351 Contend , O Lord , with those who contend with me; Fight against those who fight against me. 2 Take hold of buckler and shield And rise up for my help . 3 Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me; Say to my soul , "I am your salvation ." 4 Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life ; Let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me. 5 Let them be like chaff before the wind , With the angel of the Lord driving them on. 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 soul . 8 Let destruction come upon him unawares e , And let the net which he hid catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall . 9 And my soul shall rejoice in the Lord ; It shall exult in His salvation . 10 All my bones will say , "Lord , who is like You, Who delivers the afflicted from him who is too strong for him, And the afflicted and the needy from him who robs him?"
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!