CHAPTER 109

THE AUTHOR IS DAVID: A PSALM OF VENGEANCE ON ENEMIES

¹Hold not Your peace, O God, of my praise (the Holy Spirit is the Author of this Psalm [Acts 1:1622]. The Speaker is the Messiah. The instrument is David. Consequently, it has a double fulfillment in David and the Messiah);

²For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue. (This speaks of the mouths of both Ahithophel, who raised up against David, and Judas, against Christ. They lied because there was nothing derogatory they could truthfully say about David or the Messiah.)

³They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. (The Holy Spirit emphasizes the words, without a cause.)

⁴For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. (The meaning of this Verse is that both David and the Messiah gave their love to both Ahithophel and Judas. Sadly, both became adversaries. Neither David nor Christ lifted their hands against these adversaries. Instead, they took it to the Lord in prayer. What a lesson for us!)

⁵And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. (The Holy Spirit, once again, emphasizes the gravity of this sin.)

⁶Set you a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. (Accordingly, the language of this Psalm is judicial and prophetic. All enemies of the Word of God will be judged.)

⁷When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. (If a person does not truly repent, condemnation is the only conclusion.)

⁸Let his days be few; and let another take his office. (The days of Judas were few. He was probably in his late twenties or early thirties when he committed suicide. As well, another took his office [Acts 1:2326].)

⁹Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. (And this is exactly what happened!)

¹⁰Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. (True Repentance on the part of these addressed will turn this around, but only true Repentance. The Lord does not make children pay for the sins of their fathers, unless they continue on the same path [Ezek. 18:4, 20].)

¹¹Let the extortioner catch all that he has; and let the strangers spoil his labour. (This Passage, at least in part, was fulfilled when the Priests refused to take back the blood money [thirty pieces of silver], thereby desiring no part of him thereafter [Mat., Chpt. 27].)

¹²Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. (The evidence is, the wife and children of Judas continued in rebellion.)

¹³Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. (The idea is, if he had children, let them die without offspring. This would mean that their family would come to an end, which it, no doubt, did.)

¹⁴Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. (There is some evidence that the mother of Judas was a co-conspirator in the plot. As well, due to the action of Judas, the sins of his fathers would be visited upon him [Ex. 20:5].)

¹⁵Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the Earth. (Sins unrepented are always before the Lord continually. As well, it would seem that the children of Judas were cut off in death before marriage, thereby leaving no posterity. Consequently, there is no memory, because they do not exist.)

¹⁶Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy Man, that he might even kill the broken in heart. (Christ was the poor and needy Man. His was the wounded heart.)

¹⁷As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. (The cursing spoken of here has little, if anything, to do with profanity. It is speaking of the terrible curse of sin. In other words, Judas delighted not in the blessing that Christ would bring as the Giver of eternal life. He loved sin and desired to continue therein. In fact, this Verse speaks of both Ahithophel and Judas.)

¹⁸As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. (Sin is not an external matter only; it penetrates the very heart and vitals of the sinner.)

¹⁹Let it be unto him as the garment which covers him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. (At this moment, Judas Iscariot is in Hell. That is a somber thought, but true. He could have been an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ forever, ruling and reigning with Him. His name could have been inscribed on the foundations of that city built foursquare [Rev. 21:14]. Instead, he is in Hell, and the garment of sin covers him. It will squeeze him like a girdle forever.)

²⁰Let this be the reward of my adversaries from the LORD, and of them who speak evil against my soul. (This is not only concerning the fate of Judas and Ahithophel, but is also the fate of all who spurn, refuse, and reject the Mercy, Grace, and extended Love of the Lord Jesus Christ.)

²¹But do You for me, O GOD the Lord, for Your Names sake: because Your Mercy is good, deliver You me. (The efforts of both Judas and Ahithophel were to murder Christ and David. The plea here is for Deliverance from their evil actions. The prayer was answered.)

²²For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. (There is no hurt like the hurt of a broken heart.)

²³I am gone like the shadow when it declines: I am tossed up and down as the locust. (These are the words of David, when set upon by his son, Absalom, and his most trusted advisor, Ahithophel. They are the words of Christ, as well, in using none of His great Power to defend Himself against the traitor, Judas Iscariot.)

²⁴My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh fails of fatness. (These were the words of David, no doubt, in seeking God regarding the great rebellion that had been brought against him by both Absalom and Ahithophel. There is no record that Christ fasted while in His Earthly Ministry, other than the temptation in the wilderness.)

²⁵I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shook their heads. (This speaks of Christ being on the Cross. The pronoun them refers not to the drunks, drug addicts, or harlots, but rather to the religious leaders of that day.)

²⁶Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to Your Mercy (there was no one to whom either David or Christ could turn but God; there was no man to help):

²⁷That they may know that this is Your Hand; that You, LORD, have done it. (The prayer of both David and the Messiah was that God would act so powerfully on their behalf that there would be no doubt as to Who had accomplished their Deliverance. Even their worst enemies would have to know that it was God. And thats exactly what happened!)

²⁸Let them curse, but bless You: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let Your servant rejoice. (The sense of this Verse is that despite the curse that was willed upon them by their adversaries, it would not and, in fact, could not, stop the Blessings of the Lord.)

²⁹Let my adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle. (Sin and rebellion confuse men. The cause of the loss of both of these men, Judas and Ahithophel, is because they rejected Gods only solution for sin, which is Christ and the Cross [Jn. 6:5371].)

³⁰I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yes, I will praise Him among the multitude. (David, by faith, cries to God, and by faith he praises God. It is a praise of victory, although, at that time, victory had not yet come. But victory would come, as victory did.)

³¹For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those who condemn his soul. (In Psalm 109, Jehovah stands at the right hand of the Poor Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Psalm 110, the Poor Man sits at the right hand of Jehovah.)