Salmos 35

ARC · Chapter 35/150

1Pleiteia, Senhor, com aquelles que pleiteiam comigo: peleja contra os que pelejam contra mim.

2Pega do escudo e da rodela, e levanta-te em minha ajuda.

3Tira da lança e obstroe o caminho aos que me perseguem; dize á minha alma: Eu sou a tua salvação.

4Sejam confundidos e envergonhados os que buscam a minha vida: voltem atraz e envergonhem-se os que contra mim tentam mal.

5Sejam como moinho perante o vento, o anjo do Senhor os faça fugir.

6Seja o seu caminho tenebroso e escorregadio, e o anjo do Senhor os persiga.

7Porque sem causa encobriram de mim a rede na cova, a qual sem razão cavaram para a minha alma.

8Sobrevenha-lhe destruição sem o saber, e prenda-o a rede que occultou; caia elle n'essa mesma destruição.

9E a minha alma se alegrará no Senhor; alegrar-se-ha na sua salvação.

10Todos os meus ossos dirão: Senhor, quem é como tu, que livras o pobre d'aquelle que é mais forte do que elle? sim, o pobre e o necessitado d'aquelle que o rouba.

11Falsas testemunhas se levantaram: depozeram contra mim coisas que eu não sabia.

12Tornaram-me o mal pelo bem, roubando a minha alma.

13Mas, quanto a mim, quando estavam enfermos, o meu vestido era o sacco; humilhava a minha alma com o jejum, e a minha oração voltava para o meu seio.

14Portava-me como se elle fôra meu irmão ou amigo; andava lamentando e muito encurvado, como quem chora por sua mãe.

15Mas elles com a minha adversidade se alegravam e se congregavam: os objectos se congregavam contra mim, e eu não o sabia; rasgavam-me, e não cessavam.

16Como hypocritas zombadores nas festas, rangiam os dentes contra mim.

17Senhor, até quando verás isto? resgata a minha alma das suas assolações, e a minha predilecta dos leões,

18Louvar-te-hei na grande congregação: entre muitissimo povo te celebrarei.

19Não se alegrem os meus inimigos de mim sem razão, nem acenem com os olhos aquelles que me aborrecem sem causa.

20Pois não fallam de paz; antes projectam enganar os quietos da terra.

21Abrem a bocca de par em par contra mim, e dizem: Ólá, Ólá! os nossos olhos o viram.

22Tu, Senhor, o tens visto, não te cales: Senhor, não te alongues de mim;

23Desperta e acorda para o meu julgamento, para a minha causa, Deus meu, e Senhor meu.

24Julga-me segundo a tua justiça, Senhor Deus meu, e não deixes que se alegrem de mim.

25Não digam em seus corações: Eia, sus, alma nossa: não digam: Nós o havemos devorado.

26Envergonhem-se e confundam-se á uma os que se alegram com o meu mal; vistam-se de vergonha e de confusão os que se engrandecem contra mim.

27Cantem e alegrem-se os que amam a minha justiça, e digam continuamente: O Senhor seja engrandecido, o qual ama a prosperidade do seu servo.

28E assim a minha lingua fallará da tua justiça e do teu louvor todo o dia.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David asks God to fight on his behalf against enemies who repaid good with evil and persecuted him without cause, even after he had wept and fasted for them when they were sick.

Explanation

This is one of the so-called 'imprecatory psalms,' in which the psalmist openly asks God to judge and punish his adversaries — a form of prayer that may sound shocking today, but which expresses handing vengeance over to God rather than taking it personally (something reinforced by the Mosaic Law, which restricted personal revenge). The poignant detail is that David treated his enemies with compassion when they were sick, and was still betrayed by them. Today's application: it is possible to bring even the harshest feelings of anger and desire for justice to God, trusting that He will judge righteously, rather than acting on one's own.

