TRV
Translation
King James Version
¶ A Psalm of David. Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
Complete Jewish Bible
By David: ADONAI, oppose those who oppose me; fight against those who fight against me.
Berean Standard Bible
Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.
American Standard Version
Strive thou, O Jehovah, with them that strive with me: Fight thou against them that fight against me.
World English Bible Messianic
Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me.
Geneva Bible (1599)
A Psalme of Dauid. Pleade thou my cause, O Lord, with them that striue with me: fight thou against them, that fight against me.
Young's Literal Translation
By David. Strive, Jehovah, with my strivers, fight with my fighters,
See also
In the KJVVerse 14,412 of 31,102
Study This Verse
Commentary on Psalms 35 verses 1–10
1 ¶ A Psalm of David. Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
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.
5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.
7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.
8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
10 All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?
In these verses we have,
I. David's representation of his case to God, setting forth the restless rage and malice of his persecutors. He was God's servant, expressly appointed by him to be what he was, followed his guidance, and aimed at his glory in the way of duty, had lived (as St. Paul speaks) in all good conscience before God unto this day; and yet there were those that strove with him, that did their utmost to oppose his advancement, and made all the interest they could against him; they fought against him (Psa 35:1), not only undermined him closely and secretly, but openly avowed their opposition to him and set themselves to do him all the mischief they could. They persecuted him with an unwearied enmity, sought after his soul (Psa 35:4), that is, his life, no less would satisfy their bloody minds; they aimed to disquiet his spirit and put that into disorder. Nor was it a sudden passion against him that they harboured, but inveterate malice: They devised his hurt, laid their heads together, and set their wits on work, not only to do him a mischief, but to find out ways and means to ruin him. They treated him, who was the greatest blessing of his country, as if he had been the curse and plague of it; they hunted him as a dangerous beast of prey; they digged a pit for him and laid a net in it, that they might have him at their mercy, Psa 35:7. They took a great deal of pains in persecuting him, for they digged a pit (Psa 7:15); and very close and crafty they were in carrying on their designs; the old serpent taught them subtlety: they hid their net from David and his friends; but in vain, for they could not hide it from God. And, lastly, he found himself an unequal match for them. His enemy, especially Saul, was too strong for him (Psa 35:10), for he had the army at his command, and assumed to himself the sole power of making laws and giving judgment, attainted and condemned whom he pleased, carried not a sceptre, but a javelin, in his hand, to cast at any man that stood in his way; such was the manner of the king, and all about him were compelled to do as he bade them, right or wrong. The king's word is a law, and every thing must be carried with a high hand; he has fields, and vineyards, and preferments, at his disposal, Sa1 22:7. but David is poor and needy, has nothing to make friends with, and therefore has none to take his part but men (as we say) of broken fortunes (Sa1 22:2); and therefore no marvel that Saul spoiled him of what little he had got and the interest he had made. If the kings of the earth set themselves against the Lord and his anointed, who can contend with them? Note, It is no new thing for the most righteous men, and the most righteous cause, to meet with many mighty and malicious enemies: Christ himself is striven with and fought against, and war is made upon the holy seed; and we are not to marvel at the matter: it is a fruit of the old enmity in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman.
II. His appeal to God concerning his integrity and the justice of his cause. If a fellow-subject had wronged him, he might have appealed to his prince, as St. Paul did to Caesar; but, when his prince wronged him, he appealed to his God, who is prince and Judge of the kings of the earth: Plead my cause, O Lord! Psa 35:1. Note, A righteous cause may, with the greatest satisfaction imaginable, he laid before a righteous God, and referred to him to give judgment upon it; for he perfectly knows the merits of it, holds the balance exactly even, and with him there is no respect of persons. God knew that they were, without cause, his enemies, and that they had, without cause, digged pits for him, Psa 35:7. Note, It will be a comfort to us, when men do us wrong, if our consciences can witness for us that we have never done them any. It was so to St. Paul. Act 25:10, To the Jews have I done no wrong. We are apt to justify our uneasiness at the injuries men do us by this, That we never gave them any cause to use us so; whereas this should, more than any thing, make us easy, for then we may the more confidently expect that God will plead our cause.
III. His prayer to God to manifest himself both for him and to him, in this trial. 1. For him. He prays that God would fight against his enemies, so as to disable them to hurt him, and defeat their designs against him (Psa 35:1), that he would take hold of shield and buckler, for the Lord is a man of war (Exo 15:3), and that he would stand up for his help (Psa 35:2), for he had few that would stand up for him, and, if he had ever so many, they would stand him in no stead without God. he prays that God would stop their way (Psa 35:3), that they might not overtake him when he fled from them. This prayer we may put up against our persecutors, that God would restrain them and stop their way. 2. To him: "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation; let me have inward comfort under all these outward troubles, to support my soul which they strike at. Let God be my salvation, not only my Saviour out of my present troubles, but my everlasting bliss. Let me have that salvation not only which he is the author of, but which consists in his favour; and let me know my interest in it; let me have the comfortable assurance of it in my own breast." If God, by his Spirit, witness to our spirits that he is our salvation, we have enough, we need desire no more to make us happy; and this is a powerful support when men persecute us. If God be our friend, no matter who is our enemy.
IV. His prospect of the destruction of his enemies, which he prays for, not in malice or revenge. We find how patiently he bore Shimei's curses (so let him curse, for the Lord has bidden him); and we cannot suppose that he who was so meek in his conversation would give vent to any intemperate heat or passion in his devotion; but, by the spirit of prophecy, he foretells the just judgments of God that would come upon them for their great wickedness, their malice, cruelty, and perfidiousness, and especially the enmity to the counsels of God, the interests of religion, and that reformation which they knew David, if ever he had power in his hand, would be an instrument of. They seemed to be hardened in their sins, and to be of the number of those who have sinned unto death and are not to be prayed for, Jer 7:16; Jer 11:14; Jer 14:11; Jo1 5:16. As for Saul himself, David, it is probable, knew that God had rejected him and had forbidden Samuel to mourn for him, Sa1 16:1. And these predictions look further, and read the doom of the enemies of Christ and his kingdom, as appears by comparing Rom 11:9, Rom 11:10. David here prays, 1. Against his many enemies (Psa 35:4-6): Let them be confounded, etc. Or, as Dr. Hammond reads it, They shall be confounded, they shall be turned back. This may be taken as a prayer for their repentance, for all penitents are put to shame for their sins and turned back from them. Or, if they were not brought to repentance, David prays that they might be defeated and disappointed in their designs against him and so put to shame. Though they should in some degree prevail, yet he foresees that it would be to their own ruin at last: They shall be as chaff before the wind, so unable will wicked men be to stand before the judgments of God and so certainly will they be driven away by them, Psa 1:4. Their way shall be dark and slippery, darkness and slipperiness (so the margin reads it); the way of sinners is so, for they walk in darkness and in continual danger of falling into sin, into hell; and it will prove so at last, for their foot shall slide in due time, Deu 32:35. But this is not the worst of it. Even chaff before the wind may perhaps be stopped, and find a place of rest, and, though the way be dark and slippery, it is possible that a man may keep his footing; but it is here foretold that the angel of the Lord shall chase them (Psa 35:5) so that they shall find no rest, shall persecute them (Psa 35:6) so that they cannot possibly escape the pit of destruction. As God's angels encamp against those that fight against him. They are the ministers of his justice, as well as of his mercy. Those that make God their enemy make all the holy angels their enemies. 2. Against his one mighty enemy (Psa 35:8): Let destruction come upon him. It is probable that he means Saul, who laid snares for him and aimed at his destruction. David vowed that his hand should not be upon him; he would not be judge in his own cause. But, at the same time, he foretold that the Lord would smite him (Sa1 26:10), and here that the net he had hidden should catch himself, and into that very destruction he should fall. This was remarkably fulfilled in the ruin of Saul; for he had laid a plot to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines (Sa1 18:25), that was the net which he hid for him under pretence of doing him honour, and in that very net was he himself taken, for he fell by the hand of the Philistines when his day came to fall.
