A PSALM OF DAVID
This Psalm may be considered a prayer offered on behalf of Israel and Judah against their enemies. It may be viewed as a personal prayer of David in light of the numerous enemies that beset him throughout his life. It may also be seen as a ready-made prayer that each one of us may use in times of trouble. It may be used especially when hate-mongers say bad things about us and attempt to interfere with us. Here and there Brit-Am as an organization and Yair Davidiy as a person have been attacked by scum bags who on occasion have not hesitated to tell lies about us. It is a compliment to us that our enemies have nearly always proved themselves to be retrograded.

All the Psalms of David may be seen as ready-made prayers prepared for our national and personal use in the journey of life.
HaMairi (Rabbi Menachem HaMeiri 1249-1306, Provence, France): "Some Commentators wrote that this Psalm was also said by David when he fled from Saul. It would appear to me however to interpret it as referring to this long Exile of ours. The flow of the passage as read is suitable and fitting for either one of these explanations according to the will of the Commentator"

[Psalms 35:1] PLEAD MY CAUSE, O LORD, WITH THEM THAT STRIVE WITH ME: FIGHT AGAINST THEM THAT FIGHT AGAINST ME.
I have not enough strength to fight against my enemies on my own. I need your help (Mairi).

[Psalms 35:2] TAKE HOLD OF SHIELD AND BUCKLER, AND STAND UP FOR MINE HELP.
Means to say that when I take hold of these weapons to wage war be THOU (God) to my aid so that all will know that it [i.e. my prowess] was from YOU and it would seem as if YOU YOURSELF held these weapons (Mairi).

[Psalms 35:3] DRAW OUT ALSO THE SPEAR, AND STOP THE WAY AGAINST THEM THAT PERSECUTE ME: SAY UNTO MY SOUL, I AM THY SALVATION.

[Psalms 35:4] LET THEM BE CONFOUNDED AND PUT TO SHAME THAT SEEK AFTER MY SOUL: LET THEM BE TURNED BACK AND BROUGHT TO CONFUSION THAT DEVISE MY HURT.

[Psalms 35:5] LET THEM BE AS CHAFF BEFORE THE WIND: AND LET THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CHASE THEM.

[Psalms 35:6] LET THEIR WAY BE DARK AND SLIPPERY: AND LET THE ANGEL OF THE LORD PERSECUTE THEM. "PERSECUTE THEM ": Hebrew "Rodfam", also translatable as "PURSUE THEM".

[Psalms 35:7] FOR WITHOUT CAUSE HAVE THEY HID FOR ME THEIR NET IN A PIT, WHICH WITHOUT CAUSE THEY HAVE DIGGED FOR MY SOUL.
Brit-Am also gets attacked and criticized from all directions. We have been accused of racism and of not being racist enough. A few Africans have suspected us of being against them while a few others [non-Africans] complained that we were too "defensive" of Ethiopian Jews. Some Christians do not like us because we are Jewish while in some cases Jews have been suspicious because we seemed too friendly towards Christians. I could go on and extend the list quite a lot but the reader has probably already understood the point. A lot of our enemies and critics are no-good and some of them are downright bad eggs and worse. Here and there a few of them may be genuinely mistaken but if such is the case they are criminally irresponsible.
Our fight is the fight of the righteous and our goal is the good of all Israel.
Whoever is not for Brit-Am may well need to give an accounting some day. They have been warned.

[Psalms 35:8] LET DESTRUCTION COME UPON HIM AT UNAWARES; AND LET HIS NET THAT HE HATH HID CATCH HIMSELF: INTO THAT VERY DESTRUCTION LET HIM FALL.

[Psalms 35:9] AND MY SOUL SHALL BE JOYFUL IN THE LORD: IT SHALL REJOICE IN HIS SALVATION.
The delight of David was to feel the closeness of the Almighty.

[Psalms 35:10] ALL MY BONES SHALL SAY, LORD, WHO IS LIKE UNTO THEE, WHICH DELIVEREST THE POOR FROM HIM THAT IS TOO STRONG FOR HIM, YEA, THE POOR AND THE NEEDY FROM HIM THAT SPOILETH HIM?
Poor and socially deprived people are actually more vulnerable that those who are established. They therefore often fall victim to oppressors who take away the little they do have. Such people are advised (even more than everybody else) to trust in the Almighty who will give them strength and understanding to be delivered from the wolves round about who seek to devour them.
The Mairi points out that apart from the literal actual application of this Psalm to the need for help in times of physical danger it also can be applied in a spiritual sense. Our own bad natures wage war against us and seek to destroy us. We are in a constant warlike struggle against our own selves. Only through the help of the Almighty can we overcome and win through to salvation.

[Psalms 35:11] FALSE WITNESSES DID RISE UP; THEY LAID TO MY CHARGE THINGS THAT I KNEW NOT.
A Bedouin Arab tracker once bore false witness against a relative of mine and the Court accepted it.
People say wrong things about Brit-Am. At least one web-site exists dedicated entirely to attacks against Brit-Am. Most of the things said thereon are not so. The owner of the site appears to be a Messianic Christian of mixed partly-Arab extraction who often pretends to be Jewish. He also sends us hate mail, harasses people, and commits other misdemeanors. Possibly a certain organization may be backing him. He apparently does not like us because he has a pathological hatred of "Anglo-Saxons" and in his eyes we appear to champion "Anglo-Saxons" and their kin. [Actually, it is a pity more of the "Anglos" do not think the same way. Maybe someone should tell them.]. In the past Nazi-types have also threatened us and so have Muslim elements because we are "pro-Jewish". Liberals and assorted pinky Arab-sympathizers also have their criticisms. I wonder why. This is not so serious and Brit-Am is not really worried about all this. At least we get attention and the message goes out. The more the merrier.
We believe that the type of people we are interested in (i.e. the basically good ones) will have the decency to check out who we really are before passing judgement. I only mention the above because it is pertinent to the present theme. Each one of you in way or another has probably encountered unjustified opposition and enmity at some time in your lives and can identify with the message of this Psalm.
Our good friend Steven Collins also gets attacked because he tells the truth and stands up for both Judah and Joseph. He is a modern warrior of Israel.

