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Psalm 35:19

Don’t let those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me; neither let those who hate me without a cause wink their eyes.

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.
20For they don’t speak peace, but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
21Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me. They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”
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Notice

A wink becomes a gesture of hostility here, as David asks God to stop the undeserved hatred and the pleasure his enemies take in his distress.

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

What would you want God to know about a moment when someone seemed pleased by your distress?

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What care would you need to take before describing hostility toward you as “without a cause”?

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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
John 15:25But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled which was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’Jesus names hatred “without a cause” as fulfillment of Scripture, sharing the phrase David uses for the hatred directed against him.
Psalm 69:4Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore …Both prayers describe hatred without cause and enemies whose hostility has no just grounds.
Psalm 30:1A Psalm. A Song for the Dedication of the Temple. By David. I will extol you, LORD, for you have raised me up, and have not made my foes to rejoice over me.Psalm 35 asks that enemies be denied their rejoicing; Psalm 30 thanks God for having denied foes that triumph.
Proverbs 24:17Don’t rejoice when your enemy falls. Don’t let your heart be glad when he is overthrown,Both texts address rejoicing over an enemy’s downfall: David asks to be spared it, while Proverbs forbids taking such pleasure.
Micah 7:8Don’t rejoice against me, my enemy. When I fall, I will arise. When I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.Both speakers oppose an enemy’s rejoicing over them, though Micah also declares confidence in rising after a fall.
Proverbs 6:13who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, who motions with his fingers,Both passages mention winking eyes; Psalm 35 identifies those making the gesture as people who hate without cause.
Proverbs 10:10One who winks with the eye causes sorrow, but a chattering fool will fall.Winking accompanies hostility in Psalm 35, while Proverbs names the sorrow that a person’s winking can cause.
Psalm 119:86All of your commandments are faithful. They persecute me wrongfully. Help me!Both prayers bring unjust treatment before God and ask him for help against it.
Psalm 13:4lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him;” lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.Both prayers ask that enemies be kept from rejoicing over the speaker’s defeat.
Lamentations 3:52They have chased me relentlessly like a bird, those who are my enemies without cause.Both speakers describe enemies whose hostility lacks cause; Lamentations pictures that hostility as a relentless bird hunt.
Job 15:12Why does your heart carry you away? Why do your eyes flash,The shared detail is narrow: both mention eyes, but Job describes flashing eyes while Psalm 35 describes hostile winking.
John 16:20–22Most certainly I tell you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.Both texts describe others rejoicing amid someone’s distress; Jesus also promises his hearers that their sorrow will turn into joy.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. work conflict. broken friendship.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray Psalm 35:19 aloud at bedtime tonight

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Encouragement

You need not soften the cruelty of being mocked when you ask God for help. David brings even his enemies’ winking into his plea for God to intervene.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 35:19. 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).