a contest (personal or legal) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
God
אֱלֹהַ֖י'e.lo.Hai
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
Lord
וַֽאדֹנָ֣יva.do.Nai
H136
the Lord (used as a proper name of God only) · conjunction + proper noun, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 7:6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commande…
Psalms 44:23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
Psalms 59:4 They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.
Psalms 89:26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
Psalms 80:2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.
Psalms 142:5 I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living.
John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Ra…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 35:17–end
In these verses, as before,
I. David describes the great injustice, malice, and insolence, of his persecutors, pleading this with God as a reason why he should protect him from them and appear against them. 1. They were very unrighteous; they were his enemies wrongfully, for he never gave them any provocation: They hated him without a cause; nay, for that for which they ought rather to have loved and honoured him. This is quoted, with application to Christ, and is said to be fulfilled in him. Joh 15:25, They hated me without cause. 2. They were very rude; they could not find in their hearts to show him common civility: They speak not peace; if they met him, they had not the good manners to g…
(Compare Psa 7:6; Psa 26:1; Th2 1:6). God's righteous government is the hope of the pious and terror of the wicked.
John Gill on Psalms 35:23
Stir up thyself and awake,.... Who seemed to be asleep in the apprehensions of the psalmist, and to take no notice of his distresses, and the insults of his enemies; see Psalm 44:23; he adds,
to my judgment, even to my cause; that is, to plead it and maintain it, and avenge him of his enemies, as in Psalm 35:1; making use of his covenant interest in him as a plea for it to engage him to do it, saying,
my God, and my Lord; see Psalm 22:1.
John Calvin on Psalms 35:19-23
Psalm 35:19-23
19. Let not those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me; neither let those who hate me without a cause wink with the eye. 20. For they speak not peace; [719] but devise deceitful words upon the clefts of the earth. 21. They have opened their mouth against me: they have said, Aha! aha! our eye hath seen it. [720] 22. O Jehovah! thou hast also seen it: keep not silence: O Lord! be not far from me. 23. Stir up thyself, and awake for my judgment, O my God! even for my cause, O my Lord!
19. Let not those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me. Because David's enemies already exulted in the hope of seeing his overthrow and destruction, he prays that God would not su…
The Church Fathers
Since by his long-suffering he gives the impression of sleeping, as it were, he urges him to arise and deliver a verdict in his favor.
According to our human custom, one often says "arise" to one who is always awake and always attentive. Since he constantly reviews all things, he is regarded as having paid attention when he punishes.
"Arise, Lord, and attend to My judgment" [Psalm 35:23]. To what judgment? That Thou art in tribulation; that Thou art tormented with labours and pains? Do not even many wicked men suffer the same? To what judgment? Therefore art Thou righteous, because Thou sufferest these things? No: but what? "To My judgment." What followeth? "Attend to My judgment; even to My cause, My God, and My Lord." Not to My punishment, but to My cause: not to that which the robber hath in common with Me, but to that whereof is said, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake." For this cause is distinguished. For punishment is equal to good and bad. Therefore Martyrs, not the punishment, but the cause maketh, for if punishment made Martyrs, all the mines would be full of Martyrs, every chain would drag Martyrs, all that are executed with the sword would be crowned. Therefore let the cause be distinguished; let none say, because I suffer, I am righteous. Because He who first suffered, suffered for righteousness' sake, therefore He added a great exception, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake." For many having a good cause do persecution, and many having a bad cause suffer persecution. For if persecution could not be done rightly, it had not been said in a certain Psalm, "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him did I persecute." ...Let none then say, I suffer persecution: let him not sift the punishment, but prove the cause: lest if he prove not the cause, he be numbered with the ungodly. Therefore how watchfully, how excellently hath This Man recommended Himself, "O Lord, attend to My judgment," not to My punishments; "even to My cause, My God, and My Lord."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Enemy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The poet takes up this malignant "now our eye sees it" and gives another turn to it. With יהוה, alternates in Psa 35:22, Psa 35:23, cf. Psa 35:17, אדני, the pronominal force of which is revived in the combination אלחי ואדני (vid., Psa 16:2). חעיר, carrying its object within itself, signifies to stir, rouse up, and הקיץ, to break off, tear one's self away, gather one's self up from, sleep. "To my right," viz., to prove it by facts; "to my cause," to carry it on in my defence.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 35:21-25
35:21, 25 Aha! . . . Look: Both words translate the same expression of glee (Hebrew he’akh).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 35:23
Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.
"Stir up thyself." Be upon thy mettle. Prove that thou art no indifferent witness to all this infamy. "Awake to rail judgment." Take the sceptre and summon the great assize; vindicate justice, avenge oppression. Do not tarry as men do who sleep. "Even unto my cause, my God and my Lord." He claims a nearness to his God, he holds him with both hands; he leaves his case with the righteous Judge. He begs that the suit may be brought on, heard, tried, and verdict given. Well is it for a man when his conscience is so clear that he dares to make such an appeal.
