Psalms 109

1 {To the chief Musician. Of David. A Psalm.} O God of my praise, be not silent:

2 For the mouth of the wicked [man] and the mouth of deceit are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue,

3 And with words of hatred have they encompassed me; and they fight against me without a cause.

4 For my love they are mine adversaries; but I [give myself unto] prayer.

5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

6 Set a wicked [man] over him, and let [the] adversary stand at his right hand;

7 When he shall be judged, let him go out guilty, and let his prayer become sin;

8 Let his days be few, let another take his office;

9 Let his sons be fatherless, and his wife a widow;

10 Let his sons be vagabonds and beg, and let them seek [their bread] far from their desolate places;

11 Let the usurer cast the net over all that he hath, and let strangers despoil his labour;

12 Let there be none to extend kindness unto him, neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children;

13 Let his posterity be cut off; in the generation following let their name be blotted out:

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with Jehovah, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out;

15 Let them be before Jehovah continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth:

16 Because he remembered not to shew kindness, but persecuted the afflicted and needy man, and the broken in heart, to slay him.

17 And he loved cursing; so let it come unto him. And he delighted not in blessing; and let it be far from him.

18 And he clothed himself with cursing like his vestment; so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones;

19 Let it be unto him as a garment with which he covereth himself, and for a girdle wherewith he is constantly girded.

20 Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from Jehovah, and of them that speak evil against my soul.

21 But do *thou* for me, Jehovah, Lord, for thy name's sake; because thy loving-kindness is good, deliver me:

22 For I am afflicted and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.

23 I am gone like a shadow when it lengtheneth; I am tossed about like the locust;

24 My knees are failing through fasting, and my flesh hath lost its fatness;

25 And I am become a reproach unto them; [when] they look upon me they shake their heads.

26 Help me, Jehovah my God; save me according to thy loving-kindness:

27 That they may know that this is thy hand; that *thou*, Jehovah, hast done it.

28 Let *them* curse, but bless *thou*; when they rise up, let them be ashamed, and let thy servant rejoice.

29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with confusion, and let them cover themselves with their shame as with a mantle.

30 I will greatly celebrate Jehovah with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.

31 For he standeth at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those that judge his soul.

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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'to me.'
• [b]. 'Satan,' as 1Chron. 21.1, without the article. The same word, as verb or participle, is in vers. 4,20,29, and Ps. 38.20; 71.13.
• [c]. i.e. be imputed as sin.
• [d]. Or 'ruins:' so Ps. 102.6: 'waste,' Lev. 26.31,33.
• [e]. Or 'continue mercy,' chesed.
• [f]. Or 'And let him clothe.'
• [g]. Lit. 'the [work] wrought;' 'wages,' Lev. 19.13.
• [h]. Or 'thank:' so Ps. 111.1.

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.