Psalm 109
Cross Words
The Christmas season has begun in earnest. The Christmas lights have been switched on in town. Cobwebs have been swept off Christmas jumpers. And whole aisles at the supermarkets have been taken up with Christmas treats. Yet in this week’s devotion, the focus is not on Christmas but the cross of Christ. And the cross borne by the disciples of Jesus as we follow him.
And we go to the cross, because that is where Psalm 109 leads us.
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 Be not silent, O God of my praise!
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
but I give myself to prayer.
5 So they reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked man against him;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his prayer be counted as sin!
8 May his days be few;
may another take his office!
9 May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow!
10 May his children wander about and beg,
seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13 May his posterity be cut off;
may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
15 Let them be before the LORD continually,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
but pursued the poor and needy
and the broken-hearted, to put them to death.
17 He loved to curse; let curses come upon him!
He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!
18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
may it soak into his body like water,
like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps round him,
like a belt that he puts on every day!
20 May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,
of those who speak evil against my life!
21 But you, O LORD my Lord,
deal on my behalf for your name’s sake;
because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like a shadow at evening;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting;
my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they wag their heads.
26 Help me, O LORD my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them know that this is your hand;
you, O LORD, have done it!
28 Let them curse, but you will bless!
They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonour;
may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
Here the King is hedged in by the words, heckles, accusations, and threats of those who were meant to be close to him (2-5). These were the people David had loved (4) and sought good for (5), yet they had only returned it with hate and evil.
As we read this, we hear the false accusations of the chief priests in Pilate’s palace (Matthew 27.12). We hear the mockery of the soldiers in the governor’s courtyard (27.29). We read the satirical sign placed at the head of the cross on Golgotha (27.37). We hear the derision of the crowds as they passed by (27.38). We hear the cruel jesting of the scribes and elders at the head of the crowd (27.41). We hear the reviling of the robbers on the others crosses (27.44).
Hemmed in on every side by those he came to in love, all these hate-filled words were flung at Jesus.
This song is therefore about Christ
And is therefore a song for all who suffer for Christ.
These are words to pray when we are hassled and hounded by others for following Jesus to take as our own. And if we are not currently being afflicted for our faith, when we read this Psalm and pray it, we should remember the church around the world persecuted for the name of Jesus.
Having heard the words against the King, we then hear the words of the King’s prayer to God (6-20).
First, we hear the voice of Jesus here. After the ascension of Christ and before Pentecost, Peter stood up among the disciples and declared a replacement needed to be found for Judas (Acts 1.15-20). Peter identifies that the King in Psalm 109.8 is referring there to Judas. Those whom the King prays against in this middle portion of the Psalm are those who have betrayed the Lord’s anointed one. They have brought him before the court (6-7). This is just what Judas did to Jesus, selling him out and having Christ brought before a corrupt kangaroo court (see Matthew 26.47-50). The King prays that all that his enemies plotted against him would then fall on their own heads (17-19).
Second, we must consider how we pray this section in our own voices. This is not about vengeance but justice. We remember first that the gravest sin is not the hurt done to us but the rejection and betrayal of the Lord Jesus. We pray this leaving the action to God knowing that the Lord says “Vengeance is mine” (Romans 12.20). The prayer is not vindictive. It is praying that those who have betrayed the King and afflicted his people would see the consequences for their actions (17-19).
This song points to the cross. And it also points to the empty tomb. The final section of the Psalm is a prayer for deliverance (20-31). The confidence of the prayer is rooted in the steadfast love of God (21 & 26). The King places all his trust in his God, inviting us to follow him in the same prayers (22-25).
This Psalm closes with a prayer of praise. For God will rescue his King and all his people from death (31). God raised Jesus from the decay of death and the same God who raised the Lord Jesus will raise his people to everlasting life (see 1 Corinthians 6.14). Where once we were condemned, we are now justified and free in Christ (see Romans 8.1).
Therefore, with our mouths, let us give thanks to the Lord!
Glory be to God the Father, who stands at the right hand of the needy one.
Glory be to God the Son, who loved his enemies to death.
Glory be to God the Spirit, the power of resurrection within us.
Ever three and ever One.
Home Group: Ecclesiastes 9.11-11.6
What does the example given by the preacher in 9.13-16 teach us about wisdom and how it is received by the world? How does the life of Jesus also prove this?
How would you define folly? Why is it so dangerous according to the proverbs in chapter 10?
The series of proverbs in chapter 10 also give us counsel to live a life of wisdom in a world of folly. Do any of the proverbs particularly strike you, and why?
Four times in 11.1-6 we are told we do not know the future (see also 9.12). If we do not know the future, what should we do then with our time?