Psalms 35

Contend with those who contend with me

Of David. Contend with my opponents, O LORD; fight against those who fight against me.a ²Take up Your shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid. ³Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul: “I am your salvation.” ⁴May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plan to harm me be driven back and confounded.b

⁵May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away. ⁶May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues. ⁷For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.

⁸May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.c ⁹Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and exult in His salvation. ¹⁰All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?” ¹¹Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.d

¹²They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.e ¹³Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.f ¹⁴I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.

¹⁵But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing. ¹⁶Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me. ¹⁷How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.

¹⁸Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people. ¹⁹Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.g ²⁰For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.

²¹They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!” ²²O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent. O Lord, be not far from me. ²³Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!

²⁴Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God, and do not let them gloat over me. ²⁵Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!” ²⁶May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.

²⁷May those who favor my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “Exalted be the LORD who delights in His servant’s well-being.”h ²⁸Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness and Your praises all day long.