[Psalms 35:12] THEY REWARDED ME EVIL FOR GOOD TO THE SPOILING OF MY SOUL.
Brit-Am and the allies of Brit-Am want the good of the Israelite peoples. Israelites who attack us are harming their own side.
So to, the Jewish people brings a lot of good everywhere it dwells and often is requited with hatred and persecution.

[Psalms 35:13] BUT AS FOR ME, WHEN THEY WERE SICK, MY CLOTHING WAS SACKCLOTH: I HUMBLED MY SOUL WITH FASTING; AND MY PRAYER RETURNED INTO MINE OWN BOSOM.

[Psalms 35:14] I BEHAVED MYSELF AS THOUGH HE HAD BEEN MY FRIEND OR BROTHER: I BOWED DOWN HEAVILY, AS ONE THAT MOURNETH FOR HIS MOTHER.

[Psalms 35:15] BUT IN MINE ADVERSITY THEY REJOICED, AND GATHERED THEMSELVES TOGETHER: YEA, THE ABJECTS GATHERED THEMSELVES TOGETHER AGAINST ME, AND I KNEW IT NOT; THEY DID TEAR ME, AND CEASED NOT: "ABJECTS": Hebrew "Nacim", literally "cripples" but "abjects" captures the sense well. People who are crippled in spirit and suffer from all kinds of complexes of their own often lie in wait to cause harm to others. Alternately these reprobates rejoice when they see good people fall. They kick a man when he is down.

[Psalms 35:16] WITH HYPOCRITICAL MOCKERS IN FEASTS, THEY GNASHED UPON ME WITH THEIR TEETH. "HYPOCRITICAL MOCKERS WITH HYPOCRITICAL MOCKERS IN FEASTS ": Also translatable as "Flattering Mockers for the sake of a cake".
"FEASTS": Hebrew "Ma-og" usually understand to mean a type of cake.
When people gang up against someone else they often seem to flatter each other. It is as if they join in the oppression in order to gain favor and greater standing in the eyes of each other and therefore somehow benefit from each other. They are hypocritical in so far as they are attacking someone for selfish motives of their own and not necessarily because they justify the attack since very often they cannot. We see this at a primitive level in gangs of youths who go to football games etc in order to get in a fight. They sometimes seem to want to make an impression on each other more than anything else. The price of this hypocritical flattery however can be that innocent people (or otherwise good people who were simply mislead) get hurt.

[Psalms 35:17] LORD, HOW LONG WILT THOU LOOK ON? RESCUE MY SOUL FROM THEIR DESTRUCTIONS, MY DARLING FROM THE LIONS. " MY DARLING": Hebrew "Yichidati" literally translatable as meaning "my uniqueness". The Commentators say it means the soul.

[Psalms 35:18] I WILL GIVE THEE THANKS IN THE GREAT CONGREGATION: I WILL PRAISE THEE AMONG MUCH PEOPLE.

[Psalms 35:19] LET NOT THEM THAT ARE MINE ENEMIES WRONGFULLY REJOICE OVER ME: NEITHER LET THEM WINK WITH THE EYE THAT HATE ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.

[Psalms 35:20] FOR THEY SPEAK NOT PEACE: BUT THEY DEVISE DECEITFUL MATTERS AGAINST THEM THAT ARE QUIET IN THE LAND.
Good people mostly want to live quiet lives and get on with what they are able. It does not always work that way however.

[Psalms 35:21] YEA, THEY OPENED THEIR MOUTH WIDE AGAINST ME, AND SAID, AHA, AHA, OUR EYE HATH SEEN IT.

[Psalms 35:22] THIS THOU HAST SEEN, O LORD: KEEP NOT SILENCE: O LORD, BE NOT FAR FROM ME.

[Psalms 35:23] STIR UP THYSELF, AND AWAKE TO MY JUDGMENT, EVEN UNTO MY CAUSE, MY GOD AND MY LORD.

[Psalms 35:24] JUDGE ME, O LORD MY GOD, ACCORDING TO THY RIGHTEOUSNESS; AND LET THEM NOT REJOICE OVER ME.

[Psalms 35:25] LET THEM NOT SAY IN THEIR HEARTS, AH, SO WOULD WE HAVE IT: LET THEM NOT SAY, WE HAVE SWALLOWED HIM UP.

[Psalms 35:26] LET THEM BE ASHAMED AND BROUGHT TO CONFUSION TOGETHER THAT REJOICE AT MINE HURT: LET THEM BE CLOTHED WITH SHAME AND DISHONOUR THAT MAGNIFY THEMSELVES AGAINST ME.
David was the Anointed King of Israel and the agent through which the Almighty expressed HIS will. Those who opposed David deserved that the wrath of the Almighty de directed against them.

[Psalms 35:27] LET THEM SHOUT FOR JOY, AND BE GLAD, THAT FAVOUR MY RIGHTEOUS CAUSE: YEA, LET THEM SAY CONTINUALLY, LET THE LORD BE MAGNIFIED, WHICH HATH PLEASURE IN THE PROSPERITY OF HIS SERVANT.
Those who identified with David did the will of the Almighty. They shared in his salvation and success.

[Psalms 35:28] AND MY TONGUE SHALL SPEAK OF THY RIGHTEOUSNESS AND OF THY PRAISE ALL THE DAY LONG.