I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.
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
I waited on him assiduously, comforted him affectionately, sympathized with him deeply, as one does for a mother in her deepest grief. How few of us have such bowels of compassion; yet under the gospel there should be far more tender love than ever before. Had we more hearty love to mankind and care for its ills, we would be infinitely more Christ-like.
AI summary
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