Psalms 109

It is sufficiently evident from the body of this Psalm, that it was composed by David when he was in a state of persecution either by Saul or by Absalom; and that amongst and above all the rest of his enemies he takes very particular notice of, and breaks forth into vehement expressions of anger against one particular person, which whether it were Do... g or Ahitophel is not certain, nor at all necessary to know. But as David was, and very well knew himself to be a Type of Christ, and consequently his enemies did typifie or represent the enemies of Christ, and this particular adversary of his did represent some singular and eminent enemy of Christ, which though David might not, yet the Spirit of God which indited this Psalm, did know to be Iudas, and accordingly directed all these bitter invectives and imprecations against him, who deserved and received far worse punishments for his monstrous wickedness; than all which are here mentioned. And that he was the person principally aimed at in this Psalm, will seem very probable to him who considers Davids mild and merciful temper even towards his enemies, which he both professed in words in this very book, as Psal. 35. 12, 13, 14. and practised in deeds, as 2 Sam. 16. 10, 11. & 19. 22, 23. and withal the severity of these imprecations, reaching not only to the persons of his enemies, but to their children, who yet by the Law of God were not to suffer for their parents sins, Deut. 24. 16.

HOld not thy peace Do not neglect me, but take notice of my extreme danger and misery, and deliver me, which thou canst do by the speaking of one word., O God of my praise The Author and matter of all my praises; who hast given me continual occasion to praise thee, whom I have used to praise, and will praise whilst I live, do not therefore now give me occasion to turn my praises into lamentations..

For the mouth of the wicked, and the mouth of the deceitful Of those who add hypocrisie and perfidiousness to their malice. are opened They speak freely, boldly, and publickly, without any fear or shame. against me: they have spoken against me Or, to or with me, as this particle commonly signifies. with a lying tongue Either, 1. with calumnies or false and malicious reports. Or, 2. with deep dissimulation and professions of friendship and kindness..

They compassed me about also with words of hatred Which though covered with specious pretences, proceeded from deep malice and hatred, and were designed to work my destruction.: and fought against me without a cause Without any just provocation given them by me..

For my love, they are my adversaries They require my love and good will with enmity and mischief, as it is explained v. 5.: but I give my self unto prayer Heb. but I prayer, i. e. I am a man of prayer, or, I betake my self to prayer. Thus I peace is put for I am for peace, as we render it Psal. 120. 7. and thy bread for the men of thy bread, or, that eat thy bread, Obad. v. 7. The sense is, whilst they reproach and curse me, I pray either, 1. for them, as he did Psal. 35. 13. or, 2. for my self: I did not render unto them evil for evil, but quietly committed my self and my cause to God by prayer, desiring him to plead my cause against them; and I had no other refuge.,

And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

Set thou a wicked man Heb. the wicked. Which may be understood either, 1. of some wicked Tyrant, which may rule him with rigour and cruelty. Or, 2. of Satan, who is mentioned in the next clause. Let him be delivered over to Satan, to be acted and ruled by him at his pleasure. over him Either, 1. all mine enemies: for the Singular number is sometimes used in like manner. Or rather, 2. one particular enemy, who was worse than any of the rest, more implacable and inexcusable, whom he thought not fit to express by name, nor was it in the least necessary to do so, because he was speaking to God, who knew his thoughts, and whom he meant., and let Satan stand at his right hand Either, 1. to molest and vex him, and hinder him in all his affairs; for the right hand is the great instrument of action. Or rather, 2. to accuse him; for this was the place and posture of accusers in the Jewish Courts. And as for his condemnation, which is the consequence of this accusation, that follows in the next verse..

When he shall be judged When he shall be called to an account, and his cause examined before thy Tribunal., let him be condemned, and let his prayer become sin i. e. Be turned into sin, or be imputed to him as his sin, or be as unavailable with God for his relief as his sins. When he makes supplication to his Judge, as Iob speaks Iob 9. 15. for pity and pardon, let him be the more provoked and enraged by it..

Let his days The days of his life. Let him die an untimely death. be few, and let another take his office Made void by his death. He also implies that his enemy was a man of power and reputation..

Let his children be fatherless Whilst they are but children, and so unable to provide for themselves., and his wife a widow Either made a widow by his death: or constantly a widow; all persons abhorring her who was related to so vile a miscreant..

Let his children be continually vagabonds Having no certain place of abode. Which is a grievous curse in it self, Gen. 4. 12, 14. Isa. 16. 2., and beg This increaseth their misery.: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places Into which they are fled for fear and shame, as not daring to show their faces amongst men..

