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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.

21 And thou, O Jehovah my Lord! From the pouring out of complaints and imprecations against his enemies, the Psalmist passes to prayers; or rather, after having betaken himself to God as his guardian and deliverer, he appears to take occasion, from this circumstance, to encourage himself in prayer; even as all the pious reflections by which the faithful exercise and strengthen their faith, stimulate them to call upon the name of God. At the same time, he does not pique himself upon any service which he has rendered to God, as deserving of his help, nor does he rely upon his own worthiness, but he places all his confidence in the free grace and mercy of God. That integrity of which he was conscious, he placed in opposition to his enemies, for the purpose of making their iniquity more manifest; but he does not aspire after any recompense from God, because he adopts the nobler principle, that of owing every thing to God’s voluntary choice, upon which also he acknowledges his safety depends. Were it lawful for any one to boast of his virtues and merits, certainly David was not the man who was least entitled to do so; and, moreover, he was the representative of Christ, and of the whole Church. Hence it follows, that all our prayers will vanish in smoke, unless they are grounded upon the mercy of God. The case of Christ was indeed a peculiar one, inasmuch as it was by his own righteousness that he appeased the wrath of his Father towards us. As, however, his human nature was entirely dependant on the good pleasure of God, so it was his will, by his own example, to direct us to the same source. What can we do, seeing that the most upright among us is constrained to acknowledge that he is chargeable with the commission of much sin; surely we never can make God our debtor? It follows, therefore, that God, on account of the benignity of his nature, takes us under his protection; and that, because of the goodness of his mercy, he desires his grace may shine forth in us. In coming to God, we must always remember that we must possess the testimony of a good conscience, and must beware of harbouring the thought that we have any inherent righteousness which would render God our debtor, or that we deserve any recompense at his hands. For if, in the preservation of this short and frail life, God manifests the glory of his name and of his goodness, how much more ought all confidence in good works to be laid aside, when the subject-matter referred to is life heavenly and eternal? If, in the prolonging of my life for a short time on earth, his name is thereby glorified, by manifesting of his own accord towards me his benignity and liberality; when, therefore, having delivered me from the tyranny of Satan, he adopts me into his family, washes away my impurity in the blood of Christ, regenerates me by his Holy Spirit, unites me to his Son, and conducts me to the life of heaven, — then, assuredly, the more bountifully he treats me, the less should I be disposed to arrogate to myself any portion of the praise. How different a part does David act, who, in order to procure favor for himself, publishes his own poverty and misery? And as outward affliction is of no avail, unless a man, at the same time, be humbled, and his proud and rebellious spirit be subdued, the Psalmist here repeats, that his heart was wounded within him. From which we may learn, that God will be a physician to none, except to such as in the spirit of genuine humility send up their sighs and groans to him, and do not become hardened under their afflictions.