Psalm 109
“An Evil End For Evil Men”
Psalm 109 is the last of the imprecatory psalms. Imprecation has to do with praying for or calling down curses on one’s enemies. Psalm 109 is not only the last of the imprecatory psalms, but it is also the strongest and most intense. Various writers try to dismiss these psalms. They claim that such language reflects a backward and unspiritual age. The problem with this is that the New Testament claims that this psalm is given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 109:8 is quoted in Acts 1:20, and the introduction given by Peter to this quotation says, “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David”. Since David is the author of Psalm 109, we must reject the idea that this psalm is unspiritual or sub-spiritual, for David was a very spiritual man. In addition Boice notes, “David was well known, even praised, for being a nonvindictive, long-suffering, and merciful man. We have only to think of the two occasions when David could have killed his archenemy King Saul if he had wanted to (1 Samuel 24,26). David did not even think of killing Saul. He said instead, ‘I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the Lord’s anointed’ (1 Samuel 24:10). All the imprecatory psalms have the flavor of Romans 12:19 “It is Mine to avenge; I will repay”, says the Lord” (p. 885).
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Read this psalm carefully and you will find that David is entrusting justice to God. David is placing all his trust in God’s timing and God’s wrath, rather in his own vengeance. It is spiritual to desire the punishment of evil and the reward of good. “True, as Christians we desire first that those who are doing wrong might repent of their sin and find forgiveness through the work of Jesus Christ. But if they fail to do so, if they persist in doing harm to others, the only right thing is to desire their punishment---that they might be stopped and their victims be protected. We could hardly ask God to reward evil people, could we? Besides, we want evil to be judged, though in our hypocritically sentimental age we are usually careful about saying so openly” (Boice pp. 885-886). The wicked still have time to repent, but the judgments described in these psalms are nevertheless exactly what will come to the wicked eventually. One use of these psalms, therefore, is to warn people how seriously God takes sin, for God is going to punish the unrepentant sinner far worse than anything David mentioned in his psalm. This isn’t as bad as is it will get for the hardened sinner. Leupold makes an excellent point when he reminds us, that should such a wicked person turn from their sins and turn to God, no one would be happier than David, the writer of the psalm (p. 764). A Man Of Prayer 109:1 God is the object of David’s praise. So from the get-go, we are told that this is the prayer of a very spiritual man. He is
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asking for God not to remain silent, that is, for God to act against his foes. 109:2-3 Note, David is not upset over some small personal slight, rather he is enduring an all-out assault upon his character. “It is no longer a whispering campaign but brazen and open” (Kidner p. 388). David didn’t believe in the old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me”. “In fact, words have probably done more serious and lasting damage to other people than any amount of specifically evil acts or violence. David knew this danger and so asked God for protection from lies, innuendo, slander and false accusations” (Boice p. 886). “In the verses that follow, the utter wrong of his attackers and the utter groundlessness of their attacks are maintained. Not only that, the writer’s opponents have even gone to the extreme of repaying good with evil, love with hate” (Leupold p. 765). 109:4 “But I am in prayer”: David isn’t vindictive and neither is his anger out of control. What is his response to all this persecution? He goes to God in prayer! David is not preoccupied with one-upmanship or vindictiveness. He presents his problem to the Lord waiting a solution. Many people who complain about this psalm, don’t go to God in prayer when wronged, rather, they are very quick to retaliate in some way. 109:5 The deceitfulness of David’s enemies are brought out in this verse. It seems clear that David is dealing with people who refuse to repent, who show no remorse for their sinful actions and have resisted all appeals to change. Certainly you can pray for the success of such unrepentant people. “These opponents of his were apparently not very likely to give any evidence of repentance. Since these were men whose 3
