Psalms 109:12-22

12 Let there be none to extend mercy to him, Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off, And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let them be continually before the Lord, That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;
16 Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted the poor and needy man, That he might even slay the broken in heart.
17 As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18 As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, So let it enter his body like water, And like oil into his bones.
19 Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.
20 Let this be the Lord's reward to my accusers, And to those who speak evil against my person.
21 But You, O God the Lord, Deal with me for Your name's sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.
22 For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me.

Psalms 109:12-22 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.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.