David asks God to fight a war he cannot fight himself — and the sharpest pain in this whole psalm is not the attack itself, but who is behind it: men David personally nursed through sickness, now mocking his own downfall in the same breath.
A study in Psalm 35 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 13 min read
Plead My Cause, O LORD
“Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear… say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”
Psalm 35:1-3
David hands his defense over completely, using the language of a courtroom advocate and a soldier in the same breath — God is asked both to argue the case and to physically arm Himself for it, weapon by weapon, on David’s behalf.
Let Them Be As Chaff Before The Wind
“Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them… For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.”
Psalm 35:5, 7
“Without cause,” repeated twice in one verse, is David’s central legal claim — not that his enemies are wrong about something specific he did, but that there was no legitimate grievance behind their hostility to begin with.
“Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.”
Psalm 35:8
The same self-defeating trap imagery from Psalms 7 and 9 returns here — David does not ask God to invent a new punishment, only to let the enemy’s own hidden scheme close in on the one who built it.
False Witnesses Did Rise Up
“False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.”
Psalm 35:11-12
“Evil for good” is the specific injury named here, sharper than ordinary hostility — these are not strangers but people David had actually helped, turning against the one relationship that should have protected him.
“But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting… I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.”
Psalm 35:13-14
David describes genuine, costly compassion — fasting and mourning clothes worn for men who were, at the time, not even necessarily his friends. The betrayal that follows lands directly on top of real, sacrificial kindness he actually gave.
LORD, How Long Wilt Thou Look On?
“But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together… With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions.”
Psalm 35:15-17
The men David mourned for now celebrate his own downfall at a feast — the exact reversal of what he showed them, and the sharpest possible contrast between his own sincerity and their mockery.
Stir Up Thyself, And Awake To My Judgment
“This thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me. Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.”
Psalm 35:22-23
“This thou hast seen” grounds the whole appeal in a claim David makes with total confidence — not asking God to investigate something unknown, but to act on what has already, plainly, been witnessed.
Let The LORD Be Magnified
“Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.”
Psalm 35:27-28
Even David’s hoped-for vindication is not framed as being about himself — the imagined celebration is not “David is proven right,” but “let the LORD be magnified.” The psalm’s final desire redirects its own long argument entirely toward God’s glory rather than David’s reputation.