wickedness was deeply ingrained, it was but natural to wish for the total overthrow of these men and what they stood for” (Leupold p. 764). When people persecute or wrong us—is our first reaction to take everything to God in prayer? “While my enemies are uttering false words about me to other people, trying to do me harm, I am speaking to God” (Boice p. 886). Curses Spoken And Received Some writers say that this is what God’s people did before they knew about God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness. Yet, the Old Testament abounds with passages about God’s long-suffering, lovingkindness, mercy, and forgiveness. David knew that God was a merciful God! But if someone isn’t going to repent (Romans 2:1-5), the only option is wrath (Romans 11:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). 109:6 Let this evil man be punished by evil. Often, through human institutions (civil authority) and by means of wicked men, other wicked men are punished. Here is the desire that this enemy gets a taste of his own medicine, i.e., let that corrupt lawyer face an equally corrupt judge. 109:7 “When he is judged, let him come forth guilty”: David isn’t praying for a perversion of justice, rather, such a man is guilty and may justice in human courts prevail! Righteous people should be upset when guilty people are declared not guilty. David is praying that his man, who probably has escaped justice for years may finally be convicted. 109:7 “And let his prayer become sin”: It must be assumed that the prayer under consideration is not a prayer coming 4
from sincere repentance, but the type of prayers offered by people who refuse to change. God has already said that He will reject such prayers (Proverbs 15:8,29; 28:9; Isaiah 1:15). “The prayers of such an impenitent, guilt man can scarcely be anything other than sin” (Leupold p. 767). Point To Note: David and all other godly men and women would be horrified by the thought that God would simply ignore the deeds of the wicked and save them anyway or that God would ignore His own standards of good, evil, and justice, and view such a wicked person as godly. It is easy to become soft towards sin when no one is persecuting you, but when people are persecuting you, you have a different attitude towards evil. Evil men are no longer “misunderstood” or the innocent victims of a bad childhood, rather, they are evil people who need to be stopped. 109:8 This well known statement is quoted in Acts 1:20 in reference to Judas Iscariot. “The reason for this quotation is that Judas was a character of the same sort as David’s opponents” (Leupold p. 767). Here David is simply praying that such evil men would be replaced by good men. Evil men in powerful positions can do a lot of harm, they need to be removed from office. Point To Note: Some have tried to argue that verses 6-20 are things that evil men said against David. But the way that Peter quotes verse 8 in Acts 1:20 is clear proof that David expressed these Divine curses on wicked men. The fact that such verses could apply 5
to Judas infers that sometimes wicked men are found among God’s people. Often the faithful are persecuted by those who are professing to follow God themselves. 109:8 “Let his days be few”: “In the brevity of corruption lies hope” (Gaebelein p. 691). 109:9-10 Here the curses pronounced on the man who has been doing evil are extended in the future on his children. Such a verse reminds us of sin’s solidarity, i.e., when the sin of one person always harms others, especially those closest to him or her. In addition, often it happens that the children grow up to be just as evil as their father or mother (Exodus 20:5-6 “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me”). Point To Note: I have often heard from law enforcement officials that the majority of the crimes committed can often be traced back to a few families in the community. People can bring curses down upon their descendants. If I am evil, I can contaminate not only my children, but many future generations as well. Jesus noted the same thing (Luke 19:41ff). Sometimes in order to uproot sin, protect the innocent and bring justice to the afflicted, God must bring swift justice upon entire families (see Numbers 16 and Joshua 7, and remember Ahab’s family?) 109:11-13 In order to break the power of evil men, they first need to be broken financially. An evil man with wealth and influence and can do tremendous harm and spread his evil far and wide. In addition, evil men can bounce back if someone “feels sorry for them”, and allows them to get a foothold once 6
