Psalm 109

1 O God, pass not over my praise in silence;

2 for the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the crafty man have been opened against me: they have spoken against me with a crafty tongue.

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

4 Instead of loving me, they falsely accused me: but I continued to pray.

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

6 Set thou a sinner against him; and let the devil stand at his right hand.

7 When he is judged, let him go forth condemned: and let his prayer become sin.

8 Let his days be few: and let another take his office of overseer.

9 Let his children be orphans, and his wife a widow.

10 Let his children wander without a dwelling-place, and beg: let them be cast out of their habitations.

11 Let his creditor exact all that belongs to him: and let strangers spoil his labours.

12 Let him have no helper; neither let there be any one to have compassion on his fatherless children.

13 Let his children be given up to utter destruction: in one generation let his 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 before the Lord continually; and let their memorial be blotted out from the earth.

16 Because he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the needy and poor man, and that to slay him that was pricked in the heart.

17 He loved cursing also, and it shall come upon him; and he took not pleasure in blessing, so it shall be removed far from him.

18 Yea, he put on cursing as a garment, and it is come as water into his bowels, and as oil into his bones.

19 Let it be to him as a garment which he puts on, and as a girdle with which he girds himself continually.

20 This is the dealing of the Lord with those who falsely accuse me, and of them that speak evil against my soul.

21 But thou, O Lord, Lord, deal mercifully with me, for thy name’s sake: for thy mercy is good.

22 Deliver me, for I am poor and needy; and my heart is troubled within me.

23 I am removed as a shadow in its going down: I am tossed up and down like locusts.

24 My knees are weakened through fasting, and my flesh is changed by reason of the want of oil.

25 I became also a reproach to them: when they saw me they shook their heads.

26 Help me, O Lord my God; and save me according to thy mercy.

27 And let them know that this is thy hand; and that thou, Lord, hast wrought it.

28 Let them curse, but thou shalt bless: let them that rise up against me be ashamed, but let thy servant rejoice.

29 Let those that falsely accuse me be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their shame as with a mantle.

30 I will give thanks to the Lord abundantly with my mouth; and in the midst of many I will praise him.

31 For he stood on the right hand of the poor, to save me from them that persecute my soul.

Psalm 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.

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.