Psa 35:21 | 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 35:21

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).