the way” are
not in the original. The word rendered “stop” - ‫סגר‬ sâgar - means properly to shut, to
close, as a door or gate, Job_3:10; 1Sa_1:5; Gen_19:6, Gen_19:10. The idea here,
according to the usage of the word, is, Shut or close up the way against those that
persecute me. So Gesenius renders it. Grotius, Michaelis, DeWette, and others, however,
regard the word as a noun, signifying the same as the Greek - σάγαρις sagaris - a two-
edged sword, such as was used by the Scythians, Persians, and Amazons. Herod. vii. 64.
See Rosenmuller in loc. It is not so rendered, however, in any of the ancient versions.
The Septuagint render it: “And shut up against those that persecute me;” the Vulgate,
“Pre-occupy against those that persecute me;” the Aramaic has: “Shut up against those
that persecute me.” The correct idea probably is that which is given in the common
version. The psalmist prays that God would go forth to meet his enemies; that he would
arrest and check them in their march; that he would hedge up their way, and that he
would thus prevent them from attacking him.
Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation - Say to “me,” I will save you. That is, Give
me some assurance that thou wilt interpose, and that thou wilt guard me from my
enemies. Man only wants this assurance to be calm in respect to any danger. When God
says to us that he will be our salvation; that he will protect us; that he will deliver us
from sin, from danger, from hell, the mind may and will be perfectly calm. To a believer
he gives this assurance; to all he is willing to give it. The whole plan of salvation is
arranged with a view to furnish such an assurance, and to give a pledge to the soul that

11. God “will” save. Death loses its terrors then; the redeemed man moves on calmly - for in
all the future - in all worlds - he has nothing now to fear.
CLARKE, "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation - Give me an assurance that
thou wilt defend both body and soul against my adversaries.
GILL, "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 ‫סגיר‬ 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.
HE RY, " 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

12. 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.
JAMISO , "fight against — literally, “devour my devourers.”
stop the way against — literally, “shut up” (the way), to meet or oppose, etc.
I ... thy salvation — who saves thee.
CALVI , "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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 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 had 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 the
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.

13. EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 3. Draw out the spear, and stop the way. The spear in the days of Saul and
David was a favourite weapon. (See 1 Chronicles 11:1-47). A valiant man bravely
defending a narrow pass might singly with his lance keep back a pursuing host, and
give time for his friends to escape. Very remarkable were the feats of valour of this
sort performed in Oriental warfare. David would have his God become his heroic
defender, making his enemies pause. C. H. S.
Ver. 3. Draw out; or, as the Hebrew phrase is, empty, that is, unsheath; the like is of
the sword. Exodus 15:9, Leviticus 26:33. Henry Ainsworth.
Ver. 3. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Observe, 1. That salvation may be
made sure to a man. David would never pray for that which could not be. or
would Peter charge us with a duty which stood not in possibility to be performed. 2
Peter 1:10. "Make your election sure." And to stop the bawling throats of all
cavilling adversaries, Paul directly proves it: "Know ye not your own selves, how
that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Corinthians 13:5. We may
then know that Christ is in us. If Christ be in us, we are in Christ; if we be in Christ,
we cannot be condemned, for Romans 8:1, "There is no damnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus." But I leave this point that it may be sure, as granted; and come
to ourselves, that we may make it sure. The Papists deny this, and teach the
contrary, that salvation cannot be made sure; much good do it them, with their
sorry and heartless doctrine! If they make that impossible to any which God hath
made easy for many, "into their secret let not my soul come." Genesis 49:6. Observe,
2. That the best saints have desired to make their salvation sure. David that knew it,
yet entreats to know it more. "I know thou favourest me" Psalms 41:11; yet here,
still, dic animae, "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation." A man can never be too
sure of his going to heaven. Thomas Adams.
Ver. 3. Say unto my soul. God may speak with his own voice; and thus he gave
assurance to Abraham, "Fear not, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."
Genesis 15:1. If God speak comfort, let hell roar horror. 2. He may speak by his
works: actual mercies to us demonstrate that we are in his favour, and shall not be
condemned. "By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not
triumph over me." 3. He may speak by his Son. "Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Mt 11:28. 4. He may speak by his
Scripture; this is God's epistle to us, and his letters patent, wherein are granted to
us all the privileges of salvation. A universal si quis; "Whosoever believes, and is
baptised, shall be saved." 5. He may speak by his ministers, to whom he hath given
"the ministry of reconciliation." 2Co 5:19. 6. He doth speak this by his Spirit: he
"sendeth forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father."
Galatians 4:6. By all these voices God says to his elect, I am your salvation. ...My.
There is no vexation to the vexation of the soul; so no consolation to the consolation
of the soul. ...Let this teach us to make much of this My. Luther says there is great
divinity in pronouns. The assurance that God will save some is a faith incident to
devils. The very reprobates may believe that there is a book of election; but God
never told them that their names were written there. The hungry beggar at the feast
house gate smells good cheer, but the master doth not say, "This is provided for
thee." It is small comfort to the harbourless wretch to pass through a goodly city,
and see many glorious buildings, when he cannot say, Haec mea domus, I have a

