A Prayer Against

Character Assassins

(Psalm 109)

Introduction

Psalm 109 is an individual lament psalm with a strong imprecatory element. Imprecatory prayers invoke God’s judgment on one’s enemies. Examples in the psalms include 5:10; 10:15; 28:4; 31:17-18; 35:4-6; 40:14-15; 58:6-11; 69:22-28; 109:6-15; 139:19-22; 140:9-10.

Perowne is likely correct when he writes, “In the awfulness of its anathemas, the Psalm [109] surpasses everything of the kind in the Old Testament.”¹ According to Perowne, there are no less than 30 anathemas² pronounced upon David’s enemies in this one psalm.

Heading

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

Outline

1. Introductory Cry (v. 1)

2. Lament Proper (vv. 2-5)

III. Petition Proper (vv. 6-20)

A. Imprecations (vv. 6-15)

B. Reasons for Imprecations (vv. 16-20)

IV. Confession of Trust (vv. 21-29)

V. Vow of Praise (vv. 30-31)

Exposition

I. Introductory Cry (v. 1)

Psalms of lament typically begin with an introductory cry to God for help.

¹O God of my praise,
Do not be silent!

David cries out to “God of my praise.” David presents himself as a faithful worshipper looking for help.

II. Lament Proper (vv. 2-5)

Here is the psalmist’s lament – what grieves him.

²For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

³They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without cause.

⁴In return for my love they act as my accusers;
But I am in prayer.

⁵Thus they have repaid me evil for good
And hatred for my love.

David has been attacked by critics who lie about him. He is innocent of their charges (“without cause”). He has done them good and loved them, but in return, they have given him hatred and evil. He has prayed (presumably for them; see Ps. 35:11-14), but they have slandered him.

David’s pain as a victim of their accusations is certainly aggravated by his sense of betrayal. These are people he has loved. These are those for whom he has prayed.

For some reason, evangelical Christians seem far too comfortable with the sin of backbiting. We don’t seem to realize that sins of the tongue are enormously destructive, debilitating, and defiling. We need the mind of God in these things.

Jesus said, “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” (Matt. 15:11)

Do we realize how defiling before God our sinful speech is?

“There are six things which the LORD hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,

A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,

A false witness who utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers.”

(Prov. 6:16-19)

Three of those seven things rest in the tongue. May God be so kind as to show us the defilement of our tongues!

A person’s speech is symptomatic of his/her heart.

“For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.

The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” (Luke 6:44-45)

Our speech is arguably the clearest barometer of the spiritual integrity or immaturity in our hearts.

That is why Isaiah 53:9 (quoted in 1 Peter 2:22), describes the perfect sinlessness of Jesus in these words:

“Who committed no sin,

Nor was any deceit found in His mouth.”

Jesus was sinless, and His speech is conclusive evidence of it.

III. Petition Proper (vv. 6-20)

David prays for God to judge his enemies.

This is the difficult portion of the psalm – the imprecatory element. Some have avoided the difficulty by attributing these words to the David’s enemies rather than David.³ The problems with that approach are numerous. First, there is no introductory formula, like “they say,…” in verse 6 attributing the words to his enemies. Second, the words, “Let this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, and of those who speak evil against my soul,” in verse 20 most naturally fits as a conclusion to David’s prayer in verses 6-19. Third, other imprecatory prayers (Ps. 139:19-22) cannot be avoided. Finally, Peter’s treatment of this psalm in Acts 1:16-20 argues for its being David’s prayer for an evil man to be replaced.

So it seems clear that these verses comprise David’s prayer for God to curse his enemies.

Remember, these words were penned under the direction of the Holy Spirit, “for the choir director.” They were to be sung in worship. Israel’s worship did not celebrate the character assassination of David’s king. It is more likely that this song celebrated the comforting truth of God’s protection and deliverance from the wicked, and His judgment of the same.

This section is in two parts: the specific requests to curse his enemy (vv. 6-15); and their guilt that justifies his request.

1. Imprecations (vv. 6-15)

⁶Appoint a wicked man over him,
And let an accuser stand at his right hand.

In ironic justice, let him get what he is giving me. Let him suffer under a wicked person, and let him feel the pain of an accuser.

⁷When he is judged, let him come forth guilty,
And let his prayer become sin.

There are many assertions in Scripture to God’s emphatic rejection of the prayers of the wicked (Ps. 66:18; Prov. 15:8; 28:9; Is. 1:15)

⁸Let his days be few;
Let another take his office.

⁹Let his children be fatherless
And his wife a widow.

Here is a prayer for the man to die.

¹⁰Let his children wander about and beg;
And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes.

¹¹Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder the product of his labor.

¹²Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him,
Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.

¹³Let his posterity be cut off;
In a following generation let their name be blotted out.

¹⁴Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.