V. His prospect of his own deliverance, which, having committed his cause to God, he did not doubt of, Psa 35:9, Psa 35:10. 1. He hoped that he should have the comfort of it: "My soul shall be joyful, not in my own ease and safety, but in the Lord and in his favour, in his promise and in his salvation according to the promise." Joy in God and in his salvation is the only true, solid, satisfying joy. Those whose souls are sorrowful in the Lord, who sow in tears and sorrow after a godly sort, need not question but that in due time their souls shall be joyful in the Lord; for gladness is sown for them, and they shall at last enter into the joy of their Lord. 2. He promised that then God should have the glory of it (Psa 35:10): All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee? (1.) He will praise God with the whole man, with all that is within him, and with all the strength and vigour of his soul, intimated by his bones, which are within the body and are the strength of it. (2.) He will praise him as one of peerless and unparalleled perfection. We cannot express how great and good God is, and therefore must praise him by acknowledging him to be a non-such. Lord, who is like unto thee? No such patron of oppressed innocency, no such punisher of triumphant tyranny. The formation of our bones so wonderfully, so curiously (Ecc 11:5; Psa 139:16), the serviceableness of our bones, and the preservation of them, and especially the life which, at the resurrection, shall be breathed upon the dry bones and make them flourish as a herb, oblige every bone in our bodies, if it could speak, to say, Lord, who is like unto thee? and willingly to undergo any services or sufferings for him.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–10. Public domain.
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Evagrius PonticusAD 399
NOTES ON THE PSALMS 34[35].2
He who conquers in war reduces the enemies to slavery: Christ has overcome the world. Hence, … all become his servants.
Augustine of HippoAD 430
Exposition on Psalm 35
"Judge Thou, O Lord" (says he), "them that hurt me, and fight Thou against them that fight against me" [Psalm 35:1]. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" [Romans 8:31] And whereby does God this for us? "Take hold" (says he) "of arms and shield, and rise up to my help" [Psalm 35:2]. A great spectacle is it, to see God armed for you. And what is His Shield, what are His Arms? "Lord," in another place says the man who here also speaks, "as with the shield of Your good-will have You compassed us." But His Arms, wherewith He may not only us defend, but also strike His enemies, if we have well profited, shall we ourselves be. For as we from Him have this, that we be armed, so is He armed from us. But He is armed from those whom He has made, we are armed with those things which we have received from Him who made us. These our arms the Apostle in a certain place calls, "The shield of Faith, the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." [Ephesians 6:16-17] He has armed us with such arms as you have heard, arms admirable, and unconquered, insuperable and shining; spiritual truly and invisible, because we have to fight also against invisible enemies. If you see your enemy, let your arms be seen. We are armed with faith in those things which we see not, and we overthrow enemies whom we see not....
CassiodorusAD 585
EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 35:1
This statement, as has been noted, refers to the devil and his followers.… For when he gives the command, “pray for your enemies,” this statement does not apply to people. Thus, he asks that they be condemned whom he knows by virtue of his foreknowledge would not come to the remedies of repentance. For in what follows, when he turns his attention to people, he desires that they be converted, not that they perish.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Psalm 35:1 opens with an urgent and fervent plea from David to the Lord, imploring divine intervention against his adversaries. This verse sets the tone for a psalm of lament and imprecation, where David, facing unjust persecution and betrayal, appeals to God to act as his personal advocate and warrior. It encapsulates a profound trust in God's righteousness and omnipotence, surrendering the battle for justice and vindication entirely into His sovereign hands.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalm 35:1 employs several powerful literary devices to convey David's fervent plea. The most prominent is Parallelism, specifically synonymous parallelism, where the second half of the verse reiterates and intensifies the meaning of the first. "Plead [my cause]... with them that strive with me" is echoed and amplified by "fight against them that fight against me," moving from a legal appeal to a military one, thereby demonstrating the comprehensive nature of David's request for God's intervention. Personification is evident in the portrayal of God as both a divine advocate (a legal figure who argues a case) and a mighty warrior (a military figure who engages in combat), attributing human-like roles and actions to the divine. The strategic use of Repetition in "fight against them that fight against me" serves to emphasize the earnestness of David's plea and the active, confrontational role he desires God to take. This repetition creates a sense of urgency and highlights the direct opposition David faces, mirroring it with the direct opposition he desires from God against his enemies.