14. place here. The beauty of that excellent city Jerusalem, built with sapphires,
emeralds, chrysolites, and such precious stones, the foundation and walls whereof
are perfect gold Revelation 21:1-27, affords a soul no comfort, unless he can say,
Mea civitas, I have a mansion in it. The all sufficient merits of Christ do thee no
good, unless, tua pars et portio, he be thy Saviour. Happy soul that can say with the
psalmist, "O Lord, thou art my portion!" Let us all have oil in our lamps, lest if be
then to buy, beg, or borrow, we be shut out of doors like the fools, not worthy of
entrance. Pray, Lord, say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. ...Who? What? To
whom? When? WHO? The Lord! To the Lord David prays. He hath made a good
choice, for there is salvation in none other. "Thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me
is thy help." Hosea 13:9. The world fails, the flesh fails, the devil kills. Only the
Lord saves. WHAT? Salvation. A special good thing; every man's desire. I will give
thee a lordship, saith God to Esau. I will give thee a kingdom, saith God to Saul. I
will give thee an apostleship, saith God to Judas. But, I will be thy salvation, he says
to David, and to none but saints. TO WHOM? My salvation. ot others only, but
"thine." A man and a Christian are two creatures. He may be a man that hath
reason and outward blessings; he is only a Christian that hath faith, and part in the
salvation of Christ. God is plentiful salvation, but it is not ordinary to find a cui --to
whom. Much of heaven is lost for lack of a hand to apprehend it. WHE ? In the
present, "I am." Sum, non sufficit quod ero. It is comfort to Israel in captivity that
God says, Ero tua redemptio, I will redeem thee; but the assurance that quiets the
conscience is this, I am thy salvation. As God said to Abraham, "Fear not, I am with
thee." Deferred hope faints the heart. Whatsoever God forbears to assure us of, oh,
pray we him not to delay this, "Lord, say to our soul, I am thy salvation."
Condensed from Thomas Adams.
TRAPP, "Psalms 35:3 Draw out also the spear, and stop [the way] against them that
persecute me: say unto my soul, I [am] thy salvation.
Ver. 3. Draw out also the spear] viz. That thy contending and appearing for me may
appear to be sufficient and glorious.
And stop the way] Heb. And stop, viz. the doors, as Genesis 19:6; Genesis 19:10, 2
Kings 6:32, lest the malcontents come in and kill me. Or, shut me up from my
persecutors, that they find me not; like as, afterwards, God hid Jeremiah and
Baruch, when sought for to the slaughter.
Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation] Facito ut haec animula te sibi testantem
audiat, &c. Inwardly persuade my heart to firm affiance in thee, amidst all mine
afflictions.
ELLICOTT, "(3) Draw out also the spear—i.e., from the sheath, that seems to have
been used to guard its point. So δουροδόκη (Homer, Odyssey, i. 128).

15. Stop the way.—So LXX., Vulg., and all ancient versions. Many modern scholars,
however, are disposed to treat the word segor not as the imperative of a verb, but as
a noun, equivalent to the Greek σάγαρις, Latin, securis, a Persian and Scythian
weapon mentioned by Herodotus (i. 215, iv. 70) and Xenophon (Anab., iv. 4, 16), and
generally taken for a battle-axe, but by some as a short curved sword or a scimitar.
It is identified by Sir Henry Rawlinson with the khanjar of modern Persia, “a short
curved double-edged dagger, almost universally worn.” The Bedouins of modern
Egypt use a schagur.
The adoption of this rendering makes an excellent parallelism, and suits the word
rendered “against,” which really means “to meet,” and suggests an onset instead of
a mere passive attitude of defence.
4 May those who seek my life
be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin
be turned back in dismay.
BAR ES, "Let them be confounded - That is, Let them, through Thy gracious
interposition in my behalf, be so entirely overcome and subdued that they shall be
“ashamed” that they ever made the effort to destroy me; let them see so manifestly that
God is on my side that they will be covered with confusion for having opposed one who
was so entirely the object of the divine protection and care. See Psa_6:10, note; Psa_
25:2-3, notes. Compare the notes at Job_6:20.
That seek after my soul - My life. That seek to destroy me.
Let them be turned back - In their attempts to pursue me. Do thou interpose and
turn them back.
And brought to confusion - Put to shame; or made ashamed - as they are who are
disappointed and thwarted in their schemes.
CLARKE, "Let then be confounded - Let none of their projects or devices against

