They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft.
David's enemies are not mere dupes swept along by Saul's court; he distinguishes carefully between those thoughtlessly caught up in hatred through ignorance and those deliberate malefactors who wickedly conspired to destroy an innocent man for favor. Against the latter, he calls on God for justice, knowing his own innocence and relying on God's promise spoken through Samuel.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 35:1-28
"They rewarded me evil for good." This is devilish; but men have learned the lesson well of the old Destroyer, and practise it most perfectly. "To the spoiling of my soul." They robbed him of comfort, and even would have taken his life had it not been for special rescues from the hand of God. The wicked would strip the righteous naked to their very soul: they know no pity.
False witnesses rose up and swore to treasons David never committed, and ingratitude compounded the injury: they repaid good service with evil. This happened to the Son of David too. Such persecution shows how the innocent lie at the mercy of the wicked, yet it teaches us that God holds even bad men's consciences in check, or the harm would be far greater.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 35:11-16