¹⁵Let them be before the LORD continually,
That He cut off their memory from the earth;

These words (vv. 10-15) are clearly the most difficult for the reader. How is it right to pray against the children and parents of a wicked man?

Perhaps the explanation is found in the biblical principle of solidarity, whereby the sin of one individual harms others, especially those closest to him. One passage that reflects this in a way that particularly touches this psalm is Proverbs 17:13, “He who returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.”

Evil is often a learned behavior, and best learned in the home. That is certainly why God commanded the Israelites to destroy all the Canaanites, including their children (Deut. 20:16-18; Josh. 6:17,21).

My conclusion is that David is praying about a particular enemy, and he knows that the man’s family stands with him in his evil.

Note also that all the curses David prays against them are curses God promised in Deuteronomy 28.

2. Reasons for Imprecations (vv. 16-20)

¹⁶Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness,
But persecuted the afflicted and needy man,
And the despondent in heart, to put them to death.

¹⁷He also loved cursing, so it came to him;
And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.

David’s enemy is the embodiment of cruelty. He shows no kindness, not even to the needy or afflicted. Instead, he persecutes them. He persecuted them to death.

He loved (not people, but) cursing, or speaking judgment, with the desire of bringing it down from heaven. He found no pleasure in blessing, only in cursing.

¹⁸But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it entered into his body like water
And like oil into his bones.

This man chose to curse others so often it was like a garment he dressed himself with. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or a massage with oil.

¹⁹Let it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself,
And for a belt with which he constantly girds himself.

²⁰Let this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,
And of those who speak evil against my soul.

Here is lex talionis, the law of retaliation. Let the curses of others spoken over him be on him like a garment. In fact, let all my enemies suffer this fate.

IV. Confession of Trust (vv. 21-29)

David speaks words of confident trust in the Lord. He appeals for his deliverance and his enemies’ judgment. His appeal is based on three things: (1) God’s name and honor; (2) his weak condition; and (3) God’s steadfast love.

A. Trusting God to deliver (vv. 21-25)

²¹But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name's sake;
Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me;

²²For I am afflicted and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.

²³I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens;
I am shaken off like the locust.

“The locust was proverbial for its ferocious appetite. Because of this farmers would shake locusts off trees and shrubs and destroy them…”⁴ David feels afflicted, needy, wounded, and treated like an insect plague. He feels like his life is flowing out of him, like the passing of an evening shadow.

²⁴My knees are weak from fasting,
And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness.

²⁵I also have become a reproach to them;
When they see me, they wag their head.

David is physically weak, having fasted extensively. He is emotionally weakened by their dishonor.

Sticks and stones

may brake my bones,

but words will break my heart.

B. Trusting God to judge (vv. 26-29)

²⁶Help me, O LORD my God;
Save me according to Your lovingkindness.

²⁷And let them know that this is Your hand;
You, LORD, have done it.

²⁸Let them curse, but You bless;
When they arise, they shall be ashamed,
But Your servant shall be glad.

²⁹Let my accusers be clothed with dishonor,
And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.

David appeals to the LORD’s lovingkindness, asking for blessing to issue from his hand, to put to shame those who curse.

V. Vow of Praise (vv. 30-31)

³⁰With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD;
And in the midst of many I will praise Him.

³¹For He stands at the right hand of the needy,
To save him from those who judge his soul.

Conclusion

This psalm, while fraught with difficulty, has many benefits. That is why God wrote it and ordained it to be sung by His people. What are the benefits?

1. Psalm 109 reminds God’s people of the harmful nature of sin, as well as its deserved judgment. Many of us are uncomfortable with it because we are easy on sin. For a church (or individual) to be soft on sin is to give it a greenhouse in which to grow.

2. The psalm teaches us the harmful effect of criticism. The sins of the tongue hurt deep.

3. If done right, imprecatory praying can be a healthy commitment of the wicked to God. Punishment and vengeance belong to God. By giving up vengeance we free ourselves to love and to forgive in a way that we cannot produce in and of ourselves.

While David often prayed this way, he never sought vengeance. When he had the chance to kill Saul, he cut off a piece of his robe instead (1 Sam. 24:1-8) – and later he was conscience-stricken for the spirit which had prompted this act (v. 5). David may have prayed fiercely at times, but his actions were absolutely gracious and kind.

May it be said of us, like Jesus, “while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23).

How is it done right?

1. The one praying must be innocent. This governs careful self-examination beforehand.

2. The one prayed against should show a hardened state of ongoing harmful sin, with little hope of repentance.

3. The prayer must be rooted in God’s standards of righteousness, not just our feelings.

4. It must be aimed at God’s glory, not our desire for vengeance.

Luke 11:39-52

1 Co. 16:22

Gal. 1:8-9

Rev 6:10; 19:1-2