16. me succeed. Blast all their designs.
The imprecations in these verses against enemies are all legitimate. They are not
against the souls or eternal welfare of those sinners, but against their schemes and plans
for destroying the life of an innocent man; and the holiest Christian may offer up such
prayers against his adversaries. If a man aim a blow at another with a design to take
away his life, and the blow would infallibly be mortal if it took place, and the person
about to be slain see that by breaking the arm of his adversary he may prevent his own
death, and thus save his enemy from actual murder; it is his duty to prevent this double
evil by breaking the arm of the blood-thirsty man. It is on this principle that David prays
against his adversaries in the first eight verses of this Psalm.
GILL, "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,
Mat_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 1Sa_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.
HE RY, " 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; 1Jo_5:16. As for

17. Saul himself, David, it is probable, knew that God had rejected him and had forbidden
Samuel to mourn for him, 1Sa_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 (1Sa_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 (1Sa_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.
JAMISO , "(Compare Psa_9:17).
devise my hurt — purpose for evil to me.
K&D 4-8, "Throughout the next two strophes follow terrible imprecations. According
to Fürst and others the relation of ‫ּושׁ‬ and ‫ר‬ ֵ‫פ‬ ָ‫ח‬ is like that of erblassen, to turn pale (cf.
Isa_29:22 with Psa_34:6), and erröthen, to turn red, to blush. ‫בושׁ‬ has, however, no
connection with ‫,בוץ‬ nor has ‫,חפר‬ Arab. chfr, chmr, any connection with Arab. hmr, to be
red; but, according to its radical notion, ‫ּושׁ‬ means disturbari (vid., Ps 6:11), and ‫ר‬ ֵ‫פ‬ ָ‫,ח‬
obtegere, abscondere (vid., Psa_34:6). ‫ּגוּ‬ ִ‫,י‬ properly “let them be made to fall back” (cf.
e.g., Isa_42:17). On the figure on Psa_35:5 cf. Psa_83:14. The clauses respecting the
Angel of Jahve, Psa_35:5 and Psa_35:6, are circumstantial clauses, viz., clauses
defining the manner. ‫ה‬ ֶ‫ּח‬ (giving, viz., them, the push that shall cause their downfall,
equivalent to ‫ם‬ ָ‫ּח‬ or ‫ם‬ ֵ‫ּח‬ , Psa_68:28) is closely connected with the figure in Psa_35:6,
and ‫ם‬ ָ‫פ‬ ְ‫ּד‬‫ר‬, with the figure in Psa_35:5; consequently it seems as though the original

18. position of these two clauses respecting the Angel of Jahve had been disturbed; just as in
Ps 34, the ‫ע‬ strophe and the ‫פ‬ strophe have changed their original places. It is the Angel,
who took off Pharaoh's chariot wheels so that they drave them heavily (Exo_14:25) that
is intended here. The fact that this Angel is concerned here, where the point at issue is
whether the kingship of the promise shall be destroyed at its very beginning or not,
harmonises with the appearing of the ‫ה‬ ‫מלאך‬ at all critical junctures in the course of the
history of redemption. ‫ּות‬ ַ‫ל‬ ְ‫ק‬ ַ‫ל‬ ֲ‫,ח‬ loca passim lubrica, is an intensive form of expression
for ‫ּות‬‫ק‬ ָ‫ל‬ ֲ‫ח‬ rof noisserp, Psa_73:18. Just as ‫ה‬ ֶ‫ּח‬ recalls to mind Ex 15, so ‫ם‬ ָ‫פ‬ ְ‫ּד‬‫ר‬ recalls Judg 5.
In this latter passage the Angel of Jahve also appears in the midst of the conquerors who
are pursuing the smitten foe, incarnate as it were in Deborah.
CALVI , "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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 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.
o 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.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 4. Let them be confounded and put to shame. Here David begins his

