Psalm 109:1-10

1 O God, whom I praise, do not turn a deaf ear to me.

2 Wicked and deceitful people have opened their mouths against me. They speak against me with lying tongues.

3 They surround me with hateful words. They fight against me for no reason.

4 In return for my love, they accuse me, but I pray for them.

5 They reward me with evil instead of good and with hatred instead of love.

6 [I said,] "Appoint the evil one to oppose him. Let Satan stand beside him.

7 When he stands trial, let him be found guilty. Let his prayer be considered sinful.

8 Let his days be few [in number]. Let someone else take his position.

9 "Let his children become fatherless and his wife a widow.

10 Let his children wander around and beg. Let them seek help far from their ruined homes.

Psalm 109:1-10 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.