Psalms 109:17

17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him; as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.

Psalms 109:17 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 109:17

As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him
Judas loved that which brought a curse upon him, sin; and so he may be said to love the curse; just as sinners are said to love death, ( Proverbs 8:36 ) . He was desirous of and sought after it, to bring Christ to an accursed death; and which he accomplished and pleased himself with; and therefore it was a just retaliation upon him that the curse should light on him, and he himself come to a shameful and ignominious death. The Jews loved the cursing law, the flying roll, called the curse in ( Zechariah 5:2 Zechariah 5:3 ) , which curses every transgressor of it: they boasted of it, rested in it, and sought for righteousness by it; and submitted not unto, but despised, the righteousness of Christ; and therefore it was but just they should come under the curse of the law: they imprecated the curse on them and their children, saying, "His blood be upon us and them", ( Matthew 27:25 ) and which accordingly came upon them, and remains to this day.

As he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him;
Judas delighted not in the good will and good wishes of any to Christ, as appears from his dislike of the ointment being poured on his head by the poor woman, in ( John 12:4 John 12:5 ) , and so the Jews were displeased at the children, and at the disciples in the temple, blessing Christ, pronouncing him blessed, and wishing blessings to him, ( Matthew 21:15 Matthew 21:16 ) ( Luke 19:38 Luke 19:39 ) , yea, they delighted not in their own blessedness, or in that which only could give it to them; they delighted not in Christ, who was sent to bless them, but despised and rejected him; nor in the Gospel, which is full of blessings; and particularly not in the doctrine of justification by Christ's righteousness, which commonly makes a man blessed: yea, in a sense, they judged themselves unworthy of everlasting life; and therefore it was but a righteous thing that blessing should be far from Judas and the Jews, as it was; even temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings: yet there have been a sort of heretics F5, that have highly praised and commended Judas, as doing a brave and noble action in betraying Christ, whereby the work of salvation was hastened.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 Epiphan. contra Haeres. l. 1. Haer. 38.

Psalms 109:17 In-Context

15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;
16 because he remembered not 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 unto him; as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18 As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water and like oil into his bones.
19 Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and as a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.