9 Let his children have no father, and his wife be made a widow.
10 Let his children be wanderers, looking to others for their food; let them be sent away from the company of their friends.
11 Let his creditor take all his goods; and let others have the profit of his work.
12 Let no man have pity on him, or give help to his children when he is dead.
13 Let his seed be cut off; in the coming generation let their name go out of memory.
14 Let the Lord keep in mind the wrongdoing of his fathers; and may the sin of his mother have no forgiveness.
15 Let them be ever before the eyes of the Lord, so that the memory of them may be cut off from the earth.
16 Because he had no mercy, but was cruel to the low and the poor, designing the death of the broken-hearted.
17 As he took pleasure in cursing, so let it come on him; and as he had no delight in blessing, let it be far from him.
18 He put on cursing like a robe, and it has come into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.
19 Let it be to him as a robe which he puts on, let it be like a band which is round him at all times.
20 Let this be the reward given to my haters from the Lord, and to those who say evil of my soul.
21 But, O Lord God, give me your help, because of your name; take me out of danger, because your mercy is good.
22 For I am poor and in need, and my heart is wounded in me.
23 I am gone like the shade when it is stretched out: I am forced out of my place like a locust.
24 My knees are feeble for need of food; there is no fat on my bones.
25 As for me, they make sport of me; shaking their heads when they see me.
26 Give me help, O Lord my God; in your mercy be my saviour;
27 So that they may see that it is the work of your hand; that you, Lord, have done it.
28 They may give curses but you give blessing; when they come up against me, put them to shame; but let your servant be glad.
29 Let my haters be clothed with shame, covering themselves with shame as with a robe.
30 I will give the Lord great praise with my mouth; yes, I will give praise to him among all the people.
31 For he is ever at the right hand of the poor, to take him out of the hands of those who go after his soul.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 109
Commentary on Psalms 109 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 109
Whether David penned this psalm when he was persecuted by Saul, or when his son Absalom rebelled against him, or upon occasion of some other trouble that was given him, is uncertain; and whether the particular enemy he prays against was Saul, or Doeg, or Ahithophel, or some other not mentioned in the story, we cannot determine; but it is certain that in penning it he had an eye to Christ, his sufferings and his persecutors, for that imprecation (v. 8) is applied to Judas, Acts 1:20. The rest of the prayers here against his enemies were the expressions, not of passion, but of the Spirit of prophecy.
In singing this psalm we must comfort ourselves with the believing foresight of the certain destruction of all the enemies of Christ and his church, and the certain salvation of all those that trust in God and keep close to him.
To the chief Musician. A psalm of David.
Psa 109:1-5
It is the unspeakable comfort of all good people that, whoever is against them, God is for them, and to him they may apply as to one that is pleased to concern himself for them. Thus David here.
Psa 109:6-20
David here fastens upon some one particular person that was worse than the rest of his enemies, and the ringleader of them, and in a devout and pious manner, not from a principle of malice and revenge, but in a holy zeal for God and against sin and with an eye to the enemies of Christ, particularly Judas who betrayed him, whose sin was greater than Pilate's that condemned him (Jn. 19:11), he imprecates and predicts his destruction, foresees and pronounces him completely miserable, and such a one as our Saviour calls him, A son of perdition. Calvin speaks of it as a detestable piece of sacrilege, common in his time among Franciscan friars and other monks, that if any one had malice against a neighbour he might hire some of them to curse him every day, which he would do in the words of these verses; and particularly he tells of a lady in France who, being at variance with her own and only son, hired a parcel of friars to curse him in these words. Greater impiety can scarcely be imagined than to vent a devilish passion in the language of sacred writ, to kindle strife with coals snatched from God's altar, and to call for fire from heaven with a tongue set on fire of hell.
Psa 109:21-31
David, having denounced God's wrath against his enemies, here takes God's comforts to himself, but in a very humble manner, and without boasting.