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19 But when the time came for Saul’s daughter Merob to be given to David, she was given as wife to Adriel the Meholathite instead.(A)

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19 Please, now, let my lord the king listen to the words of his servant. If the Lord has incited you against me, may an offering please the Lord. But if it is the people who have done so, may they be cursed before the Lord. They have driven me away so that today I have no share in the Lord’s heritage,[a] but am told: ‘Go serve other gods!’(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 26:19 The Lord’s heritage: the land and people of Israel (Dt 32:8–9; Ps 33:12). If driven from the land, David could not take part in worship of Israel’s God; nonetheless, God has blessed David (cf. v. 25).

Psalm 35[a]

Prayer for Help Against Unjust Enemies

Of David.

I

[b]Oppose, O Lord, those who oppose me;
    war upon those who make war upon me.
Take up the shield and buckler;
    rise up in my defense.
Brandish lance and battle-ax
    against my pursuers.
Say to my soul,
    “I am your salvation.”

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 35 A lament of a person betrayed by friends. The psalmist prays that the evildoers be publicly exposed as unjust (Ps 35:1–8), and gives thanks in anticipation of vindication (Ps 35:9–10). Old friends are the enemies (Ps 35:11–16). May their punishment come quickly (Ps 35:17–21)! The last part (Ps 35:22–26) echoes the opening in praying for the destruction of the psalmist’s persecutors. The Psalm may appear vindictive, but one must keep in mind that the psalmist is praying for public redress now of a public injustice. There is at this time no belief in an afterlife in which justice will be redressed.
  2. 35:1–6 The mixture of judicial, martial, and hunting images shows that the language is figurative. The actual injustice is false accusation of serious crimes (Ps 35:11, 15, 20–21). The psalmist seeks lost honor through a trial before God.

Psalm 43

Grant me justice, O God;
    defend me from a faithless people;
    from the deceitful and unjust rescue me.(A)

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