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Psalm 35:15

But in my adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together. The attackers gathered themselves together against me, and I didn’t know it. They tore at me, and didn’t cease.

13But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I afflicted my soul with fasting. My prayer returned into my own bosom.
14I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother. I bowed down mourning, as one who mourns his mother.
15But in my adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together. The attackers gathered themselves together against me, and I didn’t know it. They tore at me, and didn’t cease.
16Like the profane mockers in feasts, they gnashed their teeth at me.
17Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my precious life from the lions.
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← Psalm 35:14Psalm 35:16 →
Notice

Rejoicing at another person’s trouble makes the attack more bitter here, because those now gathered against the speaker had received his care.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What do you notice in the shift from mourning with them to their rejoicing at his adversity?

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If you have faced delight in your distress, what would you want to tell God about it?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Job 16:10They have gaped on me with their mouth. They have struck me on the cheek reproachfully. They gather themselves together against me.Both speakers describe people gathering against them, with the group’s hostility expressed through attacks on a single sufferer.
Psalm 38:17For I am ready to fall. My pain is continually before me.Both speakers describe distress that persists, though Psalm 38 names pain without describing a gathering of attackers.
Proverbs 24:17Don’t rejoice when your enemy falls. Don’t let your heart be glad when he is overthrown,The attackers rejoice in the speaker’s adversity, the very response Proverbs forbids even toward an enemy.
Psalm 7:2lest they tear apart my soul like a lion, ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver.Both passages use tearing to describe the threat of hostile attack, with Psalm 7 making the lion comparison explicit.
Jeremiah 20:10For I have heard the defaming of many: “Terror on every side! Denounce, and we will denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall. …Both passages describe people united against a sufferer, taking pleasure in adversity or looking for a chance to prevail.
Mark 14:65Some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to beat him with fists, and to tell him, “Prophesy!” The officers struck him with the palms of their …Both passages describe several attackers directing their cruelty against one person.
Lamentations 1:21“They have heard that I sigh. There is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble. They are glad that you have done it. You will bring the …Both speakers report that their enemies respond to their trouble with gladness.
Psalm 71:10–11For my enemies talk about me. Those who watch for my soul conspire together,Both passages describe enemies acting together against the speaker, through gathering or conspiracy.
Matthew 27:27–30Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole garrison together against him.Both passages describe a group gathering against one person; Matthew names Jesus as the target of the soldiers.
Matthew 27:39–44Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their headsThe psalm describes attackers rejoicing at distress; Matthew describes passersby insulting Jesus.
2 Kings 2:23He went up from there to Bethel. As he was going up by the way, some youths came out of the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldy! Go up, you …Both passages portray hostility from a group, expressed through rejoicing at adversity in the psalm and mockery in Kings.
Job 16:9He has torn me in his wrath and persecuted me. He has gnashed on me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.Both speakers describe being torn by an adversary, using harsh bodily language for the hostility they face.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. broken friendship. church hurt.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 35:15 aloud to God before writing

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Encouragement

Cruelty does not have to be softened before you bring it to God. Here, relentless harm is named within a prayer that asks the Lord for rescue.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 35:15. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 35 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).