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Psalm 109

Prayer for Vindication and Vengeance

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.

Do not be silent, O God of my praise.

For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,

speaking against me with lying tongues.

They beset me with words of hate,

and attack me without cause.

In return for my love they accuse me,

even while I make prayer for them.

So they reward me evil for good,

and hatred for my love.

They say, “Appoint a wicked man against him;

let an accuser stand on his right.

When he is tried, let him be found guilty;

let his prayer be counted as sin.

May his days be few;

may another seize his position.

May his children be orphans,

and his wife a widow.

May his children wander about and beg;

may they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit.

May the creditor seize all that he has;

may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil.

May there be no one to do him a kindness,

nor anyone to pity his orphaned children.

May his posterity be cut off;

may his name be blotted out in the second generation.

May the iniquity of his father be remembered before the L ord,

and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.

Let them be before the L ord continually,

and may his memory be cut off from the earth.

For he did not remember to show kindness,

but pursued the poor and needy

and the brokenhearted to their death.

He loved to curse; let curses come on him.

He did not like blessing; may it be far from him.

He clothed himself with cursing as his coat,

may it soak into his body like water,

like oil into his bones.

May it be like a garment that he wraps around himself,

like a belt that he wears every day.”

May that be the reward of my accusers from the L ord,

of those who speak evil against my life.

But you, O L ord my Lord,

act on my behalf for your name’s sake;

because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.

For I am poor and needy,

and my heart is pierced within me.

I am gone like a shadow at evening;

I am shaken off like a locust.

My knees are weak through fasting;

my body has become gaunt.

I am an object of scorn to my accusers;

when they see me, they shake their heads.

Help me, O L ord my God!

Save me according to your steadfast love.

Let them know that this is your hand;

you, O L ord, have done it.

Let them curse, but you will bless.

Let my assailants be put to shame; may your servant be glad.

May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;

may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle.

With my mouth I will give great thanks to the L ord;

I will praise him in the midst of the throng.

For he stands at the right hand of the needy,

to save them from those who would condemn them to death.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

8 Let his days be few Although this world is the scene of much toil and trouble, yet we know that these are pledges and proofs of God’s loving-kindness, inasmuch as he frequently, and as a token of his love, promises to prolong the lives of men; not that it is absolutely necessary for us to remain long here, but that we may have an opportunity of sharing of God’s fatherly love which he bears towards us, by which we may be led to cherish the hope of immortality. Now, in opposition to this, the brevity of human life is here introduced as a mark of God’s disapprobation; for when he cuts off the wicked after a violent manner, he thus testifies that they did not deserve to breathe the breath of life. And the same sentiment is inculcated when, denuding them of their honor and dignity, he hurls them from the place of power and authority. The same thing may also happen to the children of God, for temporal evils are common to the good and to the bad; at the same time, these are never so mingled and blended together, but that one may perceive occasionally the judgments of God in a very manifest and marked manner. Peter, quoting this verse, Acts 1:20, says it behoved to be fulfilled in Judas, because it is written here, “let another take his bishopric.” And this, he does on the assumed principle of interpretation that David here spoke in the person of Christ. To this it cannot be objected, that the Hebrew term פקודה, pekudah, signifies generally superintendence, ³⁰⁶³⁰⁶ “Paefecturam generaliter significat.” — Lat. “Signifie generallement Superintendence.” — Fr. because Peter very properly applies it to the apostleship of Judas. In expounding this passage, sometimes in reference to a wife, or to the soul, (which is a precious jewel in man,) or to wealth and property, there is good reason to believe that, in doing so, the Jewish interpreters are actuated by pure malice. What purpose can it serve to pervert the sense of a word, the meaning of which is so pointed and plain, unless that, under the influence of a malignant spirit, they endeavor so to obscure the passage, as to make it appear not to be properly quoted by Peter? From these words we learn, that there is no cause why the ungodly should be proud while their reputation is high in this world, seeing they cannot after all escape from that doom which the Holy Spirit here declares awaits them. Here too we are furnished with very valuable matter of comfort and patience, when we hear that, however elevated may be their rank and reputation now, their downfall is approaching, and that they will soon be stript of all their pomp and power. In the two succeeding verses the malediction is extended both to the wife and children; and the desire, that she may be left a widow and they become fatherless, depends upon the brevity of that life to which the prophet formerly adverted. Mention is likewise made of beggary, and the want of all the necessaries of life, which is a proof of the magnitude of their guilt; for assuredly the Holy Spirit would not denounce against them a punishment so grievous and heavy for a trivial offense. In delivering up his property ³⁰⁷³⁰⁷ “Quand il donne les biens en proye aux exacteurs.” — Fr. as booty to the extortioners, David must be understood as alluding to the poverty which was to overtake his children; for he is not speaking of a poor and mean person who at his death can leave nothing to his family, but of one who, regardless of right or wrong, has amassed wealth to enrich his children, but from whom God takes away the goods which he had unrighteously taken from others.

³⁰⁶ “Paefecturam generaliter significat.” — Lat. “Signifie generallement Superintendence.” — Fr.

³⁰⁷ “Quand il donne les biens en proye aux exacteurs.” — Fr.