19. imprecations, which yet, saith Theodoret, he doth not utter as cursing, but as
prophesying rather. If we shall at any time take upon us thus to imprecate (as we
may in some cases), we must see to it, first, that our cause be good; secondly, that we
do it not out of private revenge, but merely for the glory of God; thirdly, that we
utter not a syllable this way, but by the guidance of God's good Spirit. John Trapp.
Ver. 4-8,26. How are we to account for such prayers for vengeance? We find them
chiefly in four Psalms, the seventh, thirty-fifth, sixty-ninth, and one hundred and
ninth, and the imprecations in these form a terrible climax. In the last no less than
thirty anathemas have been counted. Are these the mere outbursts of passionate and
unsanctified feeling, or are they the legitimate expression of a righteous
indignation? Are they to be excused as being animated by the "spirit of Elias"? a
spirit not unholy indeed, but far removed from the meekness and gentleness of
Christ; or are they the stereotyped forms in which the spirit of devotion may utter
itself? Are they Jewish only, or may they be Christian also? An uninstructed
fastidiousness, as it is well known, has made many persons recoil from reading these
Psalms at all. Many have found their lips falter when they have been called to join in
using them in the congregation, and have either uttered them with bated breath and
doubting heart, or have interpreted them in a sense widely at variance with the
letter. Some have tried to reconcile them with a more enlightened conscience, by
regarding such words not as the expression of a wish, but as the utterance of a
prediction; but the Hebrew optative which is distinct enough from the simple future,
absolutely forbids this expedient. Others again would see in them expressions which
may lawfully be used in the soul's wrestling against spiritual enemies. And finally,
some would defend them as utterances of righteous zeal for God's honour, and
remind us that if we do not sympathise with such zeal, it may be not because our
religion is more pure, but because our hearts are colder.
ow the real source of the difficulty lies in our not observing and bearing in mind
the essential difference between the Old Testament and the ew. The older
dispensation was in every sense a sterner one than the new. The spirit of Elias,
though not an evil spirit, was not the spirit of Christ. "The Son of Man came not to
destroy men's lives, but to save them." Lu 9:56. And through him his disciples are
made partakers of the same spirit. But this was not the spirit of the older economy.
The Jewish nation had been trained in a sterner school. It had been steeled and
hardened by the discipline which had pledged it to a war of extermination with
idolaters; and however necessary such a discipline might be, it would not tend to
foster the gentler virtues; it is conceivable how even a righteous man, under it,
feeling it to be his bounden duty to root out evil wherever he saw it, and identifying,
as he did, his own enemies with the enemies of Jehovah, might use language which
to us appears unnecessarily vindictive. To men so trained and taught, what we call
"religious toleration, "was a thing not only wrong, but absolutely inconceivable.
It may be quite true that we find revenge forbidden as directly in the Old Testament
as in the ew, as, for instance, in Leviticus 19:18, "Thou shalt not avenge, "etc.,
though even there is a limitation, "against the children of thy people." And it may
be no less true that we find instances of imprecation in the ew; as when St. Paul
says 2 Timothy 4:14, "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord
reward him according to his works, "or when he exclaims Acts 23:3, "God will
smite thee, thou whited wall; "or, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let

20. him be anathema." But even these expressions are very different from the varied,
deliberate, carefully constructed, detailed anathemas of the Psalms. And our Lord's
denunciations, to which Hengstenberg refers, are in no way parallel. They are not
curses upon individuals, but in fact solemn utterances of the great truth, "Except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish." But after all, whatever may be said of particular
passages, the general tone which runs through the two covenants, is unquestionably
different. To deny this is not to honour Moses, but to dishonour Christ. Mt 5:43
19:8. On the other hand, we must not forget that these imprecations are not the
passionate longings for personal revenge. The singer undoubtedly sees in his
enemies the enemies of God and his church. They that are not with him are against
God. And because the zeal of God's house even consumes him, he prays that all the
doers of iniquity may be rooted out. The indignation therefore is righteous, though
it may appear to us wrongly directed, or excessive in its utterance.
Once more, the very fact that a dark cloud hid God's judgment in the world to come
from the view of the Old Testament saints, may be alleged in excuse of this their
desire to see him take vengeance on his enemies here. How deeply this problem of
God's righteousness exercised their minds is abundantly evident from numerous
places in the Psalms. They longed to see that righteousness manifested. It could be
manifested, they thought, only in the evident exaltation of the righteous, and the
evident destruction of the wicked here. Hence, with their eye always fixed on
temporal recompense, they could even wish and pray for the destruction of the
ungodly. The awful things of the world to come were to a great extent hid from their
eyes. Could they have seen these, then surely their prayer would have been not, "Let
the angel of the Lord persecute them, ""Blot them out of thy book; "but rather with
him who hung upon the cross; "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they
do." J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Ver. 4,8,26. David was about as devoid of vindictiveness as any public character
who can well be named. His conduct in relation to Saul, from first to last displayed a
singularly noble spirit, far removed from anything like the lust of vengeance; and
the meekness with which he endured the bitter reproaches of Shimei, bore witness to
the same spirit after his accession to the throne. ...When David's whole career is
intelligently and fairly reviewed, it leaves on the mind the impression of a man
possessed of as meek and placable a temper as was ever associated with so great
strength of will, and such strong passions. Even in the heats of sudden resentment,
he was not apt to be hurried into deeds of revenge. Such being the case, it would
certainly have been a strange and unaccountable thing if he had shown himself less
the master of his own spirit in poems composed in seasons of retirement and
communion with God, especially since these very poems express a keen sense of the
heinousness of the sin that has been laid to his charge. He can affirm regarding his
implacable enemies, "As for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I
humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. I
behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily,
as one that mourneth for his mother." Psalms 35:13-14. "O Lord, my God, if I have
done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; if I have rewarded evil unto him that
was at peace with me (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy):
let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon
the earth." Psalms 7:3-5. Surely one ought to think twice before putting on the

