Psalm 35 is the prayer of the righteous man surrounded by malicious opposition. David asks God not merely to comfort him, but to contend for him, because false witnesses, betrayal, and hatred without cause have become too heavy for human strength. The Church hears this Psalm with Christ before the council, Christ before Pilate, and Christ surrounded by accusers who reward good with evil. Spiritually, it teaches the believer how to cry for justice without becoming cruel, and how to entrust vindication to God rather than letting injury harden the heart.
Psalm 35 (LXX 34) - Contend, O Lord, with Those Who Contend with Me
Psalm Metadata
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| NKJV / Masoretic numbering | Psalm 35 |
| Septuagint / Coptic numbering | Psalm 34. After the Septuagint combines NKJV Psalms 9 and 10 as LXX Psalm 9, this Psalm is shifted by one. |
| Accepted author | David by superscription. Brenton/LXX begins, “A Psalm of David.” |
| Period in author’s life | No precise life period is given. The language fits Davidic persecution, false accusation, and betrayal, but it should not be tied to one episode unless the text says so. |
| Christ prophecy status | Passion Psalm. It includes false witnesses, hatred without cause, betrayal after love, and the cry for divine vindication. John 15:25 is commonly connected with Psalm 35:19 and Psalm 69:4. |
| Coptic lectionary/service use | Local rows cite printed Psalm 35 in Good Friday First Hour, Great Lent Monday and Tuesday of week six, Fourth Sunday of Babah Matins, Paona 2 Vespers, and annual/date rows. |
| Numbering issue | The embedded Brenton text is LXX Psalm 34. The local lectionary rows used here cite printed Psalm 35, matching NKJV/English numbering in those source fields. |
Historical and Scriptural Context
Psalm 35 belongs to the Davidic prayers for deliverance from enemies, but it is more than a generic conflict Psalm. Its enemies do not only attack from outside. They lie, mock, repay good with evil, and rejoice in the suffering of the one who had prayed and fasted for them. This is personal betrayal, public accusation, and spiritual danger at once.
The Psalm also stands near Psalm 34, where David praises God after humiliating deliverance. Psalm 35 moves from rescue already tasted to conflict still unresolved. The believer is being taught two prayers side by side: bless the Lord after He delivers, and cry to the Lord while enemies still speak.
Geographical Significance ⛰️
No specific geography is named in this Psalm. The meaningful movement is judicial and spiritual: the Psalmist stands as an accused man, surrounded by hostile witnesses, asking the Lord to arise as defender and judge.
The Characters 👥
David. The accepted Psalmist. He prays as one injured, slandered, and betrayed.
The enemies. Those who fight, persecute, hide snares, raise unjust witness, mock, and rejoice at affliction.
The poor and needy one. The vulnerable person whose strength is not enough against stronger oppressors.
The Lord. Warrior, defender, judge, and salvation.
Christ. The innocent sufferer, falsely witnessed against, hated without cause, and vindicated by the Father.
🕯️ Light from the Word
Psalm 34:1-10, God contends for the defenseless
34:1 A Psalm of David. Judge thou, O Lord, them that injure me, fight against them that fight against me. 34:2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and arise for my help. 34:3 Bring forth a sword, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say to my soul, I am thy salvation. 34:4 Let them that seek my soul be ashamed and confounded: let them that devise evils against me be turned back and put to shame. 34:5 Let them be as dust before the wind, and an angel of the Lord afflicting them. 34:6 Let their way be dark and slippery, and an angel of the Lord persecuting them. 34:7 For without cause they have hid for me their destructive snare: without a cause they have reproached my soul. 34:8 Let a snare which they know not come upon them: and the gin which they hid take them; and let them fall into the very same snare. 34:9 But my soul shall exult in the Lord: it shall delight in his salvation. 34:10 All my bones shall say, O Lord, who is like to thee? delivering the poor out of the hand of them that are stronger than he, yea, the poor and needy one from them that spoil him.
The Psalm opens with a bold request: “fight against them that fight against me.” This is not permission for personal revenge. David is refusing to make himself judge, executioner, and savior. He places the case before God.
The strongest line is the one God speaks to the soul: “I am thy salvation.” David does not only ask for external rescue. He asks for an inward word strong enough to steady the soul when enemies are stronger than he is.
The snares return upon those who laid them. This is a moral pattern in Scripture: evil is self-entangling. St Augustine often reads such Psalms as revealing the judgment already hidden inside sin, while St Athanasius teaches in his Letter to Marcellinus that the Psalms give words for the soul’s exact condition before God.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “Say to my soul, I am thy salvation.” “David refuses to make himself judge, executioner, and savior.”
