Psalms of David
Psalm 35 is another lament. It is also a Messianic song, as David brings his trials to God it foreshadows the trial of Jesus. Laments can be prophetic.
Psalms in Book 1 (Psalms 1 to 41) are primarily personal songs, so I will look at how they apply to us personally. Social and communal aspects of life and work do not come in until the later books of Psalms.
The books of Psalms are roughly themed like this:
Book 1: Psalms 1 – 41: God is beside us.
Book 2: Psalms 42 – 72: God goes before us
Book 3: Psalms 73 – 89: God is all around us.
Book 4: Psalms 90 – 106: God is above us.
Book 5: Psalms 107 – 150: God is among us.
Of David.
35 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me!
2 Take hold of shield and buckler
and rise for my help!
3 Draw the spear and javelin
against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation!”4 Let them be put to shame and dishonour
who seek after my life!
Let them be turned back and disappointed
who devise evil against me!
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!7 For without cause they hid their net for me;
without cause they dug a pit for my life.
8 Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his destruction!9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,
exulting in his salvation.
10 All my bones shall say,
“O Lord, who is like you,
delivering the poor
from him who is too strong for him,
the poor and needy from him who robs him?”11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
12 They repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft.13 But I, when they were sick—
I wore sackcloth;
I afflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed with head bowed on my chest.
14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I bowed down in mourning.15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
they gathered together against me;
wretches whom I did not know
tore at me without ceasing;
16 like profane mockers at a feast,
they gnash at me with their teeth.17 How long, O Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their destruction,
my precious life from the lions!
18 I will thank you in the great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.19 Let not those rejoice over me
who are wrongfully my foes,
and let not those wink the eye
who hate me without cause.
20 For they do not speak peace,
but against those who are quiet in the land
they devise words of deceit.21 They open wide their mouths against me;
they say, “Aha, Aha!
Our eyes have seen it!”
22 You have seen, O Lord; be not silent!
O Lord, be not far from me!
23 Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!24 Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and let them not rejoice over me!
25 Let them not say in their hearts,
“Aha, our heart’s desire!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”26 Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonour
who magnify themselves against me!27 Let those who delight in my righteousness
Psalm 35 ESVUK
shout for joy and be glad
and say evermore,
“Great is the Lord,
who delights in the welfare of his servant!”
28 Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all the day long.
Structure
This psalm is attributed to “Of David,” and there is no title. I have given the title Life with the Lions to this post because of verse 17, “Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions!” which takes its context from the previous verse. But psalms are songs, and songs have structure, verses and chorus etc. This psalm has an interesting structure
Part 1 is about being persecuted without cause, the first 8 verses are divided into 3,3,2 by verses. (3 verses asking God to protect, 3 about David’s persecutors and 2 asking God to judge.)
Then there is a two-verse section which acts like a chorus anticipating deliverance, only the words are different each time. Verses 9 and 10. I have put these verses in bold to distinguish them.
Part 2 is about false witnesses, it has six verses divided into twos. The middle two are different from those on either side as they contrast David’s care for his persecutors with their wanting to get rid of him. Commentators think this is referring either to David fleeing from either from King Saul or the rebellion of Absolom.
Verses 17-18 are anticipating deliverance.
Part 3 is, like Part 1, about being persecuted without cause. Its 8 verses have the same 3, 3, 2 structure as Part 1, but the subject of the first two of these sections are reversed. (3 on David’s persecutors, 3 asking God to protect David and 2 asking God to shame the opponents.)
Verses 27-28 are anticipating deliverance.
This psalm is a lament, but when the structure is looked at it can be clearly seen that this is not so much a cry to God in trouble but a song about deliverance to come. Psalm 35 is about David being certain that God will deliver him.
Prophetic laments
This psalm has been long believed to be prophetic, the 3 parts being about the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus. In verses 8 and 10 the plural is used for David’s enemies, but it is in the singular, pointing, say some commentators, to Judas Iscariot.
But besides the psalm being about Jesus, there is a message to those who are living their lives amongst the lions. I think that is equally prophetic. In our trials, we are living with the lions. Psalm 35 says nothing about how we get away from living with opposition amongst those who oppose us, whether that opposition is persecution (which I have, fortunately, never experienced, living in Britain), mild ridicule or even obstinate indifference. David is sure that God will see him through, but not yet. We live in one of those not-yet times, we are living a life with the lions.
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Making an ass of myself 