Ps. 35.21-25 (opening wide their mouths)

“And they / opened wide / their mouths / against me – they said: / “Aha! - Aha! – Our eyes / have seen it” This verse concludes the actions of the enemies. From this point on the psalmist will either be imploring Yhwh to intervene on his behalf or the enemies will be subjected to ‘shame and humiliation’. It is, therefore, telling how their actions end: with a gaping mouth verbalizing a lie. The imagery is odd. Why would it not say, “And they said against me…”? Why this use of an “opened mouth” that is “against” David? First, it would seem that this picks up on several motifs already traced in the psalm: the fact that the enemies are “young lions” and “violent witnesses”; they “interrogate me on matters of which I am ignorant”; they “tear me apart without ceasing” and “gnash their teeth against me”; their words are “profanities of derisive mockery”. A psalm that has a similar emphasis on the destructive power of an enemies mouth uses a description similar to ours: “wide open graves”. Are we to hear in this an allusion to a mouth that emits death? That their mouths “open wide” and unleash the power of the pit and Sheol? It would cohere with everything cited above. And, if so, the image is particularly disturbing: these men have the power to ‘open their mouths’ against people; they direct the power of their profanity in an attempt to devour them through the destructive lies. The fact that these are certainly not truthful is made clear by the previous verse’s resemblance to ours: there, the words were against the quiet ones; now, they are against me (David/anointed). And they are specifically described as “deceitful declarations”. Nothing has led us to believe that anything these men say is anything other than “derisive mockery” and a “seeking of his life”. When we look at what they actually say it begins with these two abrupt words: “Aha! Aha!”. In vs. 25 this will be repeated in a similar context: “Aha, just what we wanted!”. There, the “aha” is said “in their hearts”. What I think we are to see is the fact that these enemies are so eager to find fault that anything that might be interpreted to their liking is immediately grabbed on; it is in fact an object of rejoicing for them (vs. 19, 24, 26). They do not care, as David does, whether what they are saying is actually true; honor is not their concern. This is important: David, as we have shown, is more concerned that honor be maintained than his own well-being; he actually asks for Yhwh to ‘judge him’ (vs. 24). These men are of a completely different ilk. Their ‘truth’ is ‘devised’ and pure projections of plans to destroy David. David places himself under the judgment of Yhwh; these men “make themselves mighty” (vs. 26).  In essence, these men’s vision (“we have seen it”) begins and ends in their own scheming hearts. This blindness is immediately emphasized by way of contrast in the following verse: “You have seen it / O Yhwh / Don’t be silent! – O Yhwh / do not be far away / from me.” Here we see the ‘hiatus’ spoken of before between Yhwh’s ‘seeing’ and his ‘speaking’ (or, acting). This verse is obviously a contrasting verse and it operates as a chiasm to the previous verse:

A: they have said

B: we have seen it!.

B1: You have seen it,

A1: Don’t be silent

The ‘hiatus’ though is seen by the fact that the enemies ‘say’ and ‘see’ while Yhwh sees but doesn’t ‘say’. David is imploring Yhwh to close that ‘gap’—that his speech (A1) would ‘fight’ or ‘strive against’ (vs. 1) their speech (A). Likewise, these enemies are obviously ‘close’ to David (they tear him; gnash their teeth against him; open their mouths against him); here, he asks Yhwh to “not be far away from me”. These men should not be as close to ‘rejoicing over him’ (vs. 18) as they are (“let them not rejoice over me” vs. 24); Yhwh should ‘speak’ and thereby ‘come close’ to David. At this point the psalm begins to move towards it conclusion and, in so doing, it also begins to sound much like the opening: “Awake / and rise up / to my defense – to contend for me / O my God and my Lord.” The phrase “rise up” was used in vs. 2. Likewise, coming to my ‘defense’ and ‘contending for me’ is almost a quote of verse 1 (Strive, O Yhwh , with those who strive against me; fight with those who fight me.). Verses 24 and 25 resemble closely verse 19: “Judge me / in your righteousness / O Yhwh, my God – and let them no rejoice / over me. – Let them not / say in their hearts: - “Aha / just what / we wanted!” – Let them not say / “We have devoured him!”” As pointed out above, David prefaces his declaration of judgment against these men with a prior ‘judgment’ on himself; if he is not innocent then the curse would not be triggered. David always subjects himself to this type of scrutiny.