Psalms 35

Once again, David was being hounded by Saul and slandered by Saul’s men, many of whom had been David’s friends. David was championing the right cause, for he was God’s chosen king, while Saul was trying to destroy him so that one of his own sons would become king. Instead of managing the affairs of the kingdom, Saul was driven by his paranoia to pursue David and seek to kill him, and his zeal was fueled by the lies of his officers. (For the background, see 1 Sam. 19:5; 20:1; 23:25; 24:9–15; 25:29; 26:18–19.) This is classified as an imprecatory psalm (see Ps. 5 for discussion). David made three requests of God, and eventually He granted all of them.

David merged two images in verse 1—the law court (“plead my cause”; see 43:1; 74:22; Jer. 2:9; Mic. 6:1) and the battlefield. Saul chose the battlefield, but David turned to the Lord and asked Him to be Advocate and Judge in the dispute. “The Lord is a man of war” (24:8; 45:3–5; Ex. 15:3; Josh. 5:13–15), so if Saul wanted a fight, God would accept the challenge (see 18:25–27). A soldier himself, David envisioned the Lord dressed in armor and wielding His weapons. The buckler was a large shield that covered most of the body. The enemy hated David (v. 19), lied about him (v. 11), persecuted him (v. 2), and wanted to hurt him and kill him (vv. 4, 26), so the conflict was a matter of life and death; but there was no just cause for this opposition. (See vv. 7, 19; 38:19; 69:4; 109:3; 119:78, 86, 161.)

David asked the Lord to block the way and stand between him and Saul and his army (v. 3), just as He had done at the exodus (Ex. 14:19ff.). Then he asked that the angel of the Lord (34:7) confuse the enemy, turn them around, and chase them (v. 4). This would lead to their disgrace, defeat, and eventual destruction (v. 8). In verse 26, he repeated the prayer of verse 4. David frequently mentioned that he was a man with a price on his head (37:32; 38:12; 40:14; 54:3; 63:9; 70:2), so it’s no wonder he asked the Lord for a special word of assurance (v. 3; 27:1–3). Confronted by God’s heavenly army, Saul and his men were like the chaff: weightless, worthless, defenseless, and harmless. (See 1:4; 83:13; Isa. 17:13; 29:5; Dan. 2:35; Matt. 3:12). They would try to run on the slippery mountain trails and in the darkness fall to their death or fall into one of their own traps (vv. 7–8). These traps were probably pits with nets over them, covered with branches and leaves. Saul treated David like an animal, but it was Saul and his army who were the animals (vv. 15, 17, 25).

In this psalm, David followed each of his three requests with a song of praise to the Lord (vv. 9–10, 17–18, 27–28), showing that his great desire was to magnify Him. David’s joy was in God’s salvation, for which only God could receive the glory. His whole being (“all my bones”; see 51:8) would give thanks and praise to the Lord. “Who is like unto thee?” (v. 10) reminds us of Israel’s triumph song after the exodus (Ex. 15:11). David knew that God had chosen him to be king of Israel and that his greatest task would be to unite and strengthen the kingdom and lead the people back to God. Israel had an important work to do in the world and David’s leadership was essential.

David stated the evidence that proved he was innocent. The enemy depended on lies, false (“malicious”) witnesses who accused him of being a traitor. (See 27:12; Deut. 19:15–21; 1 Sam. 24:10.) Quite the contrary, it was Saul and his officers who were the traitors, for they returned evil for the good David did to them. On two occasions, David could have killed Saul, but instead, David returned good for evil (1 Sam. 24, 26; and see 38:20; 109:5; Jer. 18:18–23). Saul even admitted that David was the better man (1 Sam. 24:17). It pained David deeply that the men he had served with in Saul’s army had betrayed him (see 41:9; 55:12–14). He had prayed for them when they were in need, but his prayers returned to him unanswered. David received a blessing because he prayed, but God couldn’t send a blessing to such evil people. The only “return” David got from his prayers was evil for good, so he asked the Lord to send him good to compensate for their evil. Those who criticize David for his imprecatory prayer in verses 4–8 should remember that first he prayed for their help and healing. Saul’s men “tore David apart” with their wicked words (v. 15). Like court jesters, at their meals they made him the butt of their vicious jokes (v. 16, and see 69:12). (On the question “How long?” see 6:3.) David knew that God would eventually reward him for his faithfulness, but he didn’t know when. His first praise to God (vv. 9–10) was personal, but the second expression of praise (v. 18) is in the congregation with the saints.

The trial was about to end and the enemy was confident of victory. “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it” [David’s defeat, v. 21 nasb]. In his imagination, David saw Saul’s men winking at each other arrogantly (Prov. 6:13; 10:10), as if to say, “He’s done for!” They would never accept a truce or even talk about peace, but this was God’s way of judging Saul for his sins and eliminating him from the political equation in Israel. After Saul’s death, David had seven years of trouble with Saul’s son (2 Sam. 1—4), but the Lord eventually solved that problem. David prayed that God would vindicate him, because David’s cause was God’s cause, and the Lord’s reputation was at stake (v. 24). In verse 26, he repeated his request from verse 4 and asked that the enemy be shamefully defeated. David’s desire was that the Lord be magnified in His own way and His own time.

In contrast to the shame of the enemy in their defeat are the joyful shouts of the righteous in David’s victory. Unlike Elijah, who felt he was fighting all alone (1 Kings 19:10–18), David knew that many people in Israel supported him, those who were living “quietly in the land” (v. 20). Even in the darkest days of Israel’s history, there has always been a faithful remnant that stayed true to the Lord and prayed for His will to be done. David closed the psalm with a song of confidence and joy, witnessing to God’s righteousness and power. The word translated “prosperity” (v. 27 kjv) is the familiar Hebrew word “shalom—peace,” which means much more than a mere cessation of hostilities. It carries the idea of well being in every aspect of life, including peace with God, with others, with yourself, and with the circumstances of your life.

David’s experience reminds us of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, who was also hated without a cause (John 15:25) and falsely accused and attacked by those for whom He had shown nothing but kindness and love. God delivered David from his enemies, but the Father “spared not his own Son” (Rom. 8:32) but willingly gave Him to die for the sins of the world.