21. imprecations an interpretation which would make them utterly incongruous with
these appeals, uttered almost in the same breath. William Binnie, D.D.
BE SO , "Psalms 35:4. Let them be confounded — That is, frustrated and
disappointed in their wicked designs and hopes against me. Or, they shall be
disappointed: for this and the following verses, to Psalms 35:9, may be considered as
a prediction of the ruin and destruction which were about to come on the enemies of
David, and on those of the Messiah and his church. Accordingly, Dr. Waterland
renders them all in the future, whereas our translation by putting them in the
optative mood, has given them too much the appearance of imprecations, dictated
by an implacable and revengeful spirit: Let them be turned back, or, they shall be
turned back, that is, stopped, or hindered in their wicked designs, or discomfited
and put to flight.
TRAPP, "Psalms 35:4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my
soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
Ver. 4. Let them be confounded and put to shame] Here David beginneth his
imprecations; which yet non maledicens dixit sed vaticinantis more praedixit, saith
Theodoret, he doth not utter as cursing, but as prophesying rather. If we shall at
any time take upon us thus to imprecate (as we may in some cases), we must see to it,
first, that our cause be good. Secondly, that we do it not out of private revenge; but
merely for the glory of God. Thirdly, ut ne voculam quidem nisi nobis praeeunte
Dei, non carnis, spiritu effundamus, that we utter not a syllable this way but by the
guidance of God’s good Spirit.
5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away;
BAR ES, "Let them be as chaff before the wind - As chaff is driven away in
winnowing grain. See the notes at Psa_1:4.
And let the angel of the Lord chase them - Drive them away, or scatter them.
Angels are often represented in the Scriptures as agents employed by God in bringing
punishment on wicked people. See 2Ki_19:35; Isa_37:36; 1Ch_21:12, 1Ch_21:30; 2Sa_
24:16.

22. CLARKE, "Let the angel of the Lord chase them - By angel we may either
understand one of those spirits, whether good or bad, commonly thus denominated, or
any thing used by God himself as the instrument of their confusion.
GILL, "
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, Exo_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.
JAMISO , "(Compare Psa_1:4) - a terrible fate; driven by wind on a slippery path in
darkness, and hotly pursued by supernatural violence (2Sa_24:16; Act_12:23).
CALVI , "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,

23. 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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 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 that 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.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 4-8,26. See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information.
Ver. 5. As chaff. Literally, "As the thistledown." John Morison.
BE SO , "Psalms 35:5. Let them be — Or, They shall be; as chaff before the wind
— That is, dispersed and chased from place to place, finding rest and safety
nowhere. And let the angel of the Lord — Whom God employs to defend his people,
and to destroy his enemies; chase them — Drive them forward to their destruction,
as chaff is driven by a fierce wind.
WHEDO , "Verse 5-6
5, 6. Chaff—Emblem of worthlessness. See on Psalms 83:13.
Angel of the Lord—The title occurs twice in this verse, and nowhere else in the
psalms except Psalms 34:7, where see note. Here it seems to mean any angel
specially sent by Jehovah to execute the judgment; or, if Messiah is meant, he, too,
executeth judgment. Psalms 2:9-12; John 5:22-27.
Let their way be dark and slippery—Literally, darkness and slipperinesses, the
abstract for the concrete, and the plural of the last word for intensity.
Persecute—Here, as in Psalms 35:3, this word should be translated pursue. The
figure is that of pursuing a retreating army in order to make victory complete, and

