תהלים, פרק ל״ה, פסוק כ״ו

A person facing enemies who rejoice in his downfall naturally desires justice. Yet the deepest hope expressed in this prayer is not a plea for violent revenge or the destruction of these foes. Instead, the desire is that their gloating will turn into a public defeat. When these enemies witness God bestowing His goodness upon the victim, they will feel a profound sense of shame for their actions, which will ultimately lead them to repent and return to God [אלשיך].

The humiliation they are meant to experience is intense and multi-layered. It involves a dual sense of disgrace, encompassing both an internal guilt where a person is ashamed of himself, and an external embarrassment when facing others [מלבי״ם]. This layered experience serves to amplify their overall feeling of disgrace [רד״ק]. Furthermore, this humiliation will happen to them collectively. This reflects a strict standard of justice: just as the enemies gathered and united to cause harm, they will experience the loss of their hopes together [רד״ק, אבן עזרא]. The shared nature of this defeat only worsens the humiliation, as each person will clearly see the shame of his peers [מצודת דוד].

This downfall is specifically directed at those who celebrate and mockingly claim victory when trouble strikes [ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת דוד, מלבי״ם]. The prayer asks that these individuals find themselves entirely covered in shame and disgrace. Because they attempted to humiliate the victim, they will end up wearing shame as their own clothing [מלבי״ם]. In a striking image, their disgrace will sit upon this garment of shame like a piece of jewelry [חומת אנך].

The primary approach among commentators views these attackers as individuals driven by immense pride and arrogance. They boast over the victim's fall, consider themselves superior, and declare their triumph with smug satisfaction [מצודת דוד, מצודת ציון, אלשיך, ביאור שטיינזלץ, מלבי״ם]. Another perspective suggests that their arrogance is expressed through their speech, as they open their mouths wide to speak with deep contempt [רד״ק, אבן עזרא, מאירי]. A third interpretation focuses on their deceitful actions. Rather than just boasting, these enemies falsely exaggerate the victim's flaws. They take a minor issue and inflate it into severe, baseless accusations, such as treason or adultery, fabricating heavy sins that never actually existed [חומת אנך].