Psalm 35: 1 – 28
The Avenger
A Psalm of David.
1 Plead my cause, O LORD, with those who strive with me; Fight against those who fight against me. 2 Take hold of shield and buckler and stand up for my help. 3 Also draw out the spear and stop those who pursue me. Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.” 4 Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor who seek after my life; Let those be turned back and brought to confusion who plot my hurt. 5 Let them be like chaff before the wind and let the angel of the LORD chase them. 6 Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the LORD pursue them. 7 For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit, which they have dug without cause for my life. 8 Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly and let his net that he has hidden catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall. 9 And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD; It shall rejoice in His salvation. 10 All my bones shall say, “LORD, who is like You, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?” 11 Fierce witnesses rise up; They ask me things that I do not know. 12 They reward me evil for good, to the sorrow of my soul. 13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart. 14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one who mourns for his mother. 15 But in my adversity, they rejoiced and gathered together; Attackers gathered against me, and I did not know it; They tore at me and did not cease; 16 With ungodly mockers at feasts they gnashed at me with their teeth. 17 Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue me from their destructions, my precious life from the lions. 18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people. 19 Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies; Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause. 20 For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful matters against the quiet ones in the land. 21 They also opened their mouth wide against me, and said, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it.” 22 This You have seen, O LORD; Do not keep silence. O Lord do not be far from me. 3 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication, to my cause, my God and my Lord. 24 Vindicate me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness; And let them not rejoice over me. 25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.” 26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who rejoice at my hurt; Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who exalt themselves against me. 27 Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause; and let them say continually, “Let the LORD be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. 28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long.
Two words sound familiar. I am talking about ‘Revenge’ and ‘Avenge.’ As revenge and avenge fall among the many pairs of words in English language that have similar meanings but are not synonymous, one should know the difference between revenge and avenge if one is to use these words accurately. Many people, thinking such words like revenge and avenge to be the same, use them interchangeably, which is a wrong practice. Though having nearly same meaning, the words revenge and avenge are different and are used in different contexts.
Avenge is a verb. To avenge is to punish someone for his wrongdoing for the sake of justice. The word avenge means ‘to inflict harm in return for (an injury or wrong done to oneself or another.’ The word ‘Avenger’ is a noun that is known as a derivative of the verb avenge.
While avenge is a verb, revenge can be both verb as well as a noun. Revenge also has similar meaning to avenge, but justice takes a back seat and the focus is to inflict harm on the other person using violence. However, revenge can be an insult or a taunt in words and not necessarily physical in the true sense of the term.
When it comes to revenge, there are even phrases that use this word, revenge. For example, revenge is a dish best served (or eaten) cold. This is actually a popular proverb that means “vengeance is often more satisfying if it is not exacted immediately.”
What is the difference between Revenge and Avenge?
To avenge is to take revenge of the wrongdoing of someone else for the sake of getting justice on behalf of someone else, usually your dear one.
So, If another person has harmed someone who is dear to you and you retaliate on his behalf, you are avenging the aggressor’s wrongdoing. Therefore, there is a difference between revenge and avenge. You take revenge to get even with someone who may have hurt you, but you vow to avenge for something done to someone you care about (that you perceive as wrong).
So, do you understand the two words? Our Holy Master and Lord Yahweh Father God Is ‘The Avenger’ as we will learn in this chapter. Remember Saul (Paul) back in the book of Acts where he is going to Damascus to arrest Christians. Let me refresh you with what happened before we dive into today’s Psalm. Paul was persecuting the Saints (those who put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ). So will see that our Holy Lord considers this persecution as being done against Him.
Acts 9, “1 Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
‘A Psalm of David’
This is the Psalm of a man who is being hard pressed by his enemies who are seeking to accuse him falsely and maliciously before the courts of the land. But it is quite possible also that his life was literally in danger, for he calls initially for deliverance from his enemies in words put in military terms, and this may suggest that they had at first sought to attack him in other ways before they brought him to court. So, we may see the Psalm as applying to any situation where a man is in danger because of his faithfulness to God.
Initially then his call is to God for personal protection, and then he prays that God will vindicate him when the case eventually comes to court.
Some have seen it as written by David with respect to his treatment by Saul, and some of the jealous men who composed Saul’s court. On this basis we may see it as follows:
. The first three verses may be seen as asking for protection in view of Saul’s deadly hunt for David (1 Samuel 21-26), as he prays that YHWH will personally arm Himself in his defense and be his salvation.