- Emphasize: The Psalm asks God to defend the poor from stronger enemies.
- Avoid: Turning the imprecatory language into personal vengeance or political anger.
Psalm 34:11-16, false witnesses and love repaid with evil
34:11 Unjust witnesses arose, and asked me of things I knew not. 34:12 They rewarded me evil for good, and bereavement to my soul. 34:13 But I, when they troubled me, put on sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting: and my prayer shall return to my own bosom. 34:14 I behaved agreeably towards them as if it had been our neighbour or brother: I humbled myself as one mourning and sad of countenance. 34:15 Yet they rejoiced against me, and plagues were plentifully brought against me, and I knew it not: they were scattered, but repented not. 34:16 They tempted me, they sneered at me most contemptuously, they gnashed their teeth upon me.
This section is the heart of the betrayal. The Psalmist did not merely suffer from enemies. He fasted and prayed for people who later rejoiced in his affliction.
The line about unjust witnesses becomes unavoidable in the Passion of Christ. The Gospels describe false witnesses brought against the Lord, and Good Friday First Hour in the local Coptic data uses Psalm 35:11, 12, and 16 with the trial narratives. The Church does not read this merely as David’s private complaint. She hears Christ, the innocent One, standing silent before accusations.
The spiritual danger here is bitterness. The Psalmist names the wrong clearly, but he still prays to God rather than becoming the same kind of person as his accusers.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “He fasted and prayed for people who later rejoiced in his affliction.” “The Psalm names the wrong clearly.”
- Emphasize: Christian forgiveness does not require pretending false witness is harmless.
- Avoid: Telling wounded people to minimize betrayal in the name of spirituality.
Psalm 34:17-18, the only-begotten one and the great congregation
34:17 O Lord, when wilt thou look upon me? Deliver my soul from their mischief, mine only-begotten one from the lions. 34:18 I will give thanks to thee even in a great congregation: in an abundant people I will praise thee.
Brenton’s phrase “mine only-begotten one” is striking. In the Psalm’s literal sense, it expresses the soul’s preciousness and vulnerability. The Psalmist’s life is not disposable.
Read in Christ, the phrase opens into deeper light. The Only-begotten Son enters the place of the hunted righteous man. He is surrounded by lions, yet His deliverance becomes praise in the great congregation, the Church gathered by His Resurrection.
This is why Christian interpretation does not flatten the Psalm into either David only or Christ only. David’s words are real. Christ fills them to their depth.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “The Psalmist’s life is not disposable.” “Christ fills David’s words to their depth.”
- Emphasize: The Christological reading deepens the literal sense rather than erasing it.
- Avoid: Overexplaining the phrase so that its prayerful force is lost.
Psalm 34:19-28, hatred without cause and vindication without revenge
34:19 Let not them that are mine enemies without a cause rejoice against me; who hate me for nothing, and wink with their eyes. 34:20 For to me they spoke peaceably, but imagined deceits in their anger. 34:21 And they opened wide their mouth upon me; they said, Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it. 34:22 Thou hast seen it, O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord, withdraw not thyself from me. 34:23 Awake, O Lord, and attend to my judgment, even to my cause, my God and my Lord. 34:24 Judge me, O Lord, according to thy righteousness, O Lord my God; and let them not rejoice against me. 34:25 Let them not say in their hearts, Aha, aha, it is pleasing to our soul: neither let them say, We have devoured him. 34:26 Let them be confounded and ashamed together that rejoice at my afflictions: let them be clothed with shame and confusion that speak great swelling words against me. 34:27 Let them that rejoice in my righteousness exult and be glad: and let them say continually, The Lord be magnified, who desire the peace of his servant. 34:28 And my tongue shall meditate on thy righteousness, and on thy praise all the day.
The phrase “hate me for nothing” is one of the great Passion lines of the Psalter. In John 15:25, Christ says, “They hated Me without a cause,” fulfilling what was written in the Law. Psalm 35:19 and Psalm 69:4 both stand behind this Christian reading.
The ending matters. David does not conclude with hatred. He asks that those who rejoice in his righteousness would say, “The Lord be magnified.” His tongue ends not in obsession with enemies, but in meditation on God’s righteousness and praise.
That is the shape of healed vindication. God may judge evil, expose deceit, and deliver His servant, but the servant’s tongue must still be trained for praise.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “David does not conclude with hatred.” “The servant’s tongue must still be trained for praise.”
