Psa 35:19-28 | KingComments | STEP | How long will the “Lord” – Adonai, Commander, Sovereign Ruler – continue to “look on” doing nothing ( )? When will He take action, for which David has called Him in ? While in these psalms a repetition of thoughts occurs each time as a form of poetry, this form of poetry is interrupted by the fact that this question stands alone, without repetition. This emphasizes the distress of the psalmist. Devastating deeds are being done against His anointed king. He begs God to deliver his soul from them. “My only [life]” means “I have no more”. This is about David’s life, which was the only thing he had left. And even that was threatened by hungry, powerful, life-threatening lions. David knows that God will stand up for him and deliver him and he intends not to be silent about that ( ). He will give Him thanks for it “in the great congregation”, and “among a mighty throng” he will praise Him. As in Psalm 22, the LORD’s deliverance extends to praise in the assembly ( ), yes, the great assembly ( ), the latter pointing to the fullness of Israel in the realm of peace. But it is still not that far. The second section of the psalm ends with an intention to sing a song of praise ( ), but the third section ( ) begins with the present condition in which the enemy rejoices over David’s condition. Hence, David again turns to God, this time with two questions ( ). The first is that he asks God to see to it that those who are his enemies for false reasons will not be able to rejoice over him. The second is that those who hate him “without cause” will not have an opportunity to inform one another of their plans to kill him through sneaky signals of winks. People who send signals by winking are making up falsehoods ( ). They are not upright; they will not openly say what they mean ( ). They share secrets with each other that cannot bear the light of day and are therefore signaled to each other in the dark language of secrecy. He does know them. These are not people who speak peace ( ). They are not out for peace, but for the extermination of “those who are quiet in the land”. “They devise deceitful words against” them. The “quiet in the land” are those who make up the remnant, who do not impress or emphatically show themselves. They do not step into the foreground and do not assert themselves. They are modest in their behavior and are easy prey for the wicked people. The wicked people “opened their mouth wide” against God’s anointed king ( ). They put on a big mouth against him and certainly do not hold back in doing so. It is the picture here of a wild animal, a lion, which opens its mouth and threateningly shows its teeth (cf. ). Out of their mouth come the foulest accusations and curses. With great amusement they claim that they have seen what they accuse him of: “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!” Now they can sue and get him convicted. The expression “aha” (cf. ) means that they are gloating over the psalmist’s misery (cf. ).

‏ Psalms 35:19-28

Cry for Redemption

How long will the “Lord” – Adonai, Commander, Sovereign Ruler – continue to “look on” doing nothing (Psa 35:17)? When will He take action, for which David has called Him in Psa 35:1-3? While in these psalms a repetition of thoughts occurs each time as a form of poetry, this form of poetry is interrupted by the fact that this question stands alone, without repetition. This emphasizes the distress of the psalmist.

Devastating deeds are being done against His anointed king. He begs God to deliver his soul from them. “My only [life]” means “I have no more”. This is about David’s life, which was the only thing he had left. And even that was threatened by hungry, powerful, life-threatening lions.

David knows that God will stand up for him and deliver him and he intends not to be silent about that (Psa 35:18). He will give Him thanks for it “in the great congregation”, and “among a mighty throng” he will praise Him. As in Psalm 22, the LORD’s deliverance extends to praise in the assembly (Psa 22:22), yes, the great assembly (Psa 22:25), the latter pointing to the fullness of Israel in the realm of peace.

But it is still not that far. The second section of the psalm ends with an intention to sing a song of praise (Psa 35:18), but the third section (Psa 35:19-28) begins with the present condition in which the enemy rejoices over David’s condition. Hence, David again turns to God, this time with two questions (Psa 35:19). The first is that he asks God to see to it that those who are his enemies for false reasons will not be able to rejoice over him.

The second is that those who hate him “without cause” will not have an opportunity to inform one another of their plans to kill him through sneaky signals of winks. People who send signals by winking are making up falsehoods (Pro 16:30). They are not upright; they will not openly say what they mean (Pro 6:12-13). They share secrets with each other that cannot bear the light of day and are therefore signaled to each other in the dark language of secrecy.

