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Psalm 35:26
Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against 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!”
26Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.
27Let those who favor my righteous cause shout for joy and be glad. Yes, let them say continually, “May the LORD be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant!”
28My tongue shall talk about your righteousness and about your praise all day long.
Notice
Clothing enemies with shame is a plea for judgment, spoken from the pain of being gloated over and addressed to the God whose righteousness governs the appeal.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What stands out to you about asking God to clothe gloating enemies with shame?
Write on thisHow does the appeal to God’s righteousness in verse 24 shape your reading of this request?
Write on thisWhat experience, if any, comes to mind when you read about people rejoicing at another’s calamity?
Write on thisConnect
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
Psalm 25:3Yes, no one who waits for you will be shamed. They will be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.Both passages associate shame with wrongdoing: treachery without cause in Psalm 25, and gloating over calamity in Psalm 35.
Jeremiah 20:11But the LORD is with me as an awesome mighty one. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and they won’t prevail. They will be utterly disappointed because they …Disappointment and dishonor mark the reversal sought for enemies in the psalm and declared for persecutors in Jeremiah.
Job 8:22Those who hate you will be clothed with shame. The tent of the wicked will be no more.”Both passages describe hostile people being clothed with shame, using clothing as an image of their disgrace.
Psalm 35:4Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.Within the same psalm, both prayers ask for enemies to be disappointed and dishonored, naming their threats and their gloating.
Psalm 132:18I will clothe his enemies with shame, but on himself, his crown will shine.”Both passages picture enemies clothed with shame; Psalm 35 requests this judgment, while Psalm 132 declares it.
Psalm 70:2Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.Both prayers ask that enemies be disappointed and confounded, confronting those who desire ruin or rejoice when calamity comes.
Job 19:5If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach,Both speakers describe others magnifying themselves against them, linking hostility with another person’s claim to superiority.
Micah 7:10Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her. Now she will be trodden down like the …Both passages picture shame covering an enemy, with gloating in the psalm and a taunt about God in Micah.
Isaiah 41:11Behold, all those who are incensed against you will be disappointed and confounded. Those who strive with you will be like nothing, and shall perish.Both passages describe hostile opponents as disappointed and confounded, though the psalm petitions for what Isaiah declares.
Ezekiel 26:16Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, and lay aside their robes, and strip off their embroidered garments. They will clothe …Both use clothing imagery for a humbling reversal; Ezekiel describes trembling princes, while the psalm asks for enemies’ shame.
Zechariah 12:7The LORD also will save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of David’s house and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem not be magnified above Judah.The shared thread is magnification above others; Zechariah concerns honor within Judah, while the psalm concerns enemies exalting themselves.
Matthew 27:41Likewise the chief priests also mocking with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said,Mockery is the narrow link: the psalm names those who rejoice at calamity, while Matthew records religious leaders mocking.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
You may name the cruelty of gloating in prayer. David asks God to bring shame upon his enemies, and grounds his appeal in God’s righteousness.
Now put it in your words.
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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).