Psalms 109:20-30

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.

Psalms 109:20-30 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit. 'the [work] wrought;' 'wages,' Lev. 19.13.
• [b]. Or 'thank:' so Ps. 111.1.