more. In order to protect the innocent, in order to give others a chance to repent, a chance to hear the truth, God must deal with entire families. “Death to them all” is some times the only alternative that God has. 109:14-15 Here we have curses upon his parents. Obviously, they were unrepentant sinners just like their son(s) who is persecuting David. Point To Note: Over time man seems to forget the vile nature of crimes committed in the past, in fact, succeeding generations often try to rewrite history and idolize men and women who were evil. David prays that God would never forget, that evil men and women in the past would always be under His condemnation. The idea that hell might not be eternal, or that God would pardon unrepentant sinners, isn’t something that godly people wanted. 109:16-17 David’s prayer isn’t “overkill”. Here is what such evil men had done. They had shown no mercy (16). Even the New Testament says that mercy will not be given to those who were unmerciful (James 2:13). People who work in the abortion trade need to seriously think about this verse! Such people had hated, cursed, oppressed, and harassed the needy. They had hounded the broken-hearted (does that sound like many reporters today?). How about modern talk-shows which exploit people? The wicked’s love for cursing became so much a part of him that the psalmist describes it as if “he wore cursing as his garment”, or as if such had entered into his body like water. Today we run into people whose every other word seems to be some sort of profanity. 7
109:18 If you do evil, you will become evil. What a man or woman chooses they ultimately become and receive. Such has become second nature to them (Ephesians 2:1-3). 109:19-20 The idea could be that since David’s enemies delight in cursing so much, let these Divine curses clothe them. Verse 19 implies that the curse is always to be present with him who so much loved to curse others. Carefully note that David is leaving all judgment to God (Romans 12:18ff). Prayer For Deliverance “But it is not enough for David’s enemies to be judged. David needs God’s help for himself, and to this he turns” (Williams p. 296). 109:21 David knows that God is merciful, and that God is very kind to the faithful and humble (Exodus 20:6). What a contrast between 109:20 and the verses that follow. “Behold then the kindness and severity of God” (Romans 11:22). 109:21 “deal kindly with me for Thy name’s sake”: “When we remember that the problem in this psalm is David’s enemies’ slander, their use of words to attack and destroy his reputation, it is remarkable that he is concerned here not so much with his own reputation as with God’s. He wants God’s name to be vindicated most of all. Do we? Or do we actually care most about ourselves?” (Boice p. 889). 109:22 David wasn’t made out of rubber. His heart was broken, he had been deeply hurt by the words and actions of his enemies. Here is another reason why God brings 8
judgment upon sinners in this life, for there are many humble people who need relief or they might not make it. David certainly feels at the end of his emotional rope. 109:23 “It is as if life flows out of him, like the disappearance of ‘an evening shadow’. He is shaken ‘like a locust’….The harassment has taken its toll on the psalmist, both psychologically and physically” (Gaebelein p. 695). 109:24-25 Here are other consequences of his being attacked and hounded. David didn’t have any strength and energy, he didn’t feel like eating, and he had lost many friends in the process. Hence, we find almost double humiliation. He is being unjustly persecuted and yet he is the one who feels bad, he is the one who has lost the friends, and he is the one who can’t sleep at night. Prayer For Vindication 109:26-29 David prays for relief, for judgment upon the wicked, that they may be ashamed and humiliated (29). In addition, there is always the hope that when one is shamed, that they would repent. The enemy is hoping that life would rain down the worst for David, but David is confident that the Lord would bless him. Point To Note: It is tempting to try to help unrepentant people before they hit rock bottom, but if we truly love their souls, we must resist this temptation. People will not change unless they are first 9
completely humbled, and hopefully they will allow this humbling to bring about a change in their hearts. 109:30-31 Even though David was being severely persecuted, he will continue to rejoice and trust in God. God has allowed all this persecution to happen, and yet David isn’t the least bit bitter or resentful. The total object of David’s disgust and contempt is sin, not God. Have we learned this lesson? Have we learned that the real enemy is sin and Satan and not God? Or does God still get blamed in our lives when things don’t go smoothly? The last verse is wonderful, because David might be under attack, but David knows that God is at his right hand, ready to defend him and act on his behalf. Closing Point: Many read this psalm and complain about the lack of mercy in the mind of the writer. But what such people completely miss is that God has been extremely merciful to the wicked. The wicked have been prospering and taking advantage of the righteous—and nothing bad has happened to them. David is crying out for some mercy for the righteous man. In order for God to extend mercy to the innocent, there are times that He must remove the wicked.
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