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalm 35:1 encapsulates the profound biblical truth that God is the ultimate defender of the righteous and the avenger of injustice. It reflects a deep faith in God's active involvement in the affairs of humanity, particularly in the face of oppression and unrighteous opposition. David's plea is not for personal vengeance, but for divine justice, acknowledging God's sovereignty over all conflicts, whether legal or military. This concept of God as a divine warrior and advocate is woven throughout the Old Testament, demonstrating His covenant faithfulness to protect His people and uphold righteousness. It reminds us that our battles, both seen and unseen, are ultimately God's, and our trust should be placed in His power and perfect timing for vindication.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalm 35:1 offers profound comfort and guidance for believers navigating periods of injustice, betrayal, or opposition. Like David, we are called to bring our struggles directly to God, not as a last resort, but as our first and primary recourse. This verse encourages us to relinquish the burden of self-defense and personal retaliation, trusting that God sees our plight, hears our cries, and is perfectly capable of defending our cause. It invites us to surrender our desire for immediate vindication into His hands, knowing that He is a righteous judge and a powerful warrior who will act in His perfect timing and according to His perfect will. This surrender fosters a deep peace, freeing us from the consuming desire for revenge and allowing us to focus on living righteously, even amidst adversity. It cultivates a posture of humility and dependence, reminding us that true victory comes not from our own strength or cunning, but from the Lord who fights for us.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does it mean for God to "plead my cause"?
Answer: For God to "plead my cause" (Hebrew: rîyb') means for Him to act as a divine advocate, judge, or legal representative on your behalf. In ancient legal contexts, a "pleader" would present a case, argue for the innocent party, and seek a just verdict. David is asking God to step into his situation, hear the evidence, and render a righteous judgment against his adversaries. It's a plea for divine intervention in a legal or relational dispute, where God is expected to defend David's innocence and bring justice against those who wrongly accuse or attack him. This concept underscores God's active involvement in the lives of His people, particularly in defending the oppressed.
Is it appropriate for Christians to pray imprecatory prayers like this?
Answer: While the New Testament emphasizes love for enemies and turning the other cheek, as taught by Jesus in Matthew 5:44, imprecatory psalms like Psalm 35 serve several important functions and can be understood in a Christ-centered way. Firstly, they express raw human emotion and pain, validating the psalmist's suffering and allowing believers to bring their honest feelings before God. Secondly, they are appeals for divine justice, recognizing that ultimate vengeance belongs to God alone, as highlighted in Romans 12:19. They are not calls for personal revenge but for God, the righteous judge, to act. Thirdly, they often anticipate the final judgment of God against all evil and injustice, aligning with the ultimate triumph of Christ over all unrighteousness. For believers today, such prayers can be transformed into prayers for God's righteousness to prevail, for the repentance of those who do wrong, and for the ultimate defeat of spiritual evil and injustice in the world.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalm 35:1, with its urgent cry for divine advocacy and intervention against adversaries, finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in Jesus Christ. David's plea for God to "plead my cause" and "fight against them that fight against me" powerfully foreshadows the multifaceted role of Christ as our supreme Advocate and the victorious Warrior against all spiritual evil. When we are accused by the "accuser of our brethren" (Revelation 12:10), Jesus stands as our righteous defense, interceding for us before the Father, perpetually living to make intercession for those who draw near to God through Him (Hebrews 7:25). He is the one who took our cause upon Himself, enduring the ultimate injustice on the cross, thereby disarming the principalities and powers that strove against humanity and triumphing over them (Colossians 2:15). Furthermore, the imagery of God fighting on behalf of His people culminates in Christ's decisive triumph over sin, death, and the devil. He is the Lamb who was slain, yet also the Lion of the tribe of Judah who conquers all His enemies (Revelation 5:5). Believers are now called to stand firm, knowing that the battle belongs to the Lord, and that in Christ, we are more than conquerors, having been delivered from the dominion of darkness into His marvelous light (Romans 8:37; Colossians 1:13).