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Psalms 109
1God of my praise, don't remain silent,
2for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me. They have spoken to 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 adversaries; but I am in prayer.
5They have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
6Set a wicked man over him. Let an adversary stand at his right hand.
7When he is judged, let him come forth guilty. Let his prayer be turned into sin.
8Let his days be few. Let another take his office.
9Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
10Let his children be wandering beggars. Let them be sought from their ruins.
11Let the creditor seize all that he has. Let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.
12Let there be none to extend kindness to him, neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless children.
13Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by Yahweh. Don't let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15Let them be before Yahweh continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth;
16because he didn't remember to show kindness, but persecuted the poor and needy man, the broken in heart, to kill them.
17Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him. He didn't delight in blessing, and it was far from him.
18He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment. It came into his inward parts like water, like oil into his bones.
19Let it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself, for the belt that is always around him.
20This is the reward of my adversaries from Yahweh, of those who speak evil against my soul.
21But deal with me, Yahweh the Lord, for your name's sake, because your loving kindness is good, deliver me;
22for I am poor and needy. My heart is wounded within me.
23I fade away like an evening shadow. I am shaken off like a locust.
24My knees are weak through fasting. My body is thin and lacks fat.
25I have also become a reproach to them. When they see me, they shake their head.
26Help me, Yahweh, my God. Save me according to your loving kindness;
27that they may know that this is your hand; that you, Yahweh, have done it.
28They may curse, but you bless. When they arise, they will be shamed, but your servant shall rejoice.
29Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor. Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
30I will give great thanks to Yahweh with my mouth. Yes, I will praise him among the multitude.
31For he will stand at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who judge his soul. A Psalm by David.
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Afflictions and Adversities: Prayer In Psalm 109:1–31
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O God of my praise, be not silent. / For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues. / They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.
Afflictions and Adversities: Unclassified Scriptures Relating To Psalm 109:22–24
For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me. / I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust. / My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.
Beggars: The Children of the Wicked Psalm 109:10
May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
Being Falsely Accused Psalm 109:2
For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.
Believing Lies Psalm 109:2–4
For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues. / They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause. / In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
Character of the Wicked: Persecuting Psalm 109:16
For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death.
Children: Frequently Bore the Curse of Parents Psalm 109:9, 10
May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. / May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
David: King of Israel: Probably Writes Psalms Eleven at This Period of his Life Psalm 109:1
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O God of my praise, be not silent.
Enemy: The Wickedness of David's Psalm 109:2–5
For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues. / They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause. / In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
Evil for Good: General Scriptures Concerning Psalm 109:5
They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
Extortion: General Scriptures Concerning Psalm 109:11
May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
Falsehood: General Scriptures Concerning Psalm 109:2
For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.
Fasting in Prayer for Himself and his Adversaries Psalm 109:4, 24
In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. / My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.
Fasting of Saints Exemplified: David Psalm 109:24
My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.
Free Speech Psalm 109:28
Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.
Head: Derision Expressed by Shaking Psalm 109:25
I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
Ingratitude: David's Companions to David Psalm 109:4, 5
In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. / They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
Ingratitude: Often Exhibited: To Benefactors Psalm 109:5
They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
Ingratitude: should be Met With: Prayers Psalm 109:4
In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
Jesus, the Christ: Death of Psalm 109:25
I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
Jesus, the Christ: Prophecies Concerning Psalm 109:25
I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
Judas (Jude): Surnamed |Iscariot|: Prophecies Concerning Psalm 109:8
May his days be few; may another take his position.
Malice: General Scriptures Concerning Psalm 109:2–5, 16–18
For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues. / They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause. / In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
Not Being Offended Psalm 109:4
In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
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Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
Pastoral and devotional reflections focused on spiritual formation and application.
Psalms 109:1-5 Verses 1-5
It is the unspeakable comfort of all believers, that whoever is against them, God is for them; and to him they may apply as to one pleased to concern himself for them. David's enemies laughed at him for his devotion, but they could not laugh him out of it.
Psalms 109:6-20 Verses 6-20
The Lord Jesus may speak here as a Judge, denouncing sentence on some of his enemies, to warn others. When men reject the salvation of Christ, even their prayers are numbered among their sins. See what hurries some to shameful deaths, and brings the families and estates of others to ruin; makes them and theirs despicable and hateful, and brings poverty, shame, and misery upon their posterity: it is sin, that mischievous, destructive thing. And what will be the effect of the sentence, "Go, ye cursed," upon the bodies and souls of the wicked! How it will affect the senses of the body, and the powers of the soul, with pain, anguish, horror, and despair! Think on these things, sinners, tremble and repent.
