Psalms · psalm 109 of 150
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Psalm 109 is the prayer of David, falsely accused by those he loved, who asks God not to be silent. It contains a long series of curses against an enemy (vv. 6-19), which some understand as the words of David's accusers against him and others as the psalmist's own petition. It then describes his affliction, begs for help for the sake of God's name and ends praising the Lord, who stands at the right hand of the needy.
The title says it is for the choirmaster, a psalm of David. It is the harshest of the imprecatory psalms, those that ask for God's judgment on enemies, and so it has raised many questions. Verse 8 is quoted in Acts 1:20 in connection with Judas, and Christians read this psalm in the light of Christ, who prayed for his enemies.
David begins with a plea: O God of my praise, do not be silent. The mouths of the wicked and deceitful have opened against him, they speak with lying tongues, surround him with words of hate and attack him without cause. In return for his love they accuse him, but he prays for them. They repay him evil for good and hatred for love.
Verses 6-19 present a long series of curses against a man: let a wicked man be appointed against him, let an accuser stand at his right hand, let him come out guilty, let his days be few, let another take his office, let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. It is said that he did not remember to show kindness, pursued the poor and loved to curse. Interpreters differ: some think David asks for these things, and others that he is quoting the words with which his enemies curse him, to which he responds from verse 20.
From verse 20 David pleads: deal on my behalf for your name's sake, deliver me, for your steadfast love is good. He is poor and needy, his heart wounded, like a shadow at evening, and his knees are weak from fasting. He has become an object of scorn. He asks that they know that it is God's hand that helps him: they curse, but God blesses. He ends with praise because the Lord stands at the right hand of the needy to save him from those who condemn his soul.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
In return for his love they accuse him, but David answers by giving himself to prayer. Instead of returning the attack, he entrusts his cause to God.
He asks that the enemy's days be few and that another take his office. Acts 1:20 quotes this verse about replacing Judas as an apostle, applying the psalm to the betrayal of Jesus.
David begs the Lord to deal on his behalf for his name's sake and deliver him because his steadfast love is good. His appeal is not to his merits but to God's goodness.
He promises to praise the Lord in the midst of the throng, because he stands at the right hand of the needy to save him from those who condemn his soul. The psalm ends with the certainty that God defends the needy.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: As the God of his praise, whom he asks not to be silent. — Psalm 109:1
Answer: They accuse him, repaying evil for good and hatred for love. — Psalm 109:4-5
Answer: He gives himself to prayer. — Psalm 109:4
Answer: For the sake of God's name and because his steadfast love is good. — Psalm 109:21
Answer: Poor and needy, his heart wounded and his knees weak from fasting. — Psalm 109:22-24
Answer: At the right hand of the needy, to save him from those who condemn him. — Psalm 109:31
Psalm 109 shows that prayer can say what hurts. David does not hide his anger and pain but brings them to God instead of taking revenge. In a small group it can give permission to pray honestly when someone has suffered slander or betrayal, and at the same time remind us that leaving judgment in God's hands is a form of trust.
For Christians, such prayers must be read alongside the words of Jesus: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44), and his prayer on the cross for those who crucified him (Luke 23:34). The psalm reminds us that God sees injustice, but the believer's response is prayer, not revenge, and the certainty that the Lord defends the needy.
Psalm 109 ends with praise to the Lord who stands at the right hand of the needy. Psalm 110, by David, looks to a King and Priest whom the Lord invites to sit at his right hand, and it is the psalm most quoted in the New Testament in connection with Christ.
As prayers that hand judgment over to God, not as permission to harm anyone. Many interpreters suggest that verses 6-19 are the words the enemies say of David, and that the psalmist answers from verse 20. In any case, Jesus taught us to love our enemies and pray for them.
Peter quotes it in Acts 1:20 to explain the need to choose another apostle in place of Judas: let another take his office. The apostles saw in the psalm a description of the betrayal of the righteous one.