Psalm – Psalm 108-110

Three Psalms today… two which would sound familiar to us if we have been following the Bible reading plan… and one which is frankly troubling to read, much less sing.

So before we go further, let’s read the Psalms first…

Bible Passage:  Psalm 108-110

Which are the two Psalms which sounds familiar?

If you read Psalm 108 and compare it with Psalm 57 and Psalm 60, you will realize that Psalm 108 is a combination of portions from these two Psalms (specifically Psalm 57:7-11 and Psalm 60:5-12). And this is an exhuberant psalm that praises God in anticipation of victory that God will provide.

Psalm 110 starts off with a verse that Jesus used when He was questioned by the Jewish leaders (Matt 22:41-46).  In fact, Peter also quoted it when he proclaimed the Gospel message on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:32-36).  What follows are important things to say about Jesus, the Messiah – the King that is to come to judge.

Now what do you think of Psalm 109?  Tell me honestly!

Didn’t read it yet? Go and read it first before you read any further…

Bible Passage:  Psalm 108-110

Now upon thinking about it… Psalm 109 is also quite similar to another Psalm we have read before.

Maybe not in content but it is similar in intent.

It is the Bible blog post for Psalm 58 where we talked about…

Psalm of Imprecation

Have you ever felt so betrayed by people you loved and trusted that you wished the offenders would suffer the very same intensity of evil they have brought upon you?  Especially when you are faced with senseless betrayals and groundless accusations…

David certainly did and when you read Psalm 109, you get the feeling he was holding nothing back!

Psalm 109 also reflects a common problem which we have all experienced.  Who has not felt he has been unjustly accused or wrongly treated? Here David has been set upon by those who are attempting to destroy him, yet without a cause.

But no matter how you look at it, Psalm 109 is a problem or troubling Psalm for many.

David calls upon God to destroy his enemies in the most horrible ways.  And not just his enemies, but also their families (Ps 109:9-10).  Just look at the words David used…

Let his days be few,
And let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.
Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg;
Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.
Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder his labor.
Let there be none to extend mercy to him,
Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
Let his posterity be cut off,
And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Let them be continually before the LORD,
That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;

Psalm 109:8-15

We wonder… why should this strange, extravagant language of hostility against another human being be included in the Book of Psalms?  Can you imagine yourself singing this in Church?  I can’t!  In fact, I think we would be severely reprimanded if we even say a fraction of what David said.

But Psalm 109 is not alone in asking God to deal harshly with our enemies.  In many other parts of the Bible, we read something similar – for example, besides other Psalms, we have read Jeremiah and he has many choice words for those who opposed his message.

But why have such passages in the Bible?  Isn’t the message of Christianity about love and forgiveness?  Should we not strive to be reconciled with our enemies and make peace with all men?  Won’t this turn many people against Christians?

Who Can Make Such A Prayer?

Before we rush off thinking that this Psalm now gives us the licence to invoke curses against those who are against us, I think we should look carefully into this question…

“Who can make such prayers?”

Psalm 109:1-5 is crucial to my understanding.

When David was faced with the unpleasent situation of betrayal and being unloved, he makes 2 claims in his prayer to God before he moves starts his tirade.  First, he states his innocence and secondly, he exposes the inquities of his enemies.  The basis for David’s petition is given in verses 2-5. David is accused by his enemies but is innocent of their charges. He has done good to his enemies, which they have repaid with evil.

It tells me this… we can only make such prayers and say such words if we are innocent like David was.  And only the wicked need fear the fate which David prays to God to execute.

While the accusations against David by his enemies are many, they are without basis.

Let us first consider the innocence of David, which qualifies him to pray as he does.

David is, first and foremost, a worshipper of God. He dares not petition his God apart from being a man given to the praise of God (v. 1). While the accusations against David by his enemies are many, they are without basis (Ps 69:4).

David only did good to them but they repaid with evil (Ps 35:12).  They hate but he loves (Ps 109:5).  They accuse him but he prays (Ps 109:4).  It seems that David is suffering for righteousness sake.

