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Psalm 35:23

Wake up! Rise up to defend me, my God! My Lord, contend for me!

21Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me. They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”
22You have seen it, LORD. Don’t keep silent. Lord, don’t be far from me.
23Wake up! Rise up to defend me, my God! My Lord, contend for me!
24Vindicate me, LORD my God, according to your righteousness. Don’t let them gloat over me.
25Don’t let them say in their heart, “Aha! That’s the way we want it!” Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”
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← Psalm 35:22Psalm 35:24 →
Notice

“Wake up!” is an urgent cry for God to act against accusers, spoken by someone who still addresses him as “my God” and “My Lord”.

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

What would you want God to defend if you prayed these words today?

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How do “Wake up!” and “my God” fit together in your own understanding of prayer?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

9 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 7:6Arise, LORD, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.Both prayers ask God to awake and rise against adversaries, seeking his intervention in the speaker’s cause.
Psalm 44:23Wake up! Why do you sleep, Lord? Arise! Don’t reject us forever.Both address the Lord with “Wake up!”, using the language of sleep to plead for his action.
Psalm 80:2Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up your might! Come to save us!Both prayers ask God to act on behalf of those seeking his help, pleading for defense or rescue.
Psalm 59:4I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up, behold, and help me!Both speakers ask God to rise and help them against people who threaten them.
John 20:28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”Both use the personal titles Lord and God; Psalm 35 pleads for defense, while Thomas addresses Jesus.
Genesis 16:5Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, she despised me. May the LORD judge …Both appeal to God amid conflict: the psalm seeks his defense, and Sarai asks the LORD to judge.
Isaiah 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of the LORD! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who …Both use a command to awake as a plea for divine action against opposition.
Isaiah 10:26The LORD of Armies will stir up a scourge against him, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb. His rod will be over the sea, and he will lift it up …Both concern God acting against opposition; Psalm 35 asks for defense, while Isaiah describes the LORD striking an enemy.
Lamentations 3:59LORD, you have seen my wrong. Judge my cause.Both speakers ask God to take up their cause in the face of wrong.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. feeling distant from God.

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

Something small to carry out of this verse

Write one plea for defense, then pray Psalm 35:23

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Encouragement

The cry remains unresolved here. Yet the speaker still says “my God”: distress and a plea for defense are spoken within a relationship with God.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 35:23. 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).