Psalms 109:21-31 Verses 21-31
The psalmist takes God's comforts to himself, but in a very humble manner. He was troubled in mind. His body was wasted, and almost worn away. But it is better to have leanness in the body, while the soul prospers and is in health, than to have leanness in the soul, while the body is feasted. He was ridiculed and reproached by his enemies. But if God bless us, we need not care who curses us; for how can they curse whom God has not cursed; nay, whom he has blessed? He pleads God's glory, and the honour of his name. Save me, not according to my merit, for I pretend to none, but according to thy-mercy. He concludes with the joy of faith, in assurance that his present conflicts would end in triumphs. Let all that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him. Jesus, unjustly put to death, and now risen again, is an Advocate and Intercessor for his people, ever ready to appear on their behalf against a corrupt world, and the great accuser.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary
Historical, contextual, and verse-level study notes for deeper biblical exploration.
Psalms 109:1 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
God of my praise--its object, thus recognizing God as a certain helper. Be not silent (compare Ps 17:13; 28:1).
Psalms 109:1-31 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
imprecates God's righteous punishment, and to a prayer for a divine interposition in his behalf appends the expression of his confidence and a promise of his praises. This Psalm is remarkable for the number and severity of its imprecations. Its evident typical character (compare Ps 109:8) justifies the explanation of these already given, that as the language of David respecting his own enemies, or those of Christ, it has respect not to the penitent, but to the impenitent and implacable foes of good men, and of God and His cause, whose inevitable fate is thus indicated by inspired authority.
Psalms 109:2 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
For the mouth ... opened--or, "They have opened a wicked mouth" against me--literally, "with me," that is, Their intercourse is lying, or, they slander me to my face (Mt 26:59).
Psalms 109:3 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
(Compare Ps 35:7; 69:4).
Psalms 109:4-5 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
They return evil for good (compare Ps 27:12; Pr 17:13). I give myself unto prayer--or literally, "I (am) prayer," or, "as for me, prayer," that is, it is my resource for comfort in distress.
Psalms 109:6 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
over him--one of his enemies prominent in malignity (Ps 55:12). let Satan stand--as an accuser, whose place was the right hand of the accused (Zec 3:1, 2).
Psalms 109:7 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
The condemnation is aggravated when prayer for relief is treated as a sin.
Psalms 109:8 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
The opposite blessing is long life (Ps 91:16; Pr 3:2). The last clause is quoted as to Judas by Peter (Ac 1:20). office--literally, "charge," Septuagint, and Peter, "oversight" [1Pe 5:2].
Psalms 109:9-10 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
Let his family share the punishment, his children be as wandering beggars to prowl in their desolate homes, a greedy and relentless creditor grasp his substance, his labor, or the fruit of it, enure to strangers and not his heirs, and his unprotected, fatherless children fall in want, so that his posterity shall utterly fail.
Psalms 109:13 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
posterity--literally, "end," as in Ps 37:38, or, what comes after; that is, reward, or success, or its expectation, of which posterity was to a Jew a prominent part.
Psalms 109:14-15 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered, &c.--Added to the terrible overthrow following his own sin, let there be the imputation of his parents' guilt, that it may now come before God, for His meting out its full consequences, in cutting off the memory of them (that is, the parents) from the earth (Ps 34:16).
Psalms 109:16 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
Let God remember guilt, because he (the wicked) did not remember mercy. poor and needy ... broken in heart--that is, pious sufferer (Ps 34:18; 35:10; 40:17). 17-19. Let his loved sin, cursing, come upon him in punishment (Ps 35:8), thoroughly fill him as water and oil, permeating to every part of his system (compare Nu 5:22-27), and become a garment and a girdle for a perpetual dress.
Psalms 109:20 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
Let this ... reward--or, "wages," pay for labor, the fruit of the enemy's wickedness. from the Lord--as His judicial act.
Psalms 109:21-22 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
do ... for me--that is, kindness. wounded--literally, "pierced" (Ps 69:16, 29).
Psalms 109:23 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
like the shadow--(Compare Ps 102:11). tossed up and down--or, "driven" (Ex 10:19).
Psalms 109:24-25 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
Taunts and reproaches aggravate his afflicted and feeble state (Ps 22:6, 7).
Psalms 109:26-27 The writer complains of his virulent enemies, on whom he
Let my deliverance glorify Thee (compare Ps 59:13). 28-31. In confidence that God's blessing would come on him, and confusion and shame on his enemies (Ps 73:13), he ceases to regard their curses, and anticipates a season of joyful and public thanksgiving; for God is near to protect (Ps 16:8; 34:6) the poor from all unrighteous judges who may condemn him. PSALM 110