One thing we also know is that David does not claim he is sinless.  In fact, in the Psalms, we often read how he confesses his own sins and asked God to deal with him accordingly.

O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is injustice in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to my friend, or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; and let him trample my life down to the ground, and lay my glory in the dust
Ps. 7:3-5

In Psalm 139 while David prayed that God would “slay the wicked” (v. 19), he immediately opens his own heart to God, so that he may have his sins exposed and cleansed: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way” (Ps. 139:23-24).

David makes his petition to God as one who is dependent on Him for righteousness (cf. Ps. 130:3-8; 143:2). While he is not entirely free from sin, he is right with God by His grace, and he is righteous with regard to the charges of his opponents.

No one will dare implore God to act as David does in Psalm 109 unless he himself is innocent in the sense that David was: innocent of the charges of the wicked, and in right standing before God.

So before we think we can pray for the destruction of our enemies, let us be as quick as David to have God search our own hearts and to deal with us in justice, just as we would have Him judge our enemies.

When I think that imprecatory prayers can only be made by the righteous, I don’t think I will ever dare to make such a prayer.

Let us not leave these introductory verses without learning that those who would pray a prayer similar to David’s must be like David—they must be those who praise God (not just petition Him), and those who are right before God and men. Those who seek God’s wrath on the guilty should be innocent. Imprecations are only effective against the guilty. In this context and many others, their guilt is the offense of the tongue. God takes our words seriously, and so should we.

What Should Our Reaction Be?

If we are ever in David’s shoes, what would we do?

Well… we can learn from what David did because it is a very beautiful thing.

He commits the whole matter to the Lord in prayer.

This closing prayer of the psalm is a marvelous picture of the right attitude, the right reaction, the right way to handle this kind of a situation. Listen to it.

But You, O GOD the Lord,
Deal with me for Your name’s sake;
Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.
For I am poor and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens;
I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees are weak through fasting,
And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.
I also have become a reproach to them;
When they look at me, they shake their heads.
Psa 109:21-25

Notice that the first thing he does is to commit the cause to God. “But You, O God the Lord, deal with me for Your name’s sake!”

Here is a man who understands the nature of reality. He understands how life operates. He understands the truth behind the admonition of Scripture, both in the Old and New Testament, “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord; I will repay,” (Deut 32:35, Rom 12:19).

Vengeance is mine! Don’t you try it, don’t you attempt it. Don’t try to “get even” because if you do you’ll only make the matter worse. You will perpetuate a feud that may go on for years, even for centuries, destroying, wrecking, damaging others and creating all kinds of difficulties both for them and for you.

No, no, vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I am the only one who has the wisdom adequate to handle this kind of a problem. This man recognizes that and commits the cause to God.

But he also understands something else. He understands that God’s name is involved in all this. When God’s people are being persecuted then God is also being persecuted. His name is involved in it. It is up to God to defend that name, not man.

Recall that when Saul of Tarsus was converted on the Damascus road and the Lord Jesus appeared to him in light brighter than the sun, that Saul cried out to him and said, “Lord, who are you?” Jesus said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Saul was persecuting the Christians, but when he was persecuting them he was also persecuting the Lord.

God is involved in his people’s trials. God is involved in what happens to His own.

The Psalmist, understanding this, commits the whole cause to God and says, “God, you deal with it. It is your problem. Your name is involved; you handle it on my behalf for your name’s sake.” Is that not a thoroughly Christian reaction?

The way the psalm closes shows a note of ringing affirmation, of confidence.

I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth;
Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.
³¹ For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor,
To save him from those who condemn him.

Psa 109:30-31

Recall that in Verse 6 this man’s enemies had wanted to appoint an accuser to stand at his right hand and condemn him. But he closes the psalm by saying that he realizes it is God who stands at the right hand of the needy, God who makes their cause His own, God who knows a thousand ways to work it all out without violence, without the perpetuation of hatred, without the destruction of lives; to bring truth to light and to establish the facts in such a way that even the accusers will be ashamed of themselves that they ever attempted such a thing.

How wise it is to commit our cause to God in times like this.

May the Lord bless us.