Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 35:2

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 35:2. Take hold of shield and buckler — Let them be discomfited in battle who are striving to destroy my life. It is by the shield and buckler of others, not any of his own, that God overthrows the enemies of his people. This is spoken merely after the manner of men.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 35:0 Against false accusers

It seems that this psalm also was written during the time of David’s flight from Saul. Much of his suffering during that time was because of the false accusations made against him by influential people in Saul’s court. (See introductory notes to Psalms 7:0.)

Since David’s enemies have the ferocity of men in battle, David asks God to deal with them accordingly and fight against them as a warrior (1-3). He prays that they might be turned back, scattered and brought to ruin (4-6), for they have persecuted him without cause (7-8). God alone can defend him against his attackers (9-10).
David’s sorrow is the more painful when he remembers that those who now fight against him are those whom he helped, sympathized with and prayed for when they were sick or in trouble (11-14). They are hoping that David will soon be caught, so that they can pounce on him and destroy him. He knows that only God can keep him going and preserve him from their attacks (15-18). They plot evil and make false accusations against him (19-21), but he trusts that God will not allow them to gain the victory (22-25). His desire is that evil will be conquered and that righteousness will triumph (26-28).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Strive thou, O Jehovah, with them that strive with me: Fight thou against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, And stand up for my help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that pursue me: Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Let them be put to shame and brought to dishonor that seek after my soul: Let them turn back and be confounded that devise my hurt. Let them be chaff before the wind, And the angel of Jehovah driving them on. Let their way be dark and slippery, And the angel of Jehovah pursuing them. For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit; For without cause have they digged a pit for my soul. Let destruction come upon him unawares; And let his net that he hath hid catch himself: With destruction let him fall therein. And my soul shall be joyful in Jehovah; It shall rejoice in his salvation. All my bones shall say, Jehovah, who is like unto thee, Who deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, Yea, the poor and the needy from him that robbeth him."

David's life was the issue in these verses. His enemies were determined to kill him, in spite of the fact that David had done none of them any wrong whatsoever.

There is a remarkable restraint in the prayer. He did not pray for the "chaff" to be burned up, which was the usual way of disposing of it, but that it be "driven away." He did not pray that his enemies would be killed but that they would fall into the net in a pit they had prepared for him.

"The destruction" (Psalms 35:8) is not a reference to the destruction of his enemies, but to the destruction of their purpose of killing David. Note that it is the destruction `with,' not `of' them. There is no prayer here for the slaughter of his foes, but for God to "stop the way of them." The self-righteous souls that find so much fault with this prayer are an unqualified mystery to this writer.

John the Baptist referred to certain evil enemies of the Lord in Matthew 3, calling them, "a generation of vipers." We find no commandment in God's Word that requires us to pray for the benefit of the `rattlesnakes' that threaten our lives.

The circumstances under which this psalm seems to have been written appear to be those described in 1 Samuel 24:15 ff. Some scholars suggest the times of Absalom's rebellion; but the turning against the psalmist of former friends would seem to fit the situation of his flight before Saul far better.

"This prayer for judgment against his foes has no expression of secret malice against Saul; for he had spared Saul's life. It is a plea for the visible demonstration of essential righteousness."The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 472.

The mention of the angel of Jehovah in Psalms 35:5-6 is of interest because "Only here and in the preceding Psalms 34,"H. C. Leupold, p. 287. is this mighty being mentioned in the entire catalogue of the Psalms.

"My soul shall be joyful… my bones shall say" "`My soul,' and `my bones,' are two emphatic ways of saying, `I,' or `myself,' as in Psalms 6:2. It is like our own expression, `I know it in my bones.'"Derek Kidner, Vol. 1, p. 143.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Take hold of shield and buckler - That is, Arm thyself as if for the contest. It is a prayer, in a new form, that God would interpose, and that he would go forth as a warrior against the enemies of the psalmist. On the word “shield,” see the notes at Psalms 5:12. Compare the notes at Ephesians 6:16. On the word “buckler,” see the notes at Psalms 18:2. These terms are derived from the armor of a warrior, and the prayer here is that God would appear in that character for his defense.

And stand up for my help - As a warrior stands up, or stands firm, to arrest the attack of an enemy.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

2.Take the shield. These words certainly cannot be applied, in the strict and proper sense, to God, who has no need of the spear or buckler: for by the breath of his mouth alone, or merely with his nod, he is able to overthrow all his enemies. But although such figures at first sight appear rude, yet the Holy Ghost employs them in accommodation to the weakness of our understanding, for the purpose of impressing more effectually upon our minds the conviction that God is present to aid us. When troubles and dangers arise, when terrors assail us on every side, when even death presents itself to our view, it is difficult to realize the secret and invisible power of God, which is able to deliver us from all anxiety and fear; for our understandings, which are gross and earthly, tend downward to the earth. That our faith, therefore, may ascend by degrees to the heavenly power of God, he is here introduced armed, after the manner of men, with sword and shield. In the same way, also, when he is in another place termed “a man of war,” it is doubtless in adaptation to the imperfection of our present state, because our minds, from their limited capacity, could in no other way comprehend the extent of that infinite power, which contains in itself every form of help, and has no need of aid from any other quarter. This, therefore, is a prayer that God, by the exercise of his secret and intrinsic power, would show that he alone is able to encounter the whole strength and forces of the ungodly. Some suppose that the Hebrew word צנה, tsinnah, here used, means a dart, or some other kind of weapon; but as we have already seen, in the fifth psalm, that it properly signifies a buckler, I see no reason why it should be differently interpreted in this place. Nor is there any thing at all inconsistent in connecting here, as is often done in other places, the buckler and the shield. ⁽⁷⁰²⁾ If the expression here employed had been designed to signify a dart, or a similar weapon, it would have been more natural to connect it with the spear, of which mention is made in the following verse. David, then, first makes mention of defensive armor, praying that God would sustain and repel the assaults of the enemy. The Hebrew word ריק , rik, which signifies to unsheath, or make bare, I take simply to mean, to draw out, or bring forth. The Hebrew word סגור, segor, which I have translated to oppose, literally signifies to shut or to close. But as David’s meaning is, that God, by setting himself as a wall or rampart, would prevent his enemies from approaching him, it appears to me that I have faithfully translated it. At the same time, if any should prefer the translation to shut, or close the way, or to impede it by some obstacle, the meaning; is substantially the same. The opinion of those who contend that it is a noun, ⁽⁷⁰³⁾ is not at all probable.

(702) The word rendered shield is in the Hebrew text מגך, magen, which was a short buckler intended merely for defense. The word rendered buckler is צנה, tsinnah, for an account of which see note, p. 64. The tsinnah was double the weight of the magen, and was carried by the infantry; the magen, being lighter and more manageable, was used by the cavalry. The tsinnah answered to the scutum, and the magen to the clypeus, among the Romans. — See Paxton’s Illustrations of Scripture, vol. 3, pp. 866, 867.

(703) Those who are of opinion that סגור, segor, is a noun, translate it “the scymitar,” and read, “Draw out the spear, and the scymitar, to oppose my persecutors.” According to Drusius, Vitringa, Michaelis, Dr Kennicott, and others, the word means σαγαρις, or scymitar, a sort of battle-axe, which was used by the Persians, Scythians, and other nations in ancient times.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 35:1-28

Psalms 35:1-28 :

Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, stand up for my help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. 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 ( Psalms 35:1-4 ).

So this is one of those psalms where David is praying God's judgment and all against his enemies.

Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them. Let their way be dark and slippery: let the angel of the LORD persecute them ( Psalms 35:5-6 ).

I really wouldn't want to be one of David's enemies. He really has the Lord on their tails.

For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which they without cause have digged for my soul. Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall. And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation. 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? ( Psalms 35:7-10 )

And now another prophecy relating to Christ.

