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Psalm 35:17

Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my precious life from the lions.

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.
18I will give you thanks in the great assembly. I will praise you among many people.
19Don’t let those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me; neither let those who hate me without a cause wink their eyes.
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← Psalm 35:16Psalm 35:18 →
Notice

The lions picture attackers who will not stop, while the plea to the Lord exposes the strain of waiting for him to intervene.

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

What unresolved harm would you bring to God in a prayer beginning “Lord, how long”?

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How does “my precious life” shape the way you pray about harm?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

6 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
Psalm 13:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?Both prayers ask how long God's apparent lack of response will last, bringing the distress of waiting to the Lord.
Habakkuk 1:13You who have purer eyes than to see evil, and who cannot look on perversity, why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously and keep silent when the wicked …Both prayers question God's apparent inaction while people inflict harm, addressing him as the one who sees what happens.
Psalm 22:20Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.Both prayers call the speaker's life precious and ask for deliverance, describing danger through weapons or threatening animals.
Psalm 57:4My soul is among lions. I lie among those who are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.Both psalms describe threatening people as lions, using the animals' violence to express danger to the speaker's life.
Daniel 6:27He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”Both passages speak of rescue from lions: the psalm asks for deliverance, while Daniel's rescue is reported as accomplished.
Revelation 6:10They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”Both cries ask how long the Lord will delay acting against violence, though one seeks rescue and the other judgment.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. waiting. feeling distant from God.

What the Bible says about anger →What the Bible says about patience →What the Bible says about doubt →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Write a prayer for someone facing harm

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Encouragement

No answer to the plea appears in this verse. The danger remains, and the speaker still asks the Lord to rescue a life he calls precious.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 35:17. 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).