Psalm 109

Psalm 109 belongs to Book Five of the Psalms (Psalms 107–150), and its superscription identifies it as a psalm of David. It follows Psalm 108, also a psalm of David, and precedes Psalm 110, which is widely read as a messianic psalm.

Structure

• Verses 1–5: The psalmist cries out to God not to hold His peace. His enemies attack him without cause with lying tongues, repaying love with hatred and good with evil.
• Verses 6–15: He asks for judgment to fall on one enemy: that an accuser stand at his right hand, that his days be few, that another take his office, that his children be fatherless, and that his name be blotted out in the generation following.
• Verses 16–20: He gives the reason. The enemy persecuted the poor and needy and loved cursing, clothing himself with it as with a garment, so the psalmist asks that the curse return upon him.
• Verses 21–25: The psalmist describes his own condition. He is poor and needy, like a shadow when it declines; his knees are weak through fasting, and people shake their heads when they see him.
• Verses 26–29: He asks to be saved according to the Lord's mercy, praying that though the enemies curse, the Lord would bless, and that his adversaries would be clothed with shame as with a garment.
• Verses 30–31: He resolves to praise the Lord among the multitude, confessing that the Lord stands at the right hand of the needy to save him.

Key Verses

• Psalm 109:4 "For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer." This verse shows the psalmist choosing prayer rather than retaliation when he is hated.
• Psalm 109:8 "Let another take his office." In Acts 1:20, Peter cites this verse as the basis for filling the place of Judas Iscariot.
• Psalm 109:31 "For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor." Read alongside verse 6, where an accuser stands at the enemy's right hand, this verse presents God as the defender of the poor.

People and Places

• David: Named in the superscription as the author of the psalm.
• No people or places are named in the text itself. The word for "adversary" in verse 6 is understood to be the Hebrew word satan ("accuser").

Points for Reflection

• The speaker of the curses: Verses 1–5 and 20–29 refer to the enemies in the plural ("they"), while verses 6–19 refer to an enemy in the singular ("he"). For this reason, the traditional interpretation reads verses 6–19 as curses the psalmist pronounces on his enemy, while another interpretation reads them as a quotation of the curses the enemies spoke against the psalmist.
• Relationship to love for enemies: How this psalm fits with Jesus' teaching on love for enemies (Luke 6:27–36) has long been debated. Interpreters variously read it as a prayer that entrusts vengeance to God (compare Romans 12:17–21), as the honest lament of a sufferer, or as a prophecy concerning Christ and Judas Iscariot.
• Connections to the New Testament: Acts 1:20 quotes Psalm 69 together with verse 8 of this psalm (Acts 1).
• Numbering: The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate number this psalm as Psalm 108.