Psalms 109

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 God, I praise you. Don't remain silent.

2 Sinful people who lie and cheat have spoken against me. They have used their tongues to tell lies about me.

3 They gather all around me with their words of hatred. They attack me without any reason.

4 They bring charges against me, even though I love them and pray for them.

5 They pay me back with evil for the good things I do. They pay back my love with hatred.

6 Appoint an evil person to take my enemies to court. Let him stand at their right hand and bring charges against them.

7 When they are tried, let them be found guilty. May even their prayers judge them.

8 May their days be few. Let others take their places as leaders.

9 May their children's fathers die. May their wives become widows.

10 May their children be driven from their destroyed homes. May they wander around like beggars.

11 May everything those people own be taken away to pay for what they owe. May strangers rob them of everything they've worked for.

12 May no one be kind to them or take pity on the children they leave behind.

13 May their family line come to an end. May their names be forgotten by those who live after them.

14 May the LORD remember the evil things their fathers have done. May he never erase the sins of their mothers.

15 May the LORD never forget their sins. Then he won't let people remember those sinners anymore.

16 They never thought about doing anything kind. Instead, they drove those who were poor and needy to their deaths. They did the same thing to those whose hearts were broken.

17 They loved to call down curses on others. May their curses come back on them. They didn't find any pleasure in giving anyone their blessing. May no blessing ever come to them.

18 They called down curses on others as easily as they put on clothes. Cursing was as natural to them as getting a drink of water or putting olive oil on their bodies.

19 May their curses cover them like coats. May their curses be wrapped around them like a belt forever.

20 May that be the LORD's way of paying back those who bring charges against me. May it happen to those who say evil things about me.

21 But LORD and King, be true to your name. Treat me well. Because your love is so good, save me.

22 I am poor and needy. My heart is wounded deep down inside me.

23 I fade away like an evening shadow. I'm like a locust that someone brushes off.

24 My knees are weak because I've gone without food. My body is very thin.

25 Those who bring charges against me laugh at me. When they see me, they shake their heads at me.

26 LORD my God, help me. Save me because you love me.

27 Lord, let my enemies know that you yourself have saved me. You have done it with your own hand.

28 They may call down a curse on me. But you will give me your blessing. When they attack me, they will be put to shame. But I will be filled with joy.

29 Those who bring charges against me will be clothed with dishonor. They will be wrapped in shame as if it were a coat.

30 With my mouth I will continually praise the Lord. I will praise him when all of his people gather for worship.

31 He stands ready to help those who need it. He saves them from those who have sentenced them to death.

Psalms 109 Commentary

Chapter 109

David complains of his enemies. (1-5) He prophesies their destruction. (6-20) Prayers and praises. (21-31)

1-5. It is the unspeakable comfort of all believers, that whoever is against them, God is for them; and to him they may apply as to one pleased to concern himself for them. David's enemies laughed at him for his devotion, but they could not laugh him out of it.

Verses 6-20 The Lord Jesus may speak here as a Judge, denouncing sentence on some of his enemies, to warn others. When men reject the salvation of Christ, even their prayers are numbered among their sins. See what hurries some to shameful deaths, and brings the families and estates of others to ruin; makes them and theirs despicable and hateful, and brings poverty, shame, and misery upon their posterity: it is sin, that mischievous, destructive thing. And what will be the effect of the sentence, "Go, ye cursed," upon the bodies and souls of the wicked! How it will affect the senses of the body, and the powers of the soul, with pain, anguish, horror, and despair! Think on these things, sinners, tremble and repent.

Verses 21-31 The psalmist takes God's comforts to himself, but in a very humble manner. He was troubled in mind. His body was wasted, and almost worn away. But it is better to have leanness in the body, while the soul prospers and is in health, than to have leanness in the soul, while the body is feasted. He was ridiculed and reproached by his enemies. But if God bless us, we need not care who curses us; for how can they curse whom God has not cursed; nay, whom he has blessed? He pleads God's glory, and the honour of his name. Save me, not according to my merit, for I pretend to none, but according to thy-mercy. He concludes with the joy of faith, in assurance that his present conflicts would end in triumphs. Let all that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him. Jesus, unjustly put to death, and now risen again, is an Advocate and Intercessor for his people, ever ready to appear on their behalf against a corrupt world, and the great accuser.

Chapter Summary

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.