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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.

5 But I gave myself to prayer ²⁹⁷²⁹⁷ In the Hebrew, the sentence is very short and imperfect, “But I prayer;” I am a man of prayer; or, I betake myself to prayer. Thus “I peace” is put for “I am for peace.” — Psalm 120:7. Some are of opinion, that these words refer to David’s pouring out a prayer for his enemies at the very moment when they were furiously assaulting him, and with this opinion corresponds that which we have stated in Psalm 35:13. But the more plain, and, to me, the preferable interpretation, is, that when he was attacked in a cruel and hostile manner, he did not betake himself to such unlawful means as the rendering of evil for evil, but committed himself into the hand of God, fully satisfied that he alone could guard him from all ill. And it is assuredly a great and desirable attainment for a man so to restrain his passions as directly and immediately to make his appeal to God’s tribunal, at the very time when he is abused without a cause, and when the very injuries which he sustains are calculated to excite him to avenge them. For there are some persons who, while it is their aim to live in terms of friendship with the good, coming in contact with ill men, imagine that they are at perfect liberty to return injury for injury; and to this temptation all the godly feel that they are liable. The Holy Spirit, however, restrains us, so that though oftimes provoked by the cruelty of our enemies to seek revenge, we yet abandon all fraudulent and violent means, and betake ourselves by prayer to God alone. By this example, which David here sets before us, we are instructed that we must have recourse to the same means if we would wish to overcome our enemies through the power and protection of God. In Psalm 69:13, we have a parallel passage: “They that sit in the gate spake against me; and I was the song of those who drink strong drink. But my prayer was made to thee, O Jehovah!” In that passage, as well as in the one under review, the mode of expression is elliptical. Besides, it is the design of David in these words to inform us, that although he was aware that the whole world was opposed to him, yet he could cast all his cares upon God, and this was enough to render his mind calm and composed. And as the Holy Spirit taught David and all the godly to offer up prayers like these, it must follow, that those who, in this respect, imitate them, will be promptly helped by God when he beholds them reproachfully and vilely persecuted.

²⁹⁷ In the Hebrew, the sentence is very short and imperfect, “But I prayer;” I am a man of prayer; or, I betake myself to prayer. Thus “I peace” is put for “I am for peace.” — Psalm 120:7.