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.
