Betrayal Worthy of
Judas
Repaying evil for good (vv.1-5) |
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1 O God of my praise, |
Do not be silent! |
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2 For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me; |
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. |
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3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, |
And fought against me without cause. |
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4 In return for my love they act as my accusers; |
But I am in prayer. |
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5 Thus they have repaid me evil for good [2] |
And hatred for my love.[3] |
Prayer that God would repay evil with curse
(vv.6-20) |
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6 Appoint a wicked man over him, |
And let an accuser
stand at his right hand.
[4] |
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7 When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, |
And let his prayer become sin. |
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8 Let his days be few; |
Let another take his office. |
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9 Let his children be fatherless |
And his wife a widow. |
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10 Let his children wander about and beg; |
And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. |
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11 Let the creditor seize all that he has, |
And let strangers plunder the product of his labor. |
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12 Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, |
Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children. |
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13 Let his posterity be cut off; |
In a following generation let their name be blotted out. |
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14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before Yahweh,[5] |
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. |
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15 Let them be before Yahweh continually, |
That He may cut off their memory from the earth; |
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16 Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness, |
But persecuted the afflicted and needy man, |
And the despondent in heart, to put them to death. |
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17 He also loved cursing, so it came to him; |
And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him. |
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18 But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, |
And it entered into his body like water |
And like oil into his bones. |
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19 Let it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself, |
And for a belt with which he constantly girds himself. |
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20 Let this be the reward of my accusers from Yahweh, |
And of those who speak evil against my soul.[6] |
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Prayer for God’s kindness and deliverance from evil
(vv.21-25) |
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21 But You, O Yahweh, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name’s sake; |
Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me; |
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22 For I am afflicted and needy, |
And my heart is wounded within me. |
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23 I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens; |
I am shaken off like the locust. |
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24 My knees are weak from fasting, |
And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness. |
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25 I also have become a reproach to them; |
When they see me, they wag their head. |
Prayer for salvation (vv.26-31) |
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26 Help me, O Yahweh my God; |
Save me according to Your lovingkindness. |
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27 And let them know[7] that this is Your hand; |
You, Yahweh, have done it. |
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28 Let them curse, but You bless; |
When they arise, they shall be ashamed, |
But Your servant shall be glad. |
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29 Let my accusers be clothed with dishonor, |
And let them cover themselves with
their own shame as with a robe. |
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30 With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to Yahweh; |
And in the midst of many I will praise Him. |
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31 For He stands at the right hand of the needy, |
To save him
from those who judge his soul. |
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[1] “The imprecations in [the] psalms have often been viewed as expressions of personal hatred and explained as a manifestation of a low level of religious and moral maturity in the OT. Some have then contrasted these statements with NT commands to love one’s enemy (Matt 5:39,44; Rom 12:14) as a basis for concluding that the NT abandons the OT concept of vengeance and calls for a higher ethic grounded in love rather than hate. This sort of antithesis between the Testaments, however, cannot be sustained. The OT not only enjoins an ethic of love and forbids revenge (Lev 19:17-18), but clear statements on the vengeance of God may also be found in the NT (cf. E.g., Matt 25:41; Acts 8:20; 13:10-11; Gal 1:8-9; 1 Cor 16:22; Rev 6:10). In addition the NT speaks even more clearly than the OT about the reality and seriousness of the wrath of God (cf., e.g., 2 Thess 1:5-10)” (J. Robert Vannoy, “Retribution: Theology of” in NIDOTTE V:1147). Roman Catholicism has something called the Liturgy of the Hours, along with a complementary four-week Psalter to help people recite the Psalms in the course of four weeks. “Yet three psalms are omitted altogether – Psalms 58,83, and 109 – and there are nineteen other psalms from which one or more verses are omitted. In this regard the Apostolic Constitution issued by the pope in 1970 on the Divine Office explains somewhat ingenuously, ‘in this new arrangement of the psalms some few of the psalms and verses which are somewhat harsh in tone have been omitted, especially because of the difficulties that were foreseen from their use in vernacular celebration.’ In other words, parts of the Psalms that did not seem offensive to reciters who only half understood them in Latin are now to be omitted when the reciters hear what they really mean in their own language” (Holladay, The Psalms Through Three Thousand Years pp.304f.). One reason why Psalm 109 must be part of the singing and prayer life of the church is its close connection with Psalm 110. The imprecatory prayer of Psalm 109 is answered with the judgment here in Psalm 110 (cf. Acts 1:20 with 2:34-35). Barry Davis notes, As the center psalm between these two groups, Psalm 110 is naturally related to Psalms 109 and 111. Psalms 109 and 110 exhibit similar words and concepts that link them together. Both are psalms of David…and both direct much of their thought toward Yahweh (109:14–15, 20, 21, 26–27, 30; 110:1–2, 4–5). The phrase…“at the right side” occurs in 109:6, 31 and in 110:1,5, although in these two verses in Psalm 110 it refers to the right side of deity whereas in Psalm 109 it signifies deity being at the right hand of a needy person to rescue him from those about to destroy his soul. Also several parallel ideas exist in both psalms. The concept of judgment (but with different people involved) is noted in 109:7, 31 and 110:6. In addition the gathering of God’s people in His honor is expressed in 109:30 and 110:3. Moreover, what is requested in Psalm 109 (i.e., the destruction of enemies) is fulfilled in 110:1, 5–6… Also in 109:25 the last thing the adversaries do is shake their…“head” side to side in reproach regarding God’s servant. By contrast, in Psalm 110 the last thing God does after defeating the…“head” or “chief” of His enemies (v. 6) is to lift His…“head” up in victory (v. 7) Certain contrasting ideas in these two psalms may be noted. Psalm 109:8 depicts an office or responsibility being taken away from the wicked; but 110:1 and 4 show offices being given to Messiah. Psalm 109:8 and 13 record the temporary nature of the wicked, but 110:4 speaks of the eternality of God. A contrasting use of water is seen in 109:18 (in terms of devastation—cursing enters the body like water) and 110:7 (in terms of refreshment) (“Is Psalm 110 a Messianic Psalm?” Bibliotheca Sacra; Volume 157:168f.). Psalm 109 is reported to be Oliver Cromwell’s favorite Psalm (Alice Morse Earle, The Sabbath in Puritan New England p.181). |
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[2] “He who returns evil for good, Evil will not depart from his house” (Proverbs 17:13). Payment of evil for good is also found in Psalm 35:12; 38:20. |
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[3] “We should pray that our enemies be converted and become our friends and, if not, that their doing and designing be bound to fail and have no success and that their persons perish rather than the Gospel and the kingdom of Christ” (Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, vol. 21, The Sermon on the Mount and the Magnificat, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan and A.T.W. Steinhaeuser [St. Louis: Concordia, 1956], 1000). |
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[4] Some try lessening the curse of vv.6-19 by saying that these are the words of the enemy and not the Psalmist. This interpretation is also found in a marginal note of the NIV at verse 6, “Or They say: ``Appoint (with quotation marks at the end of verse 19).” This is unacceptable for the following reasons: Ø The Psalmist describes himself as afflicted and needy in v.22 and in v.16 it is the afflicted and needy who are persecuted. It is “unlikely that the wicked would accuse the psalmist of oppressing the defenseless and loving the curse (vv.16-19)” (Schaeffer, 270). Ø The New Testament applies v.8 to Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:20) indicating that the Apostles read vv.6-19 as a godly prayer for the judgment of the wicked. Judas Iscariot is the preeminent reprobate in Scripture (John 6:70-71). |
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[5] The divine Name “Yahweh” occurs seven times in this Psalm. In a total of seven Psalms Yahweh occurs seven times (Psalm 7; 84; 92; 99; 102; 109; 140). |
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[6] Psalm 109 is a Gospel Psalm because at the heart of the Gospel is both blessing and cursing (see Genesis 3:15; Galatians 3:10-14), Genesis 12:3 The curses of Psalm 109 are not in any way instigated by personal considerations but covenantal. The imprecations of Scripture must therefore be part of the church’s prayer and singing (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:22; Revelation 6:9-10). Dr. Peter Hammond relates the following story of how the imprecations of Scripture were answered with respect to Samora Machel the first dictator of Marxist Mozambique, Samora Machel was a cannibal who ate human flesh in witchcraft ceremonies in the 1960's. He pledged his soul to Satan and vowed that he would destroy the Church and turn Mozambique into the first truly Marxist-Leninist state in Africa. Thousands of churches in Mozambique were closed, confiscated, "nationalised", claimed and padlocked, burnt down or boarded up. Missionaries were expelled, some being imprisoned first. Evangelism was forbidden. Bibles were ceremonially burnt and tens of thousands of Christians, including many pastors and elders, were shipped off to concentration camps - most were never seen again. A month before his sudden death Samora Machel cursed God publicly and challenged Him to prove His existence by striking him (Machel) dead. On 19 October 1986, while several churches were specifically praying for God to stop persecution in Mozambique, Machel's Soviet Tupelov aircraft crashed in a violent thunderstorm. The plane crashed 200 metres within South Africa's boundary with Mozambique. Amidst the wreckage the marxist plans for overthrowing the government of Malawi were discovered and published. Not only had God judged a blasphemer and a persecutor, but He had also saved [another] country from persecution. http://www.frontline.org.za/articles/praying%20for%20justice.htm |
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[7]
It was the hope of Israel that all
the earth would one day “know” God by blessing the seed of Abraham (see Exodus 5:2; 7:5; 14:4,18; Josh.4:24; 1
Sam.17:46-47; 1 Kings 8:43,60//2 Chron.6:33; 18:36; 2 Kings 19:19//Isa.37:20;
Psalm 46:10; 83:18; Isaiah 45:6; Ezek.25:3-5; cf. Job 37:7; Isaiah 11:6-9;
Habakkuk 2:14). Here in Psalm 109, the
wicked refused to “know” God by blessing the seed of Abraham and so the
prayer is that they would “know” God’s curse (Genesis 12:3). |