Read
Psalm 35:4
Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
2Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help.
3Brandish the spear and block those who pursue me. Tell my soul, “I am your salvation.”
4Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor. Let those who plot my ruin be turned back and confounded.
5Let them be as chaff before the wind, the LORD’s angel driving them on.
6Let their way be dark and slippery, the LORD’s angel pursuing them.
Notice
The plea for enemies to be disgraced can be hard to pray, yet it comes from someone facing plots against his life.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What difference does the threat to the speaker’s life make to how you read his plea for dishonor?
Write on thisWhere do you see a need for destructive plans to be turned back today?
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 70:2–3Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.Both prayers ask that those seeking the speaker’s life and ruin be disappointed, confounded, and turned back in disgrace.
Jeremiah 46:5Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and are turned backward. Their mighty ones are beaten down, have fled in haste, and don’t look back. Terror is on every …Both texts describe a reversal involving dismay and retreat: the psalm requests it, while Jeremiah describes beaten warriors fleeing.
Psalm 35:26Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.Both verses ask for shame and dishonor upon opponents, whether they plot the speaker’s ruin or rejoice at his calamity.
Psalm 38:12They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.Both passages describe people seeking the speaker’s life and planning harm; Psalm 38 names their snares and deceit.
Psalm 31:17–18Let me not be disappointed, LORD, for I have called on you. Let the wicked be disappointed. Let them be silent in Sheol.Both prayers ask that disappointment fall on those doing evil, with Psalm 31 also asking that the speaker be spared it.
Jeremiah 17:18Let them be disappointed who persecute me, but don’t let me be disappointed. Let them be dismayed, but don’t let me be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, …Both speakers ask for their persecutors to suffer disappointment and dismay; Jeremiah’s prayer goes further in asking for destruction.
1 Samuel 23:23See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself; and come again to me with certainty, and I will go with you. It shall …Both passages concern pursuit: Samuel records instructions to search hiding places, while the psalm asks for pursuers to be turned back.
John 18:6When therefore he said to them, “I am he,” they went backward and fell to the ground.The shared detail is backward movement: the psalm asks for pursuers to turn back, while John describes people falling backward.
Jeremiah 18:23Yet, LORD, you know all their counsel against me to kill me. Don’t forgive their iniquity. Don’t blot out their sin from your sight, Let them be overthrown …Both prayers bring plots against the speaker’s life before God and ask him to overthrow those responsible.
Isaiah 37:29Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips, …Turning an adversary back is shared: the psalm asks for this reversal, and Isaiah records God declaring it.
Ezekiel 13:19You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to kill the souls who should not die and to save the souls alive who …Both texts concern threats to human life, though Ezekiel addresses killing through lies rather than a pursued person’s prayer.
1 Kings 19:10He said, “I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed …Both speakers face people seeking their lives; Elijah names the killing of other prophets as part of his complaint.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The prayer entrusts judgment to God; it gives no command to take revenge. The danger remains grave, and the plea is for the plotters to fail.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 35:4. 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).