Psalm 109:1-11

1 (108-1) <Unto the end, a psalm for David.> (108-2) O God, be not thou silent in my praise:

2 (108-2) for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful man is opened against me.

3 (108-3) They have spoken against me with deceitful tongues; and they have compassed me about with words of hatred; and have fought against me without cause.

4 (108-4) Instead of making me a return of love, they detracted me: but I gave myself to prayer.

5 (108-5) And they repaid me evil for good: and hatred for my love.

6 (108-6) Set thou the sinner over him: and may the devil stand at his right hand.

7 (108-7) When he is judged, may he go out condemned; and may his prayer be turned to sin.

8 (108-8) May his days be few: and his bishopric let another take.

9 (108-9) May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

10 (108-10) Let his children be carried about vagabonds, and beg; and let them be cast out of their dwellings.

11 (108-11) May the usurer search all his substance: and let strangers plunder his labours.

Psalm 109:1-11 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.