Psalms 109:13-23

13 May his 1posterity be cut off; may his 2name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 May 3the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be 4blotted out!
15 5Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may 6cut off the memory of them from the earth!
16 For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued 7the poor and needy and 8the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17 9He loved to curse; let curses come[a] upon him! He did not delight in blessing; may it be far[b] from him!
18 He 10clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it 11soak[c] into his body like water, like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around him, like a belt that he puts on every day!
20 May this be the reward of my 12accusers from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my life!
21 But you, O GOD my Lord, deal on my behalf 13for your name's sake; because your 14steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am 15poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like 16a shadow at evening; I am 17shaken off like a locust.

Psalms 109:13-23 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. This psalm was written by David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, concerning Judas the betrayer of Christ, as is certain from Acts 1:16 hence it is used to be called by the ancients the Iscariotic psalm. Whether the occasion of it was the rebellion of Absalom, as some, or the persecution of Saul, as Kimchi; and whoever David might have in view particularly, whether Ahithophel, or Doeg the Edomite, as is most likely; yet it is evident that the Holy Ghost foresaw the sin of Judas, and prophesies of that, and of the ruin and misery that should come upon him; for the imprecations in this psalm are no other than predictions of future events, and so are not to be drawn into an example by men; nor do they breathe out anything contrary to the spirit of Christianity, but are proofs of it, since what is here predicted has been exactly accomplished. The title in the Syriac version is, "a psalm of David when they created Absalom king without his knowledge, and for this cause he was slain; but to us it expounds the sufferings of the Christ of God;" and indeed he is the person that is all along speaking in this psalm.

Cross References 17

  • 1. See Psalms 21:10
  • 2. Proverbs 10:7
  • 3. Exodus 20:5
  • 4. Nehemiah 4:5; Jeremiah 18:23
  • 5. [Psalms 90:8]
  • 6. Psalms 34:16
  • 7. ver. 22; Psalms 40:17
  • 8. See Psalms 34:18
  • 9. [Proverbs 14:14; Ezekiel 35:6]
  • 10. [ver. 29; Psalms 73:6]
  • 11. [Numbers 5:22]
  • 12. ver. 6, 29
  • 13. [Jeremiah 14:7]; See Psalms 23:3
  • 14. Psalms 69:16; [Psalms 63:3]
  • 15. ver. 16
  • 16. See Psalms 102:11
  • 17. Exodus 10:19; [Nehemiah 5:13; Job 38:13]

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Revocalization; Masoretic Text curses have come
  • [b]. Revocalization; Masoretic Text it is far
  • [c]. Revocalization; Masoretic Text it has soaked
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.