Psalms 109

This is the last of the “imprecatory psalms,” and some consider it to be the most vehement. (See Ps. 5.) The psalm is ascribed to David (Acts 1:20), but it must have been written before he took the throne, for no king would be obligated to put up with this kind of treatment from an officer (v. 8) in his own court. The man was outwardly religious (v. 7) but hated David (vv. 3, 5) and falsely accused him (vv. 1–2, 4; see Ex. 23:6–8; Deut, 19:15–21) and cursed him (vv. 17–19). David’s attempts to return good for evil failed (vv. 4–5), and the man showed him no mercy (v. 16). This unknown opponent may have been King Saul himself, whose life David spared on at least two occasions, or perhaps one of Saul’s important officers who wanted to please his master. Had we been in this situation with David, we might have prayed as he did! There was terrible injustice in the land, and only God could remove Saul and put the rightful king on the throne. David did not avenge himself but put the matter in the hands of the Lord (Rom. 12:17–21). The psalm is built around three major requests.

The silence of God indicated that the Lord was not answering prayer and working on David’s behalf (28:1; 35:22–24; 50:3; 83:1). Often we cry out to Him but nothing seems to happen. David reminded the Lord that he did not pray only when he needed help, for he praised the Lord often and thanked Him for His mercies (“God of my praise”; see v. 30; 22:25; Deut. 10:21; Jer. 17:14). In fact, in the Hebrew text, “O God of my praise” opens the psalm. God was silent but the enemy was vocal, speaking hateful lying words and accusing David of crimes he had never committed. The word translated “adversaries” or “accusers” (vv. 4, 6, 20, 29) gives us the English word “Satan,” one of the names of the Devil (see 38:20; 71:13; Job 1–2; Zech. 3). Satan is the accuser (Rev. 12:10) and the adversary of believers (1 Peter 5:8), and he uses people to accomplish this work. Like our Savior who was falsely accused, David was innocent of the charges (v. 3; 35:7, 19–20; 69:4; Jer. 18:18; 20:10). God’s people return good for evil, most people return good for good and evil for evil, but Satan’s crowd returns evil for good (v. 5; 35:12; 38:20; Jer. 18:20). David responded to God’s silence and to the enemy’s attacks by praying to the Lord. His faith did not waver.

Some students try to take the barbs out of David’s prayer by making verses 6–20 the words of the enemy about David, but the approach will not work. Does verse 18 apply to David? And what about verse 20? Years later, the prophet Jeremiah prayed a similar prayer against the enemies that wanted to kill him (Jer. 18:18–23), and the Lord did not rebuke him. It has also been suggested that the tenses of the verbs should read as futures and not as requests: “His days will be few … His children will be beggars,” and so on. Knowing God’s covenant, David was predicting what would happen because of the sins his enemy had committed. (See Lev. 26:14–39.)

David was willing for the court to solve the problem, for that is the image found in verses 6–7. Note that the pronouns shift from they and them to he, him and his. David focused his prayer on the leader of the evil band that was attacking him, and he asked God to appoint a judge or prosecuting attorney as wicked as the defendant himself! After all, the way we judge others is the way we ourselves will be judged (Matt. 7:1–2). Or perhaps he wanted Satan himself to be there (Zech. 3:1ff.). David expected the Lord to stand at his right hand to defend him (v. 31; 16:8). Our Savior is enthroned at the right hand of God and intercedes for us (110:1; Acts 2:25, 34; Rom. 8:34).

David prayed that God’s judgment would be thorough and would include the family of his enemy (vv. 9–13). Certainly he knew what the law said about this (Deut. 24:16), so the family must have participated in the father’s sins. Every Jewish man wanted many descendants so that his name would be perpetuated, along with much wealth and a long life, but David prayed that none of these blessings would come to his enemy. Even more, he asked that his enemy’s parents’ sins would never be forgiven. (This must have been a very wicked family.) This would mean perpetual judgment on the family until it died out (Ex. 20:5; 34:7; Lev. 26:39). Peter quoted verses 8 and 69: in Acts 1: when the church elected a new apostle to replace Judas. In verses 16–20, David focused on his enemy’s sins of omission: he did not show kindness to the poor and he did not seek to be a blessing to others (see Ex. 22:22–24; Deut. 10:18; 14:29; 16:11–14; 24:17–21). All of this would come right back on his own head and penetrate his very being, for sinners hurt themselves far more than they hurt their victims.

As a faithful son of the covenant, David had a right to ask God for the help he needed. His desire was that God might be glorified by showing mercy to His servant (vv. 21, 27). He wanted God to do some wonderful thing that only He could do, and this would tell his enemies that Jehovah was fighting David’s battles. “Magnify your mercy!” was David’s cry (vv. 21, 26). He wanted the Lord to be mindful of his needs, for he was “poor and needy” (vv. 22–25; 70:5; 86:1). He had a broken heart and he felt as if his life was fading away like the shadows of evening. As the sun sets, the shadows grow longer and longer and then vanish. Like a locust hanging on clothing, his grip on life was feeble and he could be shaken off at any minute. Imagine the future king of Israel comparing himself to a fragile insect! David asked the Lord to send him a blessing every time his enemy cursed him and to bring shame to the enemy but joy to His servant. Finally, David promised to praise the Lord and give glory to Him when all these trials were ended, and he did. After David had been made king over all Israel, he brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem and sought to honor the Lord (2 Sam. 5–6). God did help David, in His own time and His own way, and so He will do for us.