Theme:
When the righteous are repaid with hatred and lies, they plead for the LORD to contend for them and to turn unjust suffering into public praise.
Tone:
Aggrieved and urgent—yet stubbornly hopeful.
Structure:
A repeated cycle of accusation and appeal: cries for God to act → descriptions of betrayal and injustice → vows to praise when deliverance comes.
The Call
The psalm opens with a startling request: not only that God would help, but that He would enter the conflict—to “contend” and “fight” for His servant. The prayer is intense because the danger is relational as well as physical: enemies are near, their hatred is personal, and their words are weapons. The psalmist does not pretend to be unhurt; he brings the whole injury into God’s presence.
The Reflection
The center of the lament exposes the deepest wound: betrayal. The psalmist had once prayed for these same people in their sickness, mourning as for a friend—yet they repay that mercy with mockery, secret plotting, and false testimony. Here, lament becomes a form of moral clarity: the psalmist refuses to accept a world where treachery gets the final word. He appeals to the character of God—One who sees, who judges truly, and who does not confuse loud accusations with truth.
Even in the heat of the prayer, the psalmist’s longing is not mere revenge; it is the restoration of right order: that lying mouths be silenced, that shame would fall on those who love harm, and that those who love God’s righteousness would rejoice. In other words, the psalmist asks for a justice that makes room again for worship.
The Resolve
The psalm ends not with a tidy resolution, but with a steady decision: if God delivers, the psalmist will speak—openly, publicly, and persistently. Praise is promised in advance, but the pain has not been edited out. Lament remains present, yet it is held inside a deeper confidence: the LORD delights in the well-being of His servant, and therefore the last word will not belong to slander.
Psalm 35 resonates strongly with Jesus’ experience of righteous suffering: He is surrounded by hostility “without cause,” opposed by false witnesses, and repaid with evil where He gave good. In the Gospels, Christ does not answer injustice with retaliation; He entrusts Himself to the Father who judges justly.
This psalm helps the church pray honestly when wronged, while also shaping that prayer in the direction Jesus fulfills: God’s decisive “contending” is ultimately seen at the cross and resurrection—where evil expends itself, truth is vindicated, and the suffering righteous One is publicly justified. In Christ, we learn to lament without denial, and to hope without pretending that betrayal is small.
One key word is the Hebrew verb רִיב (riv), “to contend” or “to take up a legal case.” Psalm 35 is not only a battlefield plea; it is also a courtroom appeal. The psalmist calls on the LORD to act as advocate and judge—answering false charges not with louder speech, but with righteous vindication.
“Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation!’” — Psalm 35:3
Answer the questions below. When you choose an option, you will see the result and an explanation.
1. What does the psalmist urgently ask the LORD to do at the opening of the psalm?
2. What did the psalmist say he once did for the very people who later betrayed him?