351 O Lord, be on my side against those who are judging me; be at war with those who make war against me. 2 Be a breastplate to me, and give me your help. 3 Take up your spear and keep back my attackers; say to my soul, I am your salvation. 4 Let them be overcome and put to shame who make attempts to take my soul; let those who would do me damage be turned back and made foolish. 5 Let them be like dust from the grain before the wind; let the angel of the Lord send them in flight. 6 Let their way be dark and full of danger; let them be troubled by the angel of the Lord. 7 For without cause they have put a net ready for me secretly, in which to take my soul. 8 Let destruction come on them without their knowledge; let them be taken themselves in their secret nets, falling into the same destruction. 9 And my soul will have joy in the Lord; it will be glad in his salvation. 10 All my bones will say, Lord, who is like you? The saviour of the poor man from the hands of the strong, of him who is poor and in need from him who takes his goods.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 35:1-10
Commentary on Psalm 35:1-10
(Read Psalm 35:1-10)
It is no new thing for the most righteous men, and the most righteous cause, to meet with enemies. This is a fruit of the old enmity in the seed of the serpent against the Seed of the woman. David in his afflictions, Christ in his sufferings, the church under persecution, and the Christian in the hour temptation, all beseech the Almighty to appear in their behalf, and to vindicate their cause. We are apt to justify uneasiness at the injuries men do us, by our never having given them cause to use us so ill; but this should make us easy, for then we may the more expect that God will plead our cause. David prayed to God to manifest himself in his trial. Let me have inward comfort under all outward troubles, to support my soul. If God, by his Spirit, witness to our spirits that he is our salvation, we need desire no more to make us happy. If God is our Friend, no matter who is our enemy. By the Spirit of prophecy, David foretells the just judgments of God that would come upon his enemies for their great wickedness. These are predictions, they look forward, and show the doom of the enemies of Christ and his kingdom. We must not desire or pray for the ruin of any enemies, except our lusts and the evil spirits that would compass our destruction. A traveller benighted in a bad road, is an expressive emblem of a sinner walking in the slippery and dangerous ways of temptation. But David having committed his cause to God, did not doubt of his own deliverance. The bones are the strongest parts of the body. The psalmist here proposes to serve and glorify God with all his strength. If such language may be applied to outward salvation, how much more will it apply to heavenly things in Christ Jesus!