Psalm 109 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

 ¹Do not keep silent,

O God of my praise!

²For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful

Have opened against me;

They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

³They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,

And fought against me without a cause.

⁴In return for my love they are my accusers,

But I give myself to prayer.

⁵Thus they have rewarded me evil for good,

And hatred for my love.

⁶Set a wicked man over him,

And let an accuser stand at his right hand.

⁷When he is judged, let him be found guilty,

And let his prayer become sin.

⁸Let his days be few,

And let another take his office.

⁹Let his children be fatherless,

And his wife a widow.

¹⁰Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg;

Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.

¹¹Let the creditor seize all that he has,

And let strangers plunder his labor.

¹²Let there be none to extend mercy to him,

Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.

¹³Let his posterity be cut off,

And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

¹⁴Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,

And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

¹⁵Let them be continually before the Lord,

That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;

¹⁶Because he did not remember to show mercy,

But persecuted the poor and needy man,

That he might even slay the broken in heart.

¹⁷As he loved cursing, so let it come to him;

As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.

¹⁸As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,

So let it enter his body like water,

And like oil into his bones.

¹⁹Let it be to him like the garment which covers him,

And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.

²⁰Let this be the Lord’s reward to my accusers,

And to those who speak evil against my person.

²¹But You, O God the Lord,

Deal with me for Your name’s sake;

Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.

²²For I am poor and needy,

And my heart is wounded within me.

²³I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens;

I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴My knees are weak through fasting,

And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.

²⁵I also have become a reproach to them;

When they look at me, they shake their heads.

²⁶Help me, O Lord my God! Oh, save me according to Your mercy,

²⁷That they may know that this is Your hand—

That You, Lord, have done it!

²⁸Let them curse, but You bless;

When they arise, let them be ashamed,

But let Your servant rejoice.

²⁹Let my accusers be clothed with shame,

And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.

³⁰I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth;

Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.

³¹For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor,

To save him from those who condemn him.

Preamble

To the slandered, the oppressed, the downtrodden, and everyone who is being wrongfully accused and mistreated; especially by those more powerful than they; read this Psalm.

Commentary

Vs. 1-3 ¹Do not keep silent,

O God of my praise!

²For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful

Have opened against me;

They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

³They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,

And fought against me without a cause.  

In these opening verses David presents his case to the Lord our God. But first he begins by addressing Him as the God of my (our) praise. David then knows him personally as his Savior, and thus he is appealing to Him as such to act on his behalf as his defense (vs. 1). In verses two and three David then presents to Him his just cause. For wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against him, speaking all kinds of defamatory lies about him; seeking then to ruin him and his reputation by their crafty chosen words; and this is what they are doing behind his back on the one hand (vs. 2); while on the other they are confronting him openly with forceful words, words of hatred. It almost seems like they are seeking a provocation from him by which they can then “justly” accuse him or then point to and say, “see”. And yet there are no grounds for their setting themselves so fiercely against him. Now if you see a parallel between David’s life and the Lord Jesus Christ’s Life on earth, you’re not the first one, indeed many a Christian has also endured the hatred of godless and wicked people who in their rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ have done and will do the same to us (John 15:18; 1 John 3:13-15).

Vs. 4-5 ⁴In return for my love they are my accusers,

But I give myself to prayer.

⁵Thus they have rewarded me evil for good,

And hatred for my love.

Even while David extended his love to them they only stood as his accusers. David then turns himself to prayer, not seeking "allies" like they do, but seeking our God. And so refusing his love they now openly reward him with hatred and evil. Their hearts then will not be moved for they have already hardened themselves against him and our God.

Vs. 6-8 ⁶Set a wicked man over him,

And let an accuser stand at his right hand.

⁷When he is judged, let him be found guilty,

And let his prayer become sin.

⁸Let his days be few,

And let another take his office.

David now zeros in on one man, his chief accuser, the man who began all of his troubles, and who continues to orchestrate them. (In one sense this is Satan who first began making the Lord Jesus Christ’s troubles when He was on earth. Later this will be the antichrist/s who will, and who now make war with the Body of Christ.). Thus, David shows no refrain in his open disdain of him, asking our God to set a wicked man over him, and to let an accuser stand at his right hand; which is juxtaposed to how the Lord stands at our right hand to defend us in God’s court; so that when he is judged he is found guilty! David even asks God to reject his prayer, to make it to be sin, since it is only born out of hypocrisy and evil intentions. Now verse eight is clearly cited by the Apostle Peter in Acts 1:20 when speaking of Judas Iscariot; the man who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ and orchestrated His arrest, whose place as an apostle of Christ was forever forsaken by him for his love of money, who later hanged himself, and thus his position needed to be filled by another. David then as a prophet of God thus spoke of him in then speaking of his own betrayer whom he now asks God to remove him from his office, which is the complete rejection of him.

Vs. 9-11 ⁹Let his children be fatherless,

And his wife a widow.

¹⁰Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg;

Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.

¹¹Let the creditor seize all that he has,

And let strangers plunder his labor.

David continues by asking God to make that wicked mans wife a widow, and his children fatherless. That He would make that mans children beggars in the years to come, so that they would never rise to to hold positions of power and authority that their wicked father had (vs. 9-10). And as for his property David asks God to let the creditor seize all of it, and to let strangers plunder (rob) his house (vs. 11). Thus, nothing of his is to be preserved for the generations to come. Just like what happened to Haman, the Jews ancient betrayer.

