For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life.
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
In this verse the Psalmist brings forward the gravamen of his charge against the servants of the devil. "For without cause"— without my having injured, assailed, or provoked them; out of their own spontaneous malice "have they hid for me their net in a pit, " even as men hunt for their game with cunning and deception.
David was God's servant, walking in duty and conscience, yet his enemies hunted him like a beast, dug pits, laid nets, and devised his ruin with unwearied malice. They could hide their snares from him, but never from God; and though he faced an unequal match in their strength, his appeal is not to his own arm but to the Lord's.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 35:1-10