Psalm 35

Once again, David was being hounded by Saul and slandered by Saul’s men, many of whom had been David’s friends. David was championing the right cause, for he was God’s chosen king, while Saul was trying to destroy him so that one of his own sons would become king. Instead of managing the affairs of the kingdom, Saul was driven by his paranoia to pursue David and seek to kill him, and his zeal was fueled by the lies of his officers. (For the background, see 1 Sam. 19:5; 20:1; 23:25; 24:9-15; 25:29; 26:18-19.) This is classified as an imprecatory psalm (see Ps. 5 for discussion). David made three requests of God, and eventually He granted all of them.