24. answers to “chase”—drive forward—in Psalms 35:5. A retreating army, covered
with shame, confusion, and disappointment, pursued by the angel of Jehovah
through dark and slippery passages, is an object too terrible for calm
contemplation. Still it is only what they had meted out to David, and is according to
the oldest laws of justice.
TRAPP, "Psalms 35:5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the
LORD chase [them].
Ver. 5. Let them be as chaff] Facti sint a corde suo fugitivi, let them fly before their
own consciences, restless and uncertain whither to turn themselves.
And let the angel of the Lord chase them] It may be understood both of the evil
angels and of the good, ready at God’s command to do execution upon his enemies.
Chaff driven before the wind may rest against a wall; but where shall they rest who
are chased by an angel? "Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" 1 Peter
4:18. Surely nowhere.
6 may their path be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
BAR ES, "Let their way be dark - Margin, as in Hebrew: “darkness.” That is, let
them not be able to see where they go; what danger they incur; what is before them. The
idea is that of persons who wander in the night, not knowing what is before them, or
what danger may be near. The succession of images and figures here is terrific. The
representation is that of persons scattered as the chaff is before the wind; pursued by the
angel seeking vengeance; and driven along a dark and slippery path, with no guide, and
no knowledge as to the precipices which may be before them, or the enemies that may be
pressing upon them.
And slippery - Margin, as in Hebrew: “slipperiness.” This is a circumstance which
adds increased terror to the image. It is not only a dark road, but a road made slippery
by rains; a road where they are in danger every moment of sliding down a precipice
where they will be destroyed.
And let the angel of the Lord persecute them - Pursue or follow them. The word
“persecute” we use now in the sense of subjecting one to pain, torture, or privation, on
account of his religious opinions. This is not the meaning of the word used here. It is

25. simply to “follow” or “pursue.” The image is that of the avenging angel following on, or
pursuing them in this dark and slippery way; a flight in a dark and dangerous path, with
a destroying angel close in the rear.
CLARKE, "Let their way be dark - Let them lose their way, be entangled in
morasses and thickets, and be confounded in all their attempts to injure me. All these
phrases are military; and relate to ambushes, hidden snares, forced marches in order to
surprise, and stratagems of different kinds.
GILL, "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 Jer_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 Psa_35:5.
CALVI , "
SPURGEO , "Ver. 6. Let their way be dark and slippery. What terrors are
gathered Here! o 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 today, 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.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 4-8,26. See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information.
Ver. 6. Let their way be dark and slippery. A horrible way! Darkness alone who
feareth not? A slippery way alone who avoids not? In a dark and slippery way, how
shalt thou go? where set foot? These two ills are the great punishments of men:
darkness, ignorance; a slippery way, luxury. Let their way be darkness and
slipping; and let the angel of the Lord persecute them, that they be not able to stand.
For anyone in a dark and slippery way, when he seeth that if he move his foot he
will fall, and there is no light before his feet, haply resolves to wait until light come;
but here is the angel of the Lord persecuting them. Augustine.
Ver. 6. Slippery. Margin, as in Hebrew, slipperiness. This is a circumstance which
adds increased terror to the image. It is not only a dark road, but a road made
slippery by rains; a road where they are in danger every moment of sliding down a
precipice where they will be destroyed. Albert Barnes.

26. BE SO , "Verse 6-7
Psalms 35:6-7. Let their way — By which they flee, being chased, as was now said;
be dark and slippery — So as that they can neither discern the right path, nor be
able to stand in it, and much less to escape, especially from so swift a pursuer as an
angel. For without cause — Out of mere malice, without any injury or provocation
on my part; have they hid, &c. — The sundry expressions used in this clause,
aggravate their sin, and signify that their persecution of him was not the effect of a
sudden passion, but of a deep and habitual hatred and malice, carried on in a
constant and continued course, with deliberation, craft, and deceit, and that against
David’s soul, or life; for nothing less would satisfy them.
TRAPP, "Psalms 35:6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the
LORD persecute them.
Ver. 6. Let their way be dark and slippery] Heb. Darkness and slipperiness. If a
man have neither light nor firm footing, and a fierce enemy at his heels, what shift
can he make for himself? The word rendered slippery is of a double form (like that
libbi secharchar, my heart panteth or beateth about, throbbeth, Psalms 38:10), to
increase the signfication. See Jeremiah 23:12. The soul of a wicked man is in a sling,
1 Samuel 25:29, violently tossed about.
7 Since they hid their net for me without cause
and without cause dug a pit for me,
BAR ES, "For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit - See
Psa_7:15, note; Psa_9:15, note. This figure is derived from hunting. The idea is that of
digging a pit or hole for a wild beast to fall into, with a net so concealed that the animal
could not see it, and that might be suddenly drawn over him so as to secure him. The
reference here is to plans that are laid to entrap and ruin others: plots that are concocted
so as to secure destruction before one is aware. The psalmist says that, in his case, they
had done this without “cause,” or without any sufficient reason. He had done them no
wrong; he had given them no show of excuse for their conduct.
Which without cause they have digged for my soul - For my life. That is, they
have digged a pit into which I might fall, and into which they designed that I should fall,
though I have never done anything to give them occasion thus to seek my destruction.
CLARKE, "For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit - The

