Psalm 109:1-31
To the chief Musician,
A Psalm of David.
“Hold not thy peace, O
God of my praise; 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. They compassed me about also with words of
hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and
hatred for my love.” (Psalm 109:1-5)
David asks that God speaks on his behalf,
because his enemies are attacking him verbally, slandering him, and hating him
without reason. The wicked hate those
who do right because it makes them feel inferior. Rather than change their attitudes, they
begin to accuse him of what they would do themselves, retaliating against him
for treating them well. Romans 12:20 instructs,
“Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed
him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of
fire on his head.” We are not
killing them with kindness, as some believe, but rather emphasizing their
wickedness, making it clear what they deserve.
“Set thou a wicked man
over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned:
and let his prayer become sin. Let his
days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a
widow. Let his children be continually
vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate
places. Let the extortioner catch all
that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.” (Psalm 109:6-11)
Because of their sin, David asks that they would be treated
in the same way they have treated him, with a wicked person trying to control
them, with Satan leading him. Let him be
condemned the same way the has condemned God’s man and let his prayer be and
abomination to God. They had sought to kill David and take his
position, so David asks that they experience what they had tried to do to
him. Leaving their wives widows and the
children as orphans, forced to go dumpster diving to survive. He prayed that vandals would wipe out their
stuff and thieves rip them off just as they had tried to do. While this may sound harsh, it is exactly the
principle behind the Golden Rule, that person deserves to be treated the way he
treats others.
“Let there be none to
extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless
children. Let his posterity be cut off;
and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered
with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, that
he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that he remembered not to show mercy,
but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in
heart.” (Psalm 109:12-16)
Because they showed no mercy, James 2:13 warns, “For he shall have judgment without mercy,
that hath showed no mercy…” Having tried to destroy David’s descendants, They
deserved to have their entire line destroyed, and his sin should not be
forgiven, but let God be reminded of them forever.
“As he loved cursing,
so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from
him. 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. Let it be unto him
as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded
continually. Let this be the reward of
mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.”
(Psalm 109:17-20)
God is a merciful God, willing to forgive nay sin, but at
the same time he is a righteous God who will not just ignore sin, Nahum 1:2-3 tells us, “God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is
furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth
wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow
to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath
his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
feet.” If people refuse to make
their sin right, he will take revenge for what they have done to others.
“But do thou for me, O
GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is
wounded within me. I am gone like the
shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. My knees are weak through fasting; and my
flesh faileth of fatness. I became also
a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads.” (Psalm
109:21-25)
God has promised to protect those who seek him and follow
his word. David asks that God keep his
promise, not because of David’s righteousness, but for his own reputation as a
God who keeps his promises. David’s
knees hurt from the time fasting and praying, and his enemies made fun of him
or considered him stupid to keep serving God.
“Help me, O LORD my
God: O save me according to thy mercy: That they may know that this is thy
hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it. Let
them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy
servant rejoice. Let mine adversaries be
clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as
with a mantle.” (Psalm 109:26-29)
David asks that God take vengeance, but in such a way that
his enemies know it is God doing it rather than David retaliating against
them. May they realize their own
wickedness has caused their punishment.
“I will greatly praise
the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. For he shall stand at the right hand of the
poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.” (Psalm 109:30-31)
David’s prayer was based on total conviction that God would
do what he said, protecting and avenging those who serve him from those who are
in power.
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