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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.

4 On account of my love they have been opposed to me ²⁹⁶²⁹⁶ “This expression,” says Hengstenberg, “finds its full truth in Christ. Christ’s love to man was daily manifested by his miraculous healing all the infirmities of the body, which was returned by man’s hatred of Him, as displayed in his general conduct.” The Psalmist had already solemnly declared, that his adversaries, unprovoked by any injury inflicted upon them by him, and without any just cause, became, through mere diabolical rage, his most implacable foes. Here he confirms the truth of that declaration by saying, that he had been their friend. For there is far more merit in showing kindness to an enemy than simply abstaining from doing that which is evil. And from this we may perceive, that the influence of Satan must be awfully powerful when he takes the hearts of men captive at his will. For nothing can be more unnatural than to hate and cruelly persecute those who love us. To love he also adds deeds of kindness, meaning, that it was his aim to secure their good will by outward acts of beneficence.

²⁹⁶ “This expression,” says Hengstenberg, “finds its full truth in Christ. Christ’s love to man was daily manifested by his miraculous healing all the infirmities of the body, which was returned by man’s hatred of Him, as displayed in his general conduct.”