What does Psalm 35:4 mean?

Still asking the Lord to defeat his enemies (Psalm 35:1–3), David asks them to be routed, humiliated, and thwarted. Many of David's enemies sought his life (1 Samuel 19:1–2; 2 Samuel 15:13–14). Yet David was sure God could protect him and confound his enemies. In many psalms, David referred to himself as a wanted fugitive, whose enemies wanted nothing less than his death (Psalm 38:12; 40:14; 54:3; 63:9; 70:2).

Those who sought to kill David foreshadow the enemies of his most prominent descendant, Jesus the Messiah. John 7:1 says, "After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him." The chief priests and elders met together in the palace of Caiaphas to plan how to arrest and kill Jesus (Matthew 26:3–4). Unbelievers within Israel had a long history of killing God's prophets and messengers (Matthew 23:34–37).

This wording resembles other "imprecatory psalms"—appeals to God for retribution against enemies—many of which are ascribed to David (Psalm 69:22–25; Psalm 109:8–15).