27. word ‫שחת‬ shachath, a pit, belongs to the second member of this verse, and the whole
should be read thus: For without a cause they have hidden for me their net, without a
cause they have digged a pit for my life. They have used every degree and species of
cunning and deceit to ruin me.
GILL, "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.
JAMISO , "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.
K&D 7-8, "Psa_35:7 also needs re-organising, just as in Psa_35:5. the original
positions of ‫דחה‬ and ‫רדפס‬ are exchanged. ‫ם‬ ָ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫ר‬ ‫ת‬ ַ‫ח‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ would be a pit deceptively covered
over with a net concealed below; but, as even some of the older critics have felt, ‫שׁחת‬ is
without doubt to be brought down from Psa_35:7 into Psa_35:7: without cause, i.e.,
without any provocation on my part, have they secretly laid their net for me (as in Psa_
9:16; Psa_31:5), without cause have they digged a pit for my soul. In Psa_35:8 the foes
are treated of collectively. ‫ע‬ ַ‫ד‬ֵ‫י‬ ‫ּא‬‫ל‬ is a negative circumstantial clause (Ew. §341, b):
improviso, as in Pro_5:6; Isa_47:11 extrem. Instead of ‫וּ‬ ֶ‫ד‬ ְⅴ ְ‫ל‬ ִ the expression is ‫דוּ‬ ְⅴ ְ‫ל‬ ִ , as
in Hos_8:3; the sharper form is better adapted to depict the suddenness and certainty of
the capture. According to Hupfeld, the verb ‫ה‬ፎ ָ‫שׁ‬ signifies a wild, dreary, confused noise
or crash, then devastation and destruction, a transition of meaning which - as follows
from ‫ה‬ፎ‫ּו‬‫שׁ‬ (cf. ‫ּהוּ‬ ) as a name of the desolate steppe, from ‫א‬ְ‫ו‬ ָ‫,שׁ‬ a waste, emptiness, and
from other indications - is solely brought about by transferring the idea of a desolate
confusion of tones to a desolate confusion of things, without any intermediate notion of
the crashing in of ruins. But it may be asked whether the reverse is not rather the case,
viz., that the signification of a waste, desert, emptiness or void is the primary one, and
the meaning that has reference to sound (cf. Arab. hwâ, to gape, be empty; to drive along,
fall down headlong, then also: to make a dull sound as of something falling, just like
rumor from ruere, fragor (from frangi) the derived one. Both etymology (cf. ‫ה‬ ָ‫ה‬ ָ ,

28. whence ‫ּהוּ‬ ) and the preponderance of other meanings, favour this latter view. Here the
two significations are found side by side, inasmuch as ‫ה‬ፎ‫ּו‬‫שׁ‬ in the first instance means a
waste = devastation, desolation, and in the second a waste = a heavy, dull sound, a
rumbling (δουπεሏν). In the Syriac version it is rendered: “into the pit which he has digged
let him fall,” as though it were ‫ת‬ ַ‫ח‬ ַ‫שׁ‬ in the second instance instead of ‫ה‬ፎ‫ּו‬‫שׁ‬; and from his
Hupfeld, with J. H. Michaelis, Stier, and others, is of opinion, that it must be rendered:
“into the destruction which he himself has prepared let him fall.” But this quam ipse
paravit is not found in the text, and to mould the text accordingly would be a very
arbitrary proceeding.
CALVI , "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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 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-- not caused by any wilful offence on our part. Twice does
David assert in one verse that his adversaries plotted against him without cause. et
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.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 4-8,26. See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information.
Ver. 7. They hid for me their net in a pit. As if David had said that they had dug a
pit, and covered and hid its mouth with a net, that I might pass upon it and fall into
it. Kimchi.
TRAPP, "Psalms 35:7 For without cause have they hid for me their net [in] a pit,
[which] without cause they have digged for my soul.

29. Ver. 7. For without cause have they hid for me, &c.] The wicked are so acted and
agitated by the devil, their task master, that, though they have no cause to work
mischief to the saints, yet they must do it; the old enmity, Genesis 3:15, still
worketh; but this rendereth their destruction certiorem et celeriorem, more sure
and more swift.
8 may ruin overtake them by surprise—
may the net they hid entangle them,
may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.
BAR ES, "Let destruction come upon him at unawares - Margin, which “he
knoweth not of.” So the Hebrew. The meaning is, Let destruction come upon him when
he is not looking for it, or expecting it.
And let his net that he hath hid catch himself - See the notes at Psa_7:15-16.
The psalmist prays here that the same thing may occur to his enemy which his enemy
had designed for him. It is simply a prayer that they might be treated as they purposed
to treat him.
CLARKE, "Let his net that he hath hid - See the notes on Psa_7:15, Psa_7:16.
GILL, "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, Psa_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
1Th_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

30. have intended and endeavoured to bring others into; see Psa_7:15.
JAMISO , "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.
CALVI , "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 ‫,שואה‬ 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.
SPURGEO , "Ver. 8. Let destruction come upon him at unawares. This