He does know them. These are not people who speak peace (Psa 35:20). They are not out for peace, but for the extermination of “those who are quiet in the land”. “They devise deceitful words against” them. The “quiet in the land” are those who make up the remnant, who do not impress or emphatically show themselves. They do not step into the foreground and do not assert themselves. They are modest in their behavior and are easy prey for the wicked people.

The wicked people “opened their mouth wide” against God’s anointed king (Psa 35:21). They put on a big mouth against him and certainly do not hold back in doing so. It is the picture here of a wild animal, a lion, which opens its mouth and threateningly shows its teeth (cf. Psa 35:17 ; 25b). Out of their mouth come the foulest accusations and curses. With great amusement they claim that they have seen what they accuse him of: “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!” Now they can sue and get him convicted. The expression “aha” (cf. Psa 40:15) means that they are gloating over the psalmist’s misery (cf. Psa 35:19a).

Demand to Do Justice

The enemies say in Psa 35:21 that they have seen “it”, but David says to the LORD, “You have seen it” (Psa 35:22). And that’s what it’s all about. The LORD does not let Himself be heard, but David knows that He has seen it. He calls on Him to break His silence. He asks the “Lord”, Adonai, not to stay far from him, by which he means that the Lord will come close to him to actually help him (cf. Psa 22:11).

David calls on God to awaken (literally, to rise up) and wake up (Psa 35:23; cf. Psa 44:23). He knows that God has seen everything. But because God does nothing, it seems to David that He is keeping Himself asleep. It is, according to David, high time for God to act to bring justice to His anointed king. He passionately appeals to God, whom he calls “my God and my Lord”, to take his court case. Then He can silence the accusers.

David’s concern is that God is doing him justice according to His, that is God’s, righteousness (Psa 35:24). Only when God, Whom he emphatically addresses again, this time as “LORD my God”, does justice to him with His righteousness, will any accusation be definitively dismissed. The accusers will have been deprived of the reason to rejoice over him. He will be vindicated and redeemed by God.

They should not even get the inner satisfaction of his condemnation and not be able to say “in their hearts” that they have their way (Psa 35:25). Nothing must come of their intention to swallow him up (cf. Lam 2:16). They must trickle off in shame and humiliated altogether, all those people who rejoice over his calamity (Psa 35:26). God must clothe them with shame and dishonor (cf. Psa 35:4), all those people who magnify themselves over him to get him out of the way.

The LORD Be Magnified

David asked God to justify him to his accusers and put them to shame. He ends the psalm by asking God for those who find joy in his vindication (Psa 35:27). There are those people. They are his faithful followers who favor his vindication and rejoice in it. They suffer with him the reproach that is done to him. For them David asks that God turns things around for the better so that they will shout for joy and rejoice.

When justice is done to God’s anointed king, which is ultimately the Messiah, God’s people will “say continually, “The LORD be magnified””. God will receive all the glory. God’s delight will be great “in the prosperity of His servant”. Again, this is all about the Lord Jesus. He is the true Servant of God, the Servant of the LORD.

The peace of God’s Servant, the Messiah, is the peace He has wrought through His work on the cross. Through this He enabled peace with God (Rom 5:1; Jn 14:27a). This is the peace that the sinner partakes of when he converts to God and accepts in faith the work of the Lord Jesus as also accomplished for him. The Lord Jesus then gives His own peace, which is the peace of God, to all who, like He has always done, walk their way in trust in God (Jn 14:27b; Phil 4:7). Then there is a third form of peace. That is the peace that will soon reign everywhere on earth (Isa 9:6).

That peace, according to Psa 35:24, is based on “Your righteousness”, that is God’s righteousness. Now that same righteousness is proclaimed and magnified by David (Psa 35:28). God’s righteousness guarantees the eternal duration of peace. It is peace as the fruit of righteousness, that is, of God’s righteousness (Jam 3:18). God judges the enemies of His people and of David and of the true David in justice. After that, there will be peace on earth.

David’s enemies have used their tongues to say wicked things. David will use his tongue to “declare” God’s “righteousness”, God’s “praise all day long” or God’s “praise every day”, that is continuously. Throughout the time of the realm of peace, God will be praised for His righteousness all day long.

The expression ‘justice will prevail’ is then fulfilled in its full sense, for God’s justice, the true justice, has then been manifested. Its result, peace, will then be enjoyed everywhere. This will always be expressed in praise of God by all who enjoy this peace.