Fun facts

  • Psalms like this one belong to the group of 'imprecatory psalms' (which also include Psalms 69, 109, and 137) — texts that call for judgment on enemies and that still generate theological debate today about how to reconcile them with the call to forgiveness.
  • The practice described in verses 13-14 — wearing sackcloth (rough cloth) and fasting for the health of another person, even an adversary — was a common practice of intercession in ancient Israel, also seen in Job 30:25.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Salmos 35:1Opens the psalm asking God to take up his own defense, using language that mixes courtroom and battlefield: to plead the cause and fight the fight that are his.
  2. Salmos 35:2Shield and buckler, a smaller round shield, were part of a soldier’s equipment at the time; the psalmist asks God Himself to arm up like a warrior to fight at his side, a military image of protection applied to a personal persecution.
  3. Salmos 35:3Continues asking God to arm Himself like a warrior, but ends with a deeply personal request: just hearing the phrase “I am thy salvation” would already be enough to comfort his soul.
  4. Salmos 35:4A request for poetic justice: that whoever seeks to take his life come out ashamed and be forced to retreat, the common pattern of psalms of lament.
  5. Salmos 35:5Repeats the image of chaff carried by the wind, already used in Psalm 1, now asking that an angel of the LORD Himself chase and drive away the enemies.
  6. Salmos 35:6Continues the same request for poetic justice, now imagining the enemies’ path dark and slippery, hard to walk without falling.
  7. Salmos 35:7Explains the reason for so much pleading for justice: the enemies set a hidden trap for no real reason, a completely unjustified attack.
  8. Salmos 35:8Repeats the same idea of poetic justice found in other psalms: that the trap the enemy prepared close in on himself, without warning.
  9. Salmos 35:9Shifts tone, from a plea for justice to anticipated joy: even before the final outcome, he already declares he will rejoice in God’s salvation.
  10. Salmos 35:10Describes a praise that involves the whole body, down to the bones, recognizing that no one else defends the weak against the strong the way God does.
  11. Salmos 35:11Describes the specific kind of injustice he suffered: false witnesses accusing him of things he didn’t even know existed.
  12. Salmos 35:12Describes the ingratitude of these people: he did good to them, and the response he got back was evil, almost like a theft of his very soul.
  13. Salmos 35:13Wearing sackcloth, a rough fabric, and fasting were the visible signs of mourning and pleading in Hebrew culture. The sad detail here is that the psalmist did this for his own enemies when they were sick, and now those same enemies are the ones attacking him.
  14. Salmos 35:14Continues describing how well he treated these same people before: he wept for them as if they were a brother or close friend, with the same mourning as someone who loses their own mother.
  15. Salmos 35:15Draws a painful contrast: while he wept over their troubles, those same people gathered to celebrate his misfortunes, never letting up their attacks.
  16. Salmos 35:16Gnashing teeth is a physical expression of extreme rage and hostility, the kind of gesture that shows stored-up hatred, not just passing disapproval.
  17. Salmos 35:17Repeats the classic lament question, “how long”, asking that God finally step in and rescue his life from the grip of these enemies compared to lions.
  18. Salmos 35:18Promises that, if he is delivered, he will praise publicly, in a great gathering of people, not keeping the gratitude only to himself.
  19. Salmos 35:19Asks that his enemies have no reason to celebrate without cause, even mentioning the gesture of winking in mockery, a physical sign of scorn.
  20. Salmos 35:20Describes the true character of these enemies: they don’t speak of real peace, they plan to deceive exactly those who live peacefully and expect no trouble.
  21. Salmos 35:21A cry of mockery, like someone pointing and celebrating another person’s misfortune in the public square, the kind of public humiliation the psalmist says he’s suffering.
  22. Salmos 35:22Asks God not to stay silent, since He saw everything that happened, silence at this moment would seem strange after so much witnessed.
  23. Salmos 35:23Uses urgent language, almost as if asking God to wake up, calling Him twice by different names to reinforce the intimacy of the request.
  24. Salmos 35:24Asks for a judgment based on God’s righteousness, making clear that the greatest fear isn’t losing, it’s giving the enemies a reason to celebrate.
  25. Salmos 35:25Fears even what the enemies might think in secret, celebrating inwardly as if they had already swallowed him whole.
  26. Salmos 35:26Asks that shame clothe the enemies like a garment, a poetic way of asking that the humiliation they wanted to cause come back on themselves.
  27. Salmos 35:27Draws the final contrast: while asking shame for the enemies, he wishes joy and singing for whoever supports his just cause, recognizing that God cares about the well-being of those who serve Him.
  28. Salmos 35:28Closes the psalm with a vow of constant praise, promising that his tongue will speak of God’s righteousness every day, not only in the moment of crisis.

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