Commentary - Psalm 35:19-28

Bird's-eye view

In this final section of Psalm 35, David moves from detailing the treachery of his enemies to a direct, legal appeal to God for vindication. The language is that of a courtroom. David is the plaintiff, his enemies are the defendants, and God is the righteous Judge. The central plea is for God to act according to His own righteous character and deliver a public verdict. This is not a petty request for personal revenge; it is a plea for God's name and justice to be upheld in the world. David's enemies hate him "without cause," which elevates this conflict from a personal squabble to a spiritual one. Their hatred is ultimately directed at God and His anointed. The psalm concludes with a glorious vision of corporate worship, where the deliverance of God's servant results in praise that magnifies Yahweh, who delights in the peace and well-being of His people. This is a classic imprecatory prayer, which is not about venting spleen, but about longing for the establishment of righteousness on earth.

The structure is a powerful crescendo. It begins with the negative request, "Let them not..." and moves to the positive, direct appeal, "Stir up Yourself... Judge me." It climaxes with a series of imprecations, calling for the shame and humiliation of the wicked, which then gives way to the ultimate goal: the joy, gladness, and continual praise of the righteous. The personal vindication of the psalmist is inextricably linked to the public glory of God. When God saves His servant, the whole congregation has reason to shout for joy, because God's character has been put on display for all to see.

Outline

Context In The Psalter

Psalm 35 is one of the quintessential psalms of imprecation, where the psalmist calls upon God to bring judgment and curses upon his enemies. This can be jarring to modern, sentimental ears, but it is a robust and necessary part of biblical piety. These are not prayers of personal vendetta. They are prayers that align the psalmist with God's own hatred of wickedness. The enemies described here are not just personal rivals; they are covenant-breakers, liars, and those who hate God's anointed representative. This psalm fits within a broader category of psalms where David, as the Lord's anointed, faces intense and unjust opposition (e.g., Psalms 7, 55, 69, 109). His personal plight is representative of the plight of God's people in a hostile world, and ultimately foreshadows the ultimate righteous sufferer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was hated "without a cause" (John 15:25).

Key Issues

Justice is Not a Private Matter

We live in an age that has tried to domesticate the Christian faith, making it a matter of private piety and personal feelings. Justice, in this framework, is often reduced to "forgive and forget," with any desire for public vindication being dismissed as vindictive or un-Christlike. This psalm blows the doors off that little room. David understands that God's justice is not a private affair. When a righteous man is slandered and attacked, the very character of God is called into question. If God is righteous, will He allow unrighteousness to triumph? David's prayer is a demand that God act like God. He is not asking for something outside of God's job description; he is asking God to perform His sworn, covenantal duty as Judge of all the earth.

The conclusion of the psalm makes this clear. The goal is not simply that David would be safe and his enemies confounded. The goal is that the congregation would "shout for joy and be glad" and say continually, "Yahweh be magnified." The deliverance of one man becomes the occasion for the corporate praise of the entire covenant community. God's justice is foundational to our worship. We cannot truly praise a God whose character is murky on the subject of good and evil. These kinds of prayers, which we are often too squeamish to pray, are essential for a healthy church, because they remind us that our God is not a detached sentimentalist. He is a God of perfect righteousness, and He will, in His time, set all things right.

Verse by Verse Commentary

19 Let those who are wrongfully my enemies not be glad over me; Nor let those who hate me without cause wink maliciously.

The plea begins with a series of negative requests. David asks God to intervene and prevent his enemies from celebrating a victory over him. Notice the careful qualifications. These are wrongfully his enemies, and they hate him without cause. This is not a case of David getting his just deserts. He is being attacked precisely because of his righteousness. This phrase, "hate me without cause," is picked up by the Lord Jesus in the upper room to describe the world's hatred of Him (John 15:25). This is the hatred of Cain for Abel. It is the hatred of darkness for light. The "malicious wink" is a gesture of conspiratorial contempt. It's the look shared between two villains who think they have successfully executed their wicked plot. David is asking God to wipe that smirk off their faces.

20 For they do not speak peace, But they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.

Here is the reason for the plea. These are not honorable opponents. Their native tongue is deceit. They do not seek peace, reconciliation, or truth. Their entire enterprise is built on lies. They specifically target those who are quiet in the land. This refers to the humble and godly, those who are not trying to stir up trouble but simply wish to live their lives in faithfulness to God. The wicked see this quiet piety not as something to be respected, but as a vulnerability to be exploited. They mistake meekness for weakness. Their deceit is not random; it is a calculated strategy to undermine and destroy the godly.

21 They opened their mouth wide against me; They said, “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!”

The attack is public and gloating. Opening the mouth wide is an image of ravenous beasts, or of loud, unrestrained mockery. The cry of "Aha, aha!" is the sound of pure schadenfreude, a malicious joy in the misfortune of another. They believe they have caught David in some wrongdoing, "our eyes have seen it!" This is the classic tactic of the slanderer: to fabricate a charge and then trumpet it as an eyewitness account. They are not just lying; they are celebrating their lie, convinced of its power to destroy David's reputation and, with it, his life.

