Psalms 35
Contend with My Opponents, O LORD
Of David.
1Take up Your shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid.2Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers; say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
3May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plan to harm me be driven back and confounded.
4May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
5May their path be dark and slick, as the angel of the LORD pursues.
6For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
7May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.
8Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and exult in His salvation.
9All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
10Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.
11They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.
12Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, but my prayers returned unanswered.
13I paced about as for my friend or brother; I was bowed down with grief, like one mourning for his mother.
14But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.
15Like godless jesters at a feast, they gnashed their teeth at me.
16How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
17Then I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people.
18Let not my enemies gloat over me without cause, nor those who hate me without reason wink in malice.
19For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
20They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
21O LORD, You have seen it; be not silent. O Lord, be not far from me.
22Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
23Vindicate me by Your righteousness, O LORD my God, and do not let them gloat over me.
24Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!”
25May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
26May 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.”
27Then my tongue will proclaim Your righteousness and Your praises all day long.