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. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourns for his mother. But in mine adversity they rejoiced ( Psalms 35:11-15 ),

Now David is saying, "I was so good to them when they were in trouble. I wept and I was there to help and all. But as for me, when I was in adversity they rejoiced."

they gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me together, and I knew it not; they tore me and ceased not: With hypocritical mockers in the feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. LORD, how long are you just going to stand there looking? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions. I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: and I will praise thee among much people. Let not them that are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause. For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land. Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it ( Psalms 35:15-21 ).

The "aha, aha" was evidently a nasty kind of a derisive thing. We don't think of it today saying, "aha, aha" as being such an evil, contemptuous kind of thing, but in those days, man, it was really evil and contemptuous. Now I don't know what the content was of the "aha, aha," but it was something they hated to hear. It was an awful thing when you say, "aha, aha." They really would get upset.

Now when Elisha was going up the hill, little kids came up from Bethel saying, "aha, aha, ye old bald man!" And he turned around and cursed them. And the she bears came out and ripped them up. So, "aha, aha" was a bad thing to say, and as I say, I don't know what the whole connotation of the "aha, aha" might be, but the hypocritical mockers speaking against David.

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 to my cause, my God and my Lord. Judge me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me. Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up. Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at my hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonor that magnify themselves against me. Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor 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 thy praise all the day long ( Psalms 35:22-28 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

David appealed to the Lord for defense, as to a champion who goes out in battle for another (cf. Joshua 5:13-15).

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. A prayer for deliverance 35:1-10

In this section David asked God to deliver him from enemies who were trying to kill him without cause.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 35

David lamented the unjustified opposition of his enemies in this psalm and called on God to deliver him. It is really a combination of three laments. The language alternates between legal and military terminology.

"Whether or not this psalm was written as a companion to Psalms 34, it is well placed next to it, not only because of some verbal affinities and contrasts (notably ’the angel of the Lord’, Psalms 34:7; Psalms 35:5-6, found nowhere else in the Psalter), but because it speaks out of the kind of darkness which has just been dispelled in the former psalm. The deliverance celebrated in that psalm is now seen to be not invariably swift or painless, but subject, if God wills, to agonizing delays." [Note: Ibid., p. 142.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Take hold of shield and buckler,.... Defensive weapons; not that the Lord stands in need of any of these to defend himself with: but the sense is, that he would be as these to David; as he was to him, and is to all his people; namely, their shield and buckler: he gives unto them the shield of salvation; he encompasses them about with his favour as with a shield, and keeps them by his power safe from all their enemies;

and stand up for mine help; for which the Lord arises, and stands by his people, and against their enemies, delivering them out of their hands.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

A psalm of David.

      1 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 (Psalms 35:1; Psalms 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 (Psalms 35:4; Psalms 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, Psalms 35:7; Psalms 35:7. They took a great deal of pains in persecuting him, for they digged a pit (Psalms 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 (Psalms 35:10; Psalms 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, 1 Samuel 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 (1 Samuel 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 Cæsar; 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!Psalms 35:1; Psalms 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, Psalms 35:7; Psalms 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. Acts 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 (Psalms 35:1; Psalms 35:1), that he would take hold of shield and buckler, for the Lord is a man of war (Exodus 15:3), and that he would stand up for his help (Psalms 35:2; Psalms 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 (Psalms 35:3; Psalms 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 foretels 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, Jeremiah 7:16; Jeremiah 11:14; Jeremiah 14:11; 1 John 5:16. As for Saul himself, David, it is probable, knew that God had rejected him and had forbidden Samuel to mourn for him, 1 Samuel 16:1. And these predictions look further, and read the doom of the enemies of Christ and his kingdom, as appears by comparing Romans 11:9; Romans 11:10. David here prays, 1. Against his many enemies (Psalms 35:4-6; Psalms 35:4-6): Let them be confounded, c. 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, Psalms 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,Deuteronomy 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 (Psalms 35:5; Psalms 35:5) so that they shall find no rest, shall persecute them (Psalms 35:6; Psalms 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 (Psalms 35:8; Psalms 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 (1 Samuel 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 (1 Samuel 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, Psalms 35:9; Psalms 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 (Psalms 35:10; Psalms 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 (Ecclesiastes 11:5; Psalms 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.