CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Psalms 109
Chapter 109 of 150
Chapter Overview
What happens in Psalms 109
A psalm of David — one of the strongest imprecatory (cursing) psalms. David has been repaid evil for good and asks God to bring severe judgment on his enemy. It expresses the pain of betrayal.
Scripture
Psalms 109
Surrounded by Lies and Hate
Study note
David asks God not to remain silent. Wicked and deceitful people have opened their mouths against him. They attack him without cause and repay his love with accusations.
1 God, you are the one I praise -- please do not stay quiet. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;
2 Wicked people and liars have opened their mouths against me. They use lying words to attack me. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3 Hateful words fly at me from every side. They attack me for no reason. They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
4 I show them love, and they pay me back with accusations. All I can do is keep praying. For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
5 They hand me back evil when I give them good. They answer my love with hatred. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
A Prayer Against the Enemy
Study note
David asks God to appoint an accuser for his enemy and let his days be few. He asks for the enemy's family and possessions to be taken away because that person showed no mercy to the poor and needy.
6 Put a wicked person in charge over him. Let someone stand at his right side to accuse him. Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
7 When he goes on trial, let the verdict be "guilty." Let even his prayers count against him. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
8 Let his life be cut short. Let somebody else take over his job. Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
9 Let his children grow up without a father and his wife live as a widow. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children roam around begging for food, searching through the rubble of what used to be their homes. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
11 Let a moneylender take everything he owns. Let strangers carry off every penny he ever earned. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.
12 Let nobody show him even a drop of kindness. Let no one feel sorry for his children after he is gone. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
13 Let his family line come to a dead end. Let their names be erased within a single generation. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the Lord keep a record of his father's sins, and let his mother's wrongs never be forgotten. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let those sins sit in front of the Lord at all times so that he may erase their memory from the earth entirely. Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
16 That man never once thought about being kind. Instead, he hunted down the poor, the needy, and the brokenhearted and chased them to their death. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.
17 He loved to curse other people -- let those curses boomerang right back at him. He never cared about blessing anyone -- let blessings stay a million miles away from him. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18 He dressed himself in curses like putting on a shirt. Let those curses soak into his body like water and seep into his bones like oil. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
19 Let them cling to him like a coat he can never take off, like a belt that is tied around him for the rest of his life. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
20 This is what the Lord should give to the people who accuse me and say terrible things about me. Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.
Help Me, Lord
Study note
David asks God to deal with him according to his faithful love. He is poor, needy, and fading like a shadow. He asks God to help him so that his enemies will know it was God's hand. God stands at the right hand of the needy to save them.
21 But you, Lord my God, treat me the way your name deserves. Your loyal love is so good -- please rescue me. But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.
22 I am poor and desperate, and my heart is torn to pieces inside me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am fading away like a shadow that stretches thin at the end of the day. I am shaken off like an insect someone brushes away. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
24 My knees buckle because I have gone without eating. My body has wasted away to almost nothing. My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
25 The people who accuse me look at me and laugh. They shake their heads at me in disgust. I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.
26 Help me, Lord my God! Rescue me because of your loyal love. Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
27 Show them that you are the one behind this. Let them know that you, Lord, have done it. That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.
28 They may curse me, but you can bless me. When they come after me, let them end up embarrassed, but let your servant celebrate. Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.
29 Dress my accusers in disgrace. Let shame wrap around them like a heavy coat. Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
30 My mouth will overflow with thanks to the Lord. In the middle of a big crowd, I will praise him, I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
31 because he stands right next to the person in need, ready to save them from those who want to condemn them. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.
Key Themes
Themes in Psalms 109
Repaid with evil for goodIntense prayer against the wickedGod stands at the right hand of the needyThe pain of being hated without cause
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Psalms Psalm 109:8 Acts 1:20
Peter applied this verse to Judas Iscariot after his betrayal, saying 'Let another take his place of leadership.'
Apply This Today
Living Psalms 109
This psalm is raw and uncomfortable in its intensity. When someone returns hatred for your love, the pain is unbearable. David gave that pain to God rather than acting on it himself. If you are in a situation where kindness has been met with cruelty, pour out your hurt to God. He will be your defender.
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