Psalms 109:17

17 And he loved cursing, and it shall come to him; and he would not blessing, and it shall be made far from him. (And because he loved to curse others, now let it come to him; and because he delighted not to give anyone a blessing, now let it be made 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 Be they made ever[more] against the Lord; and the mind of them perish from earth. (Let their sins be before the Lord forevermore; but let the remembrance of these people perish from all the earth.)
16 For that thing that he thought not to do mercy, and he pursued a poor man and a beggar; and to slay a man compunct in heart. (Because he never thought to show mercy, or love, but he persecuted the poor and the needy; and he even killed the broken-hearted.)
17 And he loved cursing, and it shall come to him; and he would not blessing, and it shall be made far from him. (And because he loved to curse others, now let it come to him; and because he delighted not to give anyone a blessing, now let it be made far from him.)
18 And he clothed cursing as a cloth, and it entered as water into his inner things; and as oil in his bones. (He clothed himself in cursing, like with a cloak, and it entered into his inner things, like water; yea, like oil into his bones.)
19 Be it made to him as a cloth, with which he is covered; and as a girdle, with which he is ever[more] girded. (Let it be made to him like a cloak, with which he is covered; yea, like a girdle, with which he is girded forevermore.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.