- Emphasize: This Psalm points directly to Christ hated without cause.
- Avoid: Letting the enemies become more central than the Lord’s righteousness.
The Church’s Voice in Worship
The available lectionary references preserves the relevant rows as printed Psalm 35 references, while the embedded Brenton text is LXX Psalm 34.
- Good Friday First Hour, Psalm 35:11, 12, 16: This is the clearest liturgical anchor for the guide. The Psalm’s unjust witnesses, evil repaid for good, and contemptuous mocking fit the trial of Christ before the authorities.
- Great Lent, Monday of the sixth week Liturgy, Psalm 35:1-2: The Church prays for God to contend and arise for help as Lent approaches the Passion.
- Great Lent, Tuesday of the sixth week Matins, Psalm 35:13: The fasting and humbled soul fit the ascetical labor of Lent and the Lord’s voluntary humility.
- Fourth Sunday of Babah Matins, Psalm 35:18 and 28: The praise in the great congregation and the tongue meditating on righteousness fit public worship and thanksgiving.
- Paona 2 Vespers, Psalm 35:10 and 27: The local row holds together deliverance of the poor and the magnification of the Lord.
Iconography Connection 🖼️
Psalm 35 belongs visually with icons of Christ before Caiaphas, Christ before Pilate, and the Mocking of Christ. It also belongs with David the Psalmist, not as a decorative musician, but as a hunted servant asking God to defend the poor and needy. In a teaching setting, the strongest iconographic link is Christ standing silent before false witnesses while this Psalm gives language to the injustice He suffers.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
- Ask God to contend without becoming vindictive. There is a real difference between seeking justice and feeding revenge.
- Name false witness clearly. The Psalm does not call betrayal a misunderstanding.
- Let fasting soften the soul, not harden it. David’s fasting for those who hurt him points toward Christ’s mercy.
- Trust God with unseen judgments. Hidden snares, whispers, and mocking are not hidden from Him.
- End with praise, not fixation. The healed tongue meditates on righteousness all the day.
Teacher's Notes
- Timing: 60 to 70 minutes.
- Where to linger: Verses 11-16 and 19-28.
- Where to compress: The repeated judgment petitions in verses 4-8 and 24-26.
- Key phrase to say slowly: “Say to my soul, I am thy salvation.”
- Pastoral warning: Do not use this Psalm to baptize anger. Also do not use forgiveness language to silence someone who has been falsely accused or harmed.
- Accuracy note: NKJV Psalm 35 corresponds to LXX Psalm 34. Local lectionary rows here cite printed Psalm 35. The Good Friday First Hour placement is the most important verified Coptic liturgical use in this note.
Glossary
- LXX Psalm 34: Septuagint/Coptic numbering for NKJV Psalm 35.
- False witnesses: Accusers who distort or invent testimony. In the Passion narratives, false witness becomes part of Christ’s unjust trial.
- Imprecatory prayer: Prayer asking God to judge, restrain, or defeat evil. In Christian use it must be purified from personal revenge.
- Only-begotten one: Brenton’s phrase in Psalm 34:17. In context it can mean the precious life of the Psalmist; Christologically it evokes the Only-begotten Son.
Translation and Source Notes
The embedded Scripture text is Brenton’s English Septuagint, Psalm 34. The project title uses NKJV numbering first, so this guide is titled Psalm 35 (LXX 34). Local Coptic/service rows for worship usage were checked in the reverse lookup, Pascha, katameros cycle, and date-index data. The local rows used here preserve printed Psalm 35 references rather than the embedded LXX chapter number.
Sources
Primary sources: Brenton Septuagint, Psalm 34; Matthew 26:57-68; Matthew 27:1-14; Mark 14:53-65; Luke 22:66-23:12; John 15:25; John 18:28-40; St Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus; St Augustine, Expositions on the Psalms; Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms.
Secondary academic sources: Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50; Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary.
Coptic Orthodox / pastoral sources: Coptic Pascha readings for Good Friday First Hour; Coptic Great Lent cycle rows; local annual/date lectionary rows; Fr Tadros Malaty’s pastoral commentary on the Psalms where consulted for thematic support.
Web and local reference sources: Coptic Orthodox lectionary references, especially pascha_day_hour_index.csv, reverse_lookup_crosswalk.csv, katameros_cycle_passage_index.csv, copticchurch_passage_index_2020_2035.csv, and Psalms Lectionary Occurrence Summary.