Psalms 109:7-17

7 In his being judged, he goeth forth wicked, And his prayer is for sin.

8 His days are few, his oversight another taketh,

9 His sons are fatherless, and his wife a widow.

10 And wander continually do his sons, Yea, they have begged, And have sought out of their dry places.

11 An exactor layeth a snare for all that he hath, And strangers spoil his labour.

12 He hath none to extend kindness, Nor is there one showing favour to his orphans.

13 His posterity is for cutting off, In another generation is their name blotted out.

14 The iniquity of his fathers Is remembered unto Jehovah, And the sin of his mother is not blotted out.

15 They are before Jehovah continually, And He cutteth off from earth their memorial.

16 Because that he hath not remembered to do kindness, And pursueth the poor man and needy, And the smitten of heart -- to slay,

17 And he loveth reviling, and it meeteth him, And he hath not delighted in blessing, And it is far from him.

Psalms 109:7-17 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.