I. INTRIGUE OF THE ENEMY (1-10). 1. Imploration (1-3). Prayer for Protection. 2. Imprecation 4-8). Plea against Persecutors. "Them that devise my hurt.' i. Requests (4-6). "Let them." ii. Reason (7). "Without cause.'' iii. Requests (8). "Let him.'' 3. Intention (9-10). Promise of Praise. II. INGRATITUDE OF THE ENEMY (11*18). 1. Incrimination (11-16). Plaint against Persecutors. i. Accusation (11-12). Evil for good. False Witness. "Things I know not." ii. Affirmation (13-14). Good for evil. iii. Accusation (15-16). Evil for good. Base Slander. "Whom I know not." 2. Imploration (17). Prayer for Protection. 3. Intention (18). Promise of Praise. Ill. INHUMANITY OF THE ENEMY, 19-28. I. Imploration (19-25). Prayer for Protection. i. Requests (19). "Let them not." ii. Reason (20-21a). Without cause (19). iii. Request (22-25). "Let them not." 2. Imprecation {26). Prayer against Persecutors. "Them that rejoice at my hurt.' 3. Intention (27-28). Promise of Praise. i. The Saints (27). ii. The Psalmist (28). SUPERSCRIPT . ....:....David' s. SUBSCRIPT.-For the Chief Musician. PRIMARY AssocrATION.-Written by David most probably during the period of Saul's persecution. Saul's enmity was fomented by
the malicious slanders of courtiers jealous of David's sudden rise. Among these were men with whom he had been on friendly terms at court. In this and similar psalms, it is mainly against such men that David directs his appeals to Jehovah. Again and again he solemnly protests his innocence of the charge of disloyalty levelled against him. Jeremiah seems to have borrowed the language of this and other psalms. Note points of contact with Pss. vii.; xxii. 37-40; lix. On the ''imprecatory'' psalms, see Appendix IV. PROPHETIC ANTICIPATION.-This is an appeal of the godly remnant amid the persecution of the last days. Beloved of God, their suffe,r ings bear features like that of the chief Sufferer Himself, God's Well beloved, hence much of the language is applicable to our Lord's sufferings for righteousness' sake. PERSONAL APPLICATION.-A psalm of the adversary and the Advocate. Have you heard God say to your soul, "I am thy salva tion'' (3)? Spiritual foes are ever spreading nets and digging pits to catch unwary believers, therefore watch and pray (7-8). Rejoice in the Lord as well as in His salvation (9-1of Base ingratitude is an ancient sin and a very modem one (13-16). To return evil for good is demon-like; to return evil for evil is man-like; to return good for evil is God-like (12-16). In the midst of trouble David was enabled to give thanks to God (28). In Ps. xxxiv. the Angel of Jehovah is seen protecting the saints; in Ps. xxxv. the Angel of Jehovah is seen pursuing the spoilers. True prayer always brings back a blessing to the praying one. VERSE NOTES I. "Plead my cause with them that implead me," better represents the original. 2-3. These verses expand the idea of Jehovah as a "man of war," Exod. xv. 3; c£ Deut. xxxii. 41 ff. 2. C£ Ps. v. 2; br. "Arise as my help." 3. (b) prim. re£ to temporal, not spiritual salvation. 4. ff. Prayer for the repulse and rout of his enemies. 5. Picture of a pell-mell rout; "the Angel," c£ xxxiv. 7 notep 7. The insidious nature of the enemy's secret plots is indicated; "net" and "pit" are frequent figures in the Psalter. They were methods anciently used to catch wild creatures. 8. (c) br. as R.V. marg. but "destruction" must be understood to mean the pit that he hath dug.
"All b th h 1 b · _m: d my ones, 1.e. e w o e į; poor = an.ucte • 11. C£ 1 Sam. xxiv. 9; "unrighteous,, the Hebrew denotes those who do violence to the truth; c£ Exod. xxiii. 1 ; Matt. xxvi. 59 ff. 12. c£ I Sam. xxi.v. 17 ff. 15. (b) Br. "the slanderers ... ere I knew," or as R.V. marg. 16. Br. "with profane babblers for bread,'' i.e. sycophants who cam their entertainment at carousals by foo1ish and unwholesome jests. 17. See marg. = my precious life; c£ :xxii. 20. 18. C£ :xxii. 22, 25. 19. Latter part of (b) cited by our Lord of Himself, John xv. 25. 21. Br. "And they open ... they say ... have seen it," i.e. their desire in the fall of the one they hate. 22. Note how the psalmist turns the taunt of the enemy into a plea with God. I "D . ,, c£ .. 8 24. .e. o me Justice, . vu. . 25. Or, "Aha (this is) to our mind,'' i.e. according to our desire.
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