. In verses 4-6 he calls on God by His Angel to drive his enemies back and put them to flight (Exodus 23: 20).
. In verses 7-10 he asks that those who hunt for him might fall into the trap that they themselves have set so that again he can rejoice in YHWH’s salvation.
. In verses 11-16 he bewails the false charges made against him and the way in which his onetime friends and colleagues, whom he had treated as though they were his own family, have now turned against him, even though he had acted well towards them (see 1 Samuel 24.9).
. In verses 17-21 he points out how false their accusations are and asks for deliverance from their attempts to bring him down.
. And in 22-28 he calls on God to vindicate him, to punish those who are against him, and to reward those who take up his cause, at which point he will make known to all what God has done for him.
In these first three verses we have a vivid picture drawn of God dressed in heavenly armour, and fully armed. He is to take up His larger shield for diverting the missiles of the enemy, and also his smaller shield necessary for hand fighting, together with His divine spear, and He is to stand ready to defend His servant, while at the same time giving him the assurance that He will certainly save him. We can compare this picture with the idea of the Captain of the Lord’s host with the drawn sword in His hand (Joshua 5.5.13-14), and that of the Mighty Warrior in Isaiah 59.16-17, the Redeemer Who would come to Zion (59.20). In each case it is God Who will fight on His people’s behalf against all His enemies and bring salvation to His own.
Important men today are followed about by armed men who are always ready to protect them with their lives. It should remind us that when we go out as Christians who are walking faithfully with Him we can have the assurance that we are accompanied by the Lord of Hosts Himself, dressed for battle, and especially when times are hard.
1 Plead my cause, O LORD, with those who strive with me; Fight against those who fight against me. 2 Take hold of shield and buckler and stand up for my help. 3 Also draw out the spear and stop those who pursue me. Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
The Psalmist first calls on YHWH to stand up on his behalf, and fight his cause. Only those whose lives are totally committed to His service have the right to pray such a prayer. They have the right because they are His servants. The word ‘strive’ can also be translated ‘plead my cause’ as in verse 23, and this is probably its meaning here as he pictures the coming battle for his vindication in military terms.
The ‘shield’ was the large shield with which arrows and spears were deflected. The buckler was the small hand shield which gave protection in hand to hand battle. He wanted YHWH with both these two shields (completely armed) to stand up for him and provide him with help. And he also asked Him to draw out His divine spear to stop his pursuers in their tracks.
But above all he wanted to hear YHWH saying to Him, ‘I am your Savior, your Salvation’. He wanted the assurance of God’s personal delivering power, and he wanted it in His own words. This is the word also that comes to us when we put our trust in Jesus. We hear His voice saying, ‘I am your salvation’.
Not content with the fact that YHWH will stand with him to protect him, he calls on Him to pursue his enemies and do to them what they are trying to do to him.
4 Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor who seek after my life; Let those be turned back and brought to confusion who plot my hurt. 5 Let them be like chaff before the wind and let the angel of the LORD chase them. 6 Let their way be dark and slippery, and let the angel of the LORD pursues them.
‘ Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor, who seek after my soul.’ The thoughts of his enemies were concentrating on bringing him to shame and dishonor, so he calls on YHWH to do the same to them. Let them receive what they are trying to pile on him.
‘Let them be turned back and confounded, who devise my hurt.’ First shame and dishonor now turned back and confounded. They want to hurt him, thus let they themselves therefore be hurt as they are beaten back and put to rout.
he wants them to be like the chaff, the outer husk, from the grain which is taken up by the wind and carried away as the grain is tossed up into the wind by the winnowing fork. No, he wants more than that, not just a wind from the Lord but the mighty Angel of YHWH Himself. Let Him drive them on as chaff before the wind.
The idea of the Angel of YHWH occurs throughout the Old Testament as descriptive of God’s ‘other self’. He acts in God’s Name, yes even is God, and yet He also communicates with God. Along with ‘the Spirit of God’ He is an expression of the triunity of God. It was He Who had driven the Canaanites out of Canaan (Exodus 23.20). Who more suitable then to be the One Who will ‘drive on’ his enemies now?
‘Let their way be dark and slippery, and the angel of YHWH pursuing them.’ Having driven them on he wants the Angel to pursue them like an avenging angel, as they slither and slide over the wet mountain passes, or on the steep limestone slopes, as the night draws in. Being blown away like chaff, and slithering on the wet passes as they scurry to make their escape, indicates the uselessness and helplessness that he wants them to feel. It can apply to any situation where God’s people are facing an enemy, and God renders the enemy helpless.