Vs. 12-13 ¹²Let there be none to extend mercy to him,

Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.

¹³Let his posterity be cut off,

And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

Therefore, David asks God to let there be none to extend mercy to him nor let anyone favor his fatherless children (12). As for his posterity, let them all be cut off, and in the generation following let their family name be blotted out forever. Never then will they be named amongst the people of our God.

Vs. 14-15 ¹⁴Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,

And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

¹⁵Let them be continually before the Lord,

That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;

David now calls upon the Lord to remember the egregious sins of that wicked mans forefathers, nor to forget the sin of that mans mother, (who likely reared him in his evil and scheming ways), to never let her sin be blotted out (vs. 14). Yes, let them be continually before the Lord, so that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

Vs. 16-20 ¹⁶Because he did not remember to show mercy,

But persecuted the poor and needy man,

That he might even slay the broken in heart.

¹⁷As he loved cursing, so let it come to him;

As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.

¹⁸As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,

So let it enter his body like water,

And like oil into his bones.

¹⁹Let it be to him like the garment which covers him,

And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.

²⁰Let this be the Lord’s reward to my accusers,

And to those who speak evil against my person.  

David now declares why God should do this. The man was cruel, he had no regard or use for showing mercy to anyone, instead he persecuted the poor and needy man, (here David, but more than likely many others as well). And this this he did to him so that he might even slay the broken of heart, thus he intentionally targeted David so that he could do such things to him (vs. 16). As for his mouth it was a vile cesspool, cursing continually filled it, for this he loved, for he had nothing but disdain for blessing others. Their well being meant nothing to him. Therefore, David now asks God to let the same come to him, for as he did not delight in blessing others so let God’s blessings be far from him (vs. 17), and as he loved cursing which he clothed himself with like a garment, so now let it enter his own body and fill his own bones like oil (vs. 18), thus let his poisoness words by which poisoned others now poison him. Indeed, let all his evil words cover him like a garment and gird his waist like a belt (vs. 19). Thus, let him reap in full all the consequences of His evil words and deeds. David then concludes this section by asking the Lord to let this be done to all of his accusers, to all of those who speak evil of his person who have aligned themselves with his accuser (vs. 20). Now regarding such things consider Jude 14-15 which recalls God’s ancient prophecy and coming judgment through the prophet Enoch on all the ungodly who have also spoken against the Lord. That said, I would be terribly remiss if I denied the Lord Jesus Christ’s own Words which state that every blasphemy of man will be forgiven them; when they repent and believe in Him; except the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, for which there is no forgiveness (see Matt. 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-30; Luke 12:10). Thus David is not speaking about people who will or will want to repent and believe, but those who will not. 

Vs. 21 “But You, O God the Lord,

Deal with me for Your name’s sake;

Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.”

Having made the just case against his wicked persecutors, David now asks the Lord to deal with him for his Names sake, so God’s Name may not be scorned by his persecutors who know he has faith in Him. For David is looking to the Lord alone to have mercy on him, to deliver him from them, for he knows and trusts that the Lord’s mercies are good.

Vs. 22-25 ²²For I am poor and needy,

And my heart is wounded within me.

²³I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens;

I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴My knees are weak through fasting,

And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.

²⁵I also have become a reproach to them;

When they look at me, they shake their heads.

David now reveals the depths of his own despair, describing himself as poor and needy, saying to the Lord that his heart is wounded with in him (vs. 22); all of which originates from those who have wrongly set themselves against him. Such is David’s despairing of them that he feels that his person and life have come to their end; that people have cast him aside with utter indifference (vs. 23-24); that is what he means when he says: “I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust.” Even David's body and vitality has been ravished from his fasting because of what they have been doing to him. So now instead of bearing honor and dignity as the king of Israel, he only bears their open rejection and reproach as they shake their heads at him when they see him in his broken demeanor and appearance.

Vs. 26-29 ²⁶Help me, O Lord my God! Oh, save me according to Your mercy,

²⁷That they may know that this is Your hand—

That You, Lord, have done it!

²⁸Let them curse, but You bless;

When they arise, let them be ashamed,

But let Your servant rejoice.

²⁹Let my accusers be clothed with shame,

And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.

David’s appeal could not be more personal as he now asks the Lord my God (who is not their God by their choice, but his God by his choice) to save him according to His mercy (vs. 26), so that they may know that it is God’s hand who has saved him from them (vs. 27). Yes, David says let them curse; for this is what they love; but You O Lord my God bless; for Your blessings always surpass their cursing a man! And when they arise to exalt themselves as wicked people always do when they feel they have the upper hand; David asks God to let them be put to shame, but to let him, His servant rejoice (vs. 28). Yes, David says let all of his accusers be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle (vs.29); that is let their shame and disgrace fully cover them all, just as his brokenness now covers him.

Vs. 30-31 ³⁰I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth;

Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.

³¹For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor,

To save him from those who condemn him.

David’s faith in the Lord our God delivering him and dealing with all of them now fills David’s mouth with praise to the Lord our God. Indeed, David’s heart resounds with a burning desire to praise Him among the multitude. For David knows, and I hope that you know this as well, that the Lord shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those who condemn him! For it is the poor in spirit whom God saves, not the proud in spirit. (Consider Matthew 5:3; Luke 7:36-50; 18:9-14; John 8:1-11).

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.