31. 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 was 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 within and without.
EXPLA ATORY OTES A D QUAI T SAYI GS
Ver. 4-8,26. See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information.
Ver. 4,8,26. See Psalms on "Psalms 35:4" for further information.
Ver. 8. Let destruction come upon him at unawares. Or a storm, such as is caused in
the Eastern countries by a south wind, very sudden, violent, and destructive. John
Gill.
Ver. 8. Let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him
fall. By giving Ahithophel rope enough, the Lord preserved David from perishing.
Who will not admire that Goliath should be slain with his own sword, and that
proud Haman should hold Mordecai's stirrup, and be the herald of his honour? The
wicked shall be undone by their own doings; all the arrows that they shoot at the
righteous shall fall upon their own pates. Maxentius built a false bridge to drown
Constantine, but was drowned himself. Henry the Third of France was stabbed in
the very same chamber where he had helped to contrive the cruel massacre of the
French Protestants. And his brother, Charles the inth, who delighted in the blood
of the saints, had blood given him to drink, for he was worthy. It is usual with God
to take persecutors in the snares and pits that they have laid for his people, many
thousands in this nation have experienced; and though Rome and her confederates
are this day laying snares and traps and digging pits for the righteous, who will
rather burn than bow to their Baal, yet do but wait and weep, and weep and wait a
little, and you shall see that the Lord will take them in the very snares and pits that
they have laid and digged for his people. Condensed from Thomas Brooks.
Ver. 8. Let the net that he hath hid catch himself. Thou fool, who opposest thy
counsels to those of the Most High. He who devises evil for another, falls at last into
his own pit, and the most cunning finds himself caught by what he had prepared for
another. But virtue without guile, erect like the lofty palm, rises with greater vigour
when it is oppressed. Pietro Metastasio, 1698-1782.
ELLICOTT, "(8) Let destruction.—There is considerable difficulty here, and the
ancient versions, by their variations, seem to point to some confusion in the text. The
LXX., no doubt, are right in reading the pronouns as plurals, instead of singular.
The word translated “destruction” means, primarily, a storm, or the crash that
accompanies a storm (Proverbs 1:27), and if with the Syriac we might supply a
clause, both parallelism and sense would be complete.

32. “Let men come upon him (them) unexpectedly.
Let the net which he had catch himself,
The pit which he (they) digged, let him (them) fall into it,
In ruin let him (them) fall into it.”
For “unawares,” see margin and ote, Song of Solomon 6:12.
BI, "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
Saved or unsaved
I. the earnest entreaty of a troubled soul. It was said of the great Sir Isaac Newton that
he had a white soul, so pure was it. But this can be said of very few. They do not feel their
need of salvation. When you become awakened it is a crisis of your life. You begin to ask
concerning things whether they be right or wrong. Your conscience is tender and
sensitive. And you must hear for yourself. “Say unto my soul”—so reads the text. But
whose soul? Why, the soul of every man who desires salvation.
II. the boon desired. It is salvation. Our Lord Jesus is willing to save all men. More
willing than the men in the lifeboat to save the people from the wreck. Sometimes the
lifeboat dare not venture out to sea; but there is never a time when the Lord Jesus will
refuse to save shipwrecked souls. I was much touched to hear a lifeboat man say, that at
a certain wreck off the Orme’s Head, near Llandudno, when the lifeboat put off to save
the passengers and sailors of the vessel in distress, it was impossible to take all of them
into the boat, and many were left. The men would have gladly saved all, but their boat
was not large enough. Now, our Lord can save all mankind. And He will save us from our
faults as well as from our sins. And you need this, for faults will grow up into sins if not
rooted out.
III. the certainty of God doing this. He says “I am thy salvation.” What God says, can
and will be done. It is not “I may,” or “I could” do this; but I am thy salvation.” If God
can make a world so beautiful as this, can He not purify our souls? If He can tint the
flower and make it lovely, cannot He redeem us from all iniquity?
IV. there is a personal assurance of salvation. “Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”
Hannah More once said that if we preach about a privilege and do not mention the
person who should have the privilege, it is like putting a letter into the post-office
without any direction upon it. If you want this salvation, it is ready; but for whom is it
intended? For every creature, and it is particularly addressed to you. Jesus did not say,
“Go into all the world and save nations,” but “Go into all the world and preach the good
news to every creature.” So, this salvation is meant for you. Then, when you are saved,
your example shall bless the world. But until you are saved, your example is worth very
little. (W. Birch.)
Full assurance
Many enemies were round David, but he feels there is only one thing God needs to do to
make him strong. Let but God say unto his soul, “I am thy salvation,” and he will defy