7 For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit, which they have dug without cause for my life. 8 Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly and let his net that he has hidden catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall.
He sees his enemies as having dug a pit in which they have concealed a net with the aim that he will fall into it unawares and be caught in their net. And the doubly stressed point is that they have had no real cause for doing so because he is innocent. And so, he prays that his enemies too may be caught unawares, and taken in the net that they themselves have laid, so that they might be destroyed. We note that the principle is being constantly repeated that what a man sows, that he should also reap. The picture of the men being taken unawares by the trap and being filled with surprise as they fall into their own net is quite vivid. And the result will be their own destruction. Like Jeremiah 18.20, 22, ‘shall evil be recompensed for good? They have dug a pit for my soul’.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD; It shall rejoice in His salvation. 10 All my bones shall say, “LORD, who is like You, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”
And the result for him will be that he will be saved from his enemies by the One Who had declared, ‘I am your salvation’ (verse 3). Thus will his soul be joyful and rejoice. From the center of his being (his bones) he will ask ‘who can compare with YHWH, who delivers the poor and weak from the strong and mighty, and from those who would seek to rob him?’ This idea of the deliverance of the poor and needy is a common one in Scripture. For they are the ones who most tend to look to YHWH, while the better off do not feel that they need Him. But in the end all who seek Him must be of a humble and contrite heart. That is why when God has truly blessed someone, one sign of it will be that they are poor in spirit (Matthew 5.3). It is the humble and contrite of heart who alone can dwell with the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity ( Isaiah 57.15).
‘Who is like unto You?’ Exodus 15.11, ‘Who is like to you, O YHWH, among the heavenly beings, who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. And Micah 7.18, ‘Who is a God like to you, Who pardons iniquity, and passes by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?’ None compares with Him either in power or in goodness. He is the Incomparable.
The scene now changes to the court room. He is asked questions about crimes of which he knows nothing, and that in the face of hostile and false witnesses. And the very men who are doing it are those for whom in the past he has shown great concern. They are rewarding him evil for good.
11 Fierce witnesses rise up; They ask me things that I do not know. 12 They reward me evil for good, to the sorrow of my soul.
Brought before the court he finds that many false witnesses are called who testify of him having done things of which he was totally unaware. They were falsifying evidence and seeking to blacken his name. This was by men to whom he had shown nothing but kindness, and yet they were now seeking to make him bereft of soul. It is not an uncommon experience of the righteous. It would later happen to the Lord, Jesus Christ Himself. For it is the way of sinful man to hate goodness even while praising it.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting; And my prayer would return to my own heart. 14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother; I bowed down heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.
He describes the kindness that he had shown to these men when they had been in trouble. When they were sick he had dressed himself in sackcloth, a sign of mourning and self-affliction in order to show his humility. He had afflicted his soul by going without food. Jeremiah 18.20, ‘Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away the anger from them’.
Indeed his prayers for them had been as passionate as if they had been members of his own family or his close companions. He had mourned over their needs with the same intensity as he would have mourned the loss of his mother.
‘My prayer returned into my own bosom.’ meaning that by praying for others he himself was blessed as well, and that is certainly always true when we pray, but in context it more likely means that his prayer was as intense as if he was praying for his own loved ones, those of his bosom.
15 But in my adversity, they rejoiced and gathered together; Attackers gathered against me, and I did not know it; They tore at me and did not cease; 16 With ungodly mockers at feasts they gnashed at me with their teeth.
And what recompense did he now receive for the love that he had shown to them? Instead of having compassion for him they rejoiced in the difficult situation in which he found himself. They delighted that he was as one lame, limping along. Indeed, they gathered together to oppose him, and not only did so, but also gathered together the ‘abjects’, the lowest level of society, against him. It was partly from among these that the false witnesses would come. And this had taken him completely by surprise. They were people whom he neither knew nor recognised. Some would translate as ‘the smiters’ (the word is a rare one), signifying those who smote him and his reputation with their words. Either way the idea is similar. His reputation was being torn to shreds. Jeremiah 18.18.
‘They tore me and did not stop.’ He had had to endure a constant barrage of lies and accusations, a barrage that went on and on. They had rent him as though they were beasts of prey (Hosea 13.8), and they had done it unceasingly.
Once again, we are reminded of our Lord, Jesus Christ who suffered such contradiction of sinners against Himself. He too faced false accusations, and the antagonism of those who should have been His friends, and face it unflinchingly.