22 You have seen it, O Yahweh, do not keep silent; O Lord, do not be far from me.

The psalmist now turns the enemy's boast on its head. They say, "our eyes have seen it." David counters with a far more important truth: "You have seen it, O Yahweh." God is the ultimate eyewitness. He sees the truth behind the slander. He sees the innocence of His servant and the guilt of the accusers. Because God has seen everything, David pleads with Him not to remain silent. Divine silence in the face of such injustice would be tantamount to complicity. He asks God to speak, to act, to draw near. When the world is screaming lies, the only thing that can save you is a word from the God who sees all truth.

23 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my justice And to my cause, my God and my Lord.

This is bold, anthropomorphic language. David is not suggesting that God is literally asleep. He is using the language of appearance to provoke a divine response. From a human perspective, it looks like God is inactive. So David cries out for Him to "stir up" and "awake." To what? To my justice and my cause. David identifies his own legal case with the very justice of God. He is so confident in the rightness of his position that he can ask God to take it up as His own. He addresses God with the intimate and covenantal titles, "my God and my Lord," emphasizing the personal relationship that is the basis for this bold appeal.

24 Judge me, O Yahweh my God, according to Your righteousness, And do not let them be glad over me.

This is the central petition of the psalm. "Judge me." A man with a guilty conscience would never pray this prayer. David is throwing his case entirely into God's court. And notice the standard by which he asks to be judged: according to Your righteousness. Not according to his own flawed righteousness, but according to God's perfect and unwavering standard of what is right. He knows that if God judges the case by that standard, the verdict will be in his favor. And the immediate result of that righteous judgment will be that his enemies will be denied their malicious gladness.

25 Do not let them say in their heart, “Aha, our desire!” Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”

David is concerned not just with their outward actions, but with their inward thoughts and desires. He asks God to frustrate their deepest wishes. The phrase "Aha, our desire!" literally means "Aha, our soul!" It signifies the complete satisfaction of a malicious appetite. They want to consume him, to utterly destroy him, to swallow him up so that no trace remains. David prays that God would not grant them this satisfaction, that their evil hunger would go unfed.

26 Let those be ashamed and humiliated altogether who are glad at the evil done to me; Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me.

Now the prayer turns from defense to offense. This is the imprecation. Based on God's righteous character, David calls for a just reversal. Those who rejoiced at his calamity should themselves be brought to shame. Those who magnified themselves, who arrogantly boasted over him, should be clothed in dishonor. Shame and dishonor are public realities in the biblical world. This is a prayer that their wickedness would be exposed for all to see, and that they would receive the public contempt that their actions deserve. It is a prayer for poetic justice.

27 Let them shout for joy and be glad, who delight in my righteousness; And let them say continually, “Yahweh be magnified, Who delights in the peace of His slave.”

The flip side of the shame of the wicked is the joy of the righteous. David is not alone; there is a congregation of those who "delight in my righteousness," meaning they support his just cause. He prays that God's verdict would give them reason to erupt in joyful celebration. And what will be the content of their celebration? Not "David be magnified," but "Yahweh be magnified." The ultimate purpose of David's personal vindication is the glory of God. They will praise God because His actions have revealed His character: He is a God who takes pleasure in the shalom, the total well-being and peace, of His servant.

28 And my tongue shall utter Your righteousness And Your praise all day long.

The psalm concludes with David's personal vow. When God acts, David will respond. The corporate praise of the congregation will be joined by his own constant, personal testimony. His tongue, which had been the target of so much slander, will now be the instrument of God's praise. He will speak of God's righteousness, the very righteousness he appealed to in verse 24. The deliverance God provides becomes the theme of the praise he offers. The entire ordeal, from unjust suffering to righteous vindication, is framed by the character and glory of God.

Application

This psalm teaches us how to respond when we are attacked unjustly. Our first instinct is often to fight back in kind, to scheme, to slander the slanderer. The biblical pattern is entirely different. We are to take our case to the supreme court of heaven. We are to lay out the facts before the righteous Judge and appeal to Him to act according to His own character.

This does not mean we become passive doormats. This is a fighting prayer. But the fighting is done on our knees, and the weapons are appeals to God's justice and righteousness. We must learn to distinguish between personal pique and righteous indignation. If we are attacked because of our own sin and foolishness, this is not the psalm for us. But if, in our attempts to be among the "quiet in the land," we are hated without cause, then we have every right to cry out to God for vindication.

And we must always remember the ultimate goal. The reason we want the wicked to be shamed is so that God can be magnified. The reason we desire our own deliverance is so that the congregation of the righteous can have fresh reason to shout for joy. Our personal stories of conflict and deliverance are never just about us. They are opportunities for the character of God to be put on display. When God delivers you, make sure your tongue utters His righteousness, and not your own. Let the outcome be, "Yahweh be magnified."