John Calvin Commentary Psalms 35:19

"Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me; Neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause." — Psalms 35:19 (ASV)

Let not those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me. Because David’s enemies already rejoiced in the hope of seeing his overthrow and destruction, he prays that God would not allow them to realize such a wicked desire. To make God favorable to his cause, he again declares that they hated him without any fault or reason on his part, and that it was their own malice that drove them to such cruelty against him. For to secure God's help, it is necessary to come before Him with the testimony of a good conscience.

The Hebrew word שקר, sheker, which we have translated wrongfully, is translated by some as deceitfully, as if David meant that his enemies lay in wait for him. But this is to reason with too much subtlety. Besides, the repetition that immediately follows shows that he complains of their willful hatred, since, of their own accord and from deliberate design, they persecuted a man who had given them no cause for offense but was their friend and benefactor. The Hebrew word קרף, karats, here signifies to wink with the eyes askance in mockery; as in Psalm 22:8, it denotes to wag the head and to shoot out the lip.

In the following verse, so that he may foster still greater confidence in God, David again declares that he is dealing with enemies of an irreconcilable character, who are fully bent on cruelty. We should be firmly convinced of this: the more severely we are oppressed, the more certainly we should expect deliverance.

Therefore, he says that they speak of nothing but tumults and slaughter. The meaning of the latter clause is somewhat obscure, arising from the ambiguous meaning of the word רגע, rige. As the root word sometimes signifies to cut and sometimes to rest, or to be quiet and peaceable, some translate it the meek and peaceable of the earth; others translate it, with the tranquil and easy of the earth, meaning by this those who live amidst riches and abundance, enjoying undisturbed rest.

Both these seem to me to be forced interpretations. Others, too, though not more correctly, explain the word as in caves or secret places, so that, as they say, the wicked and deceitful plans of such people may not be revealed. But it may be very appropriately translated as the clefts of the earth, and this metaphor refers to the miserable and afflicted, who are, so to speak, broken and maimed.

David, therefore, declares that as soon as his enemies see any opening—that is, when some calamity befalls him—they immediately exert all their efforts to accomplish his destruction.

Those who, in the time of his prosperity and power, never dared even to utter a word against him, now began to plot his ruin when they saw that his influence was feeble. This is just as we know that the wicked are usually of a servile and cowardly nature and only adopt an insolent tone when an advantageous opportunity arises, such as when the good and simple face adversity.

To the same effect, he represents them in the next verse as crying out with open mouth, Aha! aha! and clapping their hands for joy that they saw David overcome and, so to speak, laid prostrate in the dust—a spectacle in which they greatly delighted.