‘Like the profane mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.’ This appears to have in mind the buffoons who would be rewarded for their antics at feasts by being offered food which they would immediately hungrily devour. In the same way these who opposed him were like buffoons sought hungrily to eat him up.
17 Lord, how long will You look on? Rescue me from their destructions, my precious life from the lions. 18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I will praise You among many people.
Patient endurance under affliction is ever the test of the man of God. Roman 5.3-5; James 1.2-3, and the Psalmist is no exception. He is concerned at how long his troubles have been going on. They seem interminable. How long, then, can God look on and not interfere?
So he prays that he may be delivered from their attempts to destroy him, that he night be delivered from these wild beasts who have come together against him. And he promises that when he is delivered, then he will go into the great assembly and offer his thanks, he will go among large crowds of people and offer praise. He will give all the honour to God.
19 Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies; Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause. 20 For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful matters against the quiet ones in the land. 21 They also opened their mouth wide against me, and said, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it.”
These his enemies anticipate rejoicing over what they see to be his imminent downfall, they hope to wink at each other with the eye as they consider what they have achieved. Proverbs tells us that it is the worthless person who winks with the eye (Proverbs 6.12-13), for ‘he who winks with the eye causes sorrow’ (Proverbs 10.10). It is a sign of those who are behaving in an underhanded way.
But the Psalmist prays that it might not happen. He asks, ‘let it not be’. Notice, however, that this is on the basis that it has no real justification. He is not about to get what he deserves. These people do not have a reasonable cause, they are behaving dishonestly. And they reveal it by devising deceitful words rather than speaking peace. They are not interested in a fair result, but in getting their own way. And they do not only do it against the Psalmist, they do it against all who are at peace and causing no trouble in the land. Dishonest accusations are extensive.
And so their mouths are opened wide as they accuse him (Isaiah 57.4), and they insinuate that they have seen what they are speaking about. The picture is graphic. They say, ‘Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it’, either as though they had come across it by surprise, or else were emphasizing how they had caught him out. It is all an act put on to catch him out. None of it is reality, it is a show put on for the judges.
22 This You have seen, O LORD; Do not keep silence. O Lord do not be far from me. 3 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication, to my cause, my God and my Lord. 24 Vindicate me, O LORD my God, according to Your righteousness; And let them not rejoice over me.
The Psalmist is confident that YHWH see all that is going on, and he calls on Him to act on that basis. This is the confidence that all who live truly can have, that God knows the way that they take, and all that befalls them in it, and will thus in His own good time act on their behalf.
So he asks Him not to remain silent and to be close to him in his trials. For ‘be not far from me’. Indeed he calls on Him to ensure that he receives the justice due to him, and to uphold his cause. He is not asking for favours, but for justice. He is asking Him to act ‘according to His righteousness’.
Note the proliferation of titles, ‘O YHWH’, ‘O Lord’, ‘my God and my Lord’, ‘YHWH my God’. He is calling on the Judge of all the world to do right (Genesis 18.25).
‘Let them not rejoice over me.’ It cannot be right that an unjust cause should triumph, for then righteousness will be the loser.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.” 26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion who rejoice at my hurt; Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who exalt themselves against me.
The Psalmist is concerned that the unrighteous will not be able to gloat. He does not want them to be able to say, ‘Aha, we have got our way’ (literally ‘Aha, our desire’). He does not want them to be able to gloat over the fact that they have swallowed him up. They rejoice at his hurt, so let them too be hurt, let them be ashamed and confounded. They magnify themselves against him, so let them instead be clothed with shame and dishonour. His desire is that they get what they deserve, the very opposite of what by underhand means they are seeking for themselves. Continually he want right to prevail. He is as much concerned for the honour of God as he is for himself.
27 Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause; and let them say continually, “Let the LORD be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. 28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long.
And it is because the honour of God is concerned that he anticipates support from the godly. He asks YHWH that those who support his righteous cause might be able to shout for joy and be glad at its success, because they will give honor to YHWH for supporting such a righteous cause and delighting in the welfare (literally ‘peace’) of His servant, and having pleasure in his ‘peace’. The wellbeing of His servants brings glory to YHWH (as paradoxically so does their suffering for a righteous cause).
And the result will be that his tongue will ‘speak musingly’ of His righteousness. It will be something to continually meditate on and rejoice over that YHWH’s truth and righteousness have triumphed. And on top of that he will speak musingly of His praise all day long. The result of his vindication will be that the praise is given to YHWH. And this should ever be the case.