Let the extortioner Or, usurer, or, creditor. catch Heb. Ensnare, which is an Emphatical expression, i. e. take away not only by oppression and violence, but also by cheats and cunning artifices, whereby such persons entangle, and so ruine their debtors. all that he has: and let the stranger Who has no right to his goods, and will use no pity nor measure in spoiling him. spoil his labour All the fruits of his labours..

Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children Let him and his be unpitied and hated as the publick enemies of mankind..

Let his posterity be cut off, and in the generation following Heb. in another generation, either in the third generation: or in the second, or that which next followed the generation of his fathers. So in this clause he limits the time of that destruction which he imprecates or foretells in the former. let their name be blotted out.

Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembred Against him, or punished in him, as God has threatned to deal with great delinquents, Exod. 20. 5. with the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

Let them The sins of his parents last mentioned. be before the LORD In Gods sight and memory to provoke God to punish him: let them not be covered or pardoned. continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

Because that he remembred not His duty to God, and his obligation to me for my former kindness expressed v. 4, 5. to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man My self, who was desolate and miserable, whose condition required pity and not additions of cruelty., that he might even s... ay the broken in heart Whose spirit was grieved and even broken with the burden of his calamities..

As he loved cursing Either, 1. cursed or sinful courses. Or rather, 2. to curse others, as appears from the blessing here opposed to it, and from the next verse; to wish and to procure mischief to others, and especially to me., so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing In desiring and promoting the welfare of others, which indeed was an eye-sore and torment to him., so let it be far from him.

As he clothed himself with cursing like as with a garment Which a man wears constantly, and that as an ornament.: so let it come into his bowels like water Which when a man drinks, goes into his bowels, and searcheth all the inwards of his belly., and like oyl Which is more piercing than water, and being applied to outward parts, reacheth even to the bones and marrow. into his bones.

Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle Which cleaves closer and faster to a man than a garment, especially than the Eastern garments did, which were large and loose. wherewith he is girded continually.

Let this be the reward of mine adversaries Of those who were confederate with that arch-enemy in his wicked enterprise. from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul With design to take away my life..

But do thou for me To wit, what I desire, which he expresseth in the next clause. Or, do thou act for me: be not silent or still, but stir up thy self to work on my behalf., O GOD the LORD, for thy names sake For the glory of thy faithfulness, which is highly concerned in giving me the deliverance which thou hast promised to me.: because thy mercy is good i. e. Gracious, and ready to do good to all, but especially to those that love and fear thee. As sin is said to be sinful, Rom. 7. 13. so Gods mercy may be said to be merciful, to wit, in an eminent degree, and above the mercy of all the creatures., deliver thou me.

For I am poor and needy And therefore a very proper object for thy pity and help., and my heart is wounded within me I am wounded not slightly, but even to the very heart with soul-piercing sorrows..

I am gone Heb. I am made to go, either, 1. from place to place; which was Davids case when he was persecuted by Saul and by Absalom; and Christs case upon earth, where he had no certain place where to lay his head, Mat. 8. 20. Or, 2. into the grave, as this phrase is used 1 Chron. 17. 11. Psal. 58. 9. and oft elsewhere. like the shadow, when it declineth Towards the evening, when, the Sun setting, it vanisheth instantly, and irrecoverably until the Sun rise again, which it never will do to me in this world, when once I am gone out of it.: I am tossed up and down as the locust Which of it self is unstable, continually skipping from place to place, and is easily driven away with every wind. So am I exposed to perpetual and successive changes within my self, and to a thousand violences and mischiefs from other persons and things..

My knees are weak through... asting Either with voluntary fasts, to which the frequency and long continuance of my calamities obliged me: or with forced fasts sometimes through want of necessary provisions, but most commonly from that loathing of meat, which was occasioned by his excessive sorrows and terrors. See on Psal. 107. 18.: and my flesh faileth of fatness Or, for want of fatness. See the like Hebrew phrases Gen. 18. 26. Ier. 48. 45. Lam. 4. 9..

I became also a reproach unto them Instead of that pity, which either Religion or Humanity should have taught them to a man in extreme misery, they loaded me with reproaches and scorns.: when they looked upon me, they shaked their heads A gesture of contempt and derision: of which see Iob 16. 4. Psal. 22 8..

Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:

That they may know Being convinced of the eminency and singularity and strangeness of the work. that this is thy hand: that thou, LORD, hast done it.

Let them curse I can patiently bear their curses, as being causless and fully compensated by thy blessing. Or, they do and will curse, I expect nothing else from them., but bless thou: when they arise i. e. Bestir themselves against me. Both God and men are oft said to arise when they enter upon any undertaking, as Ios. 24. 9. Iudg. 8. 21. 2 Chron. 13. 6. & 21. 4, &c. let them be ashamed, but let thy servant rejoyce.

Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame For the disappointment of their wicked hopes and designs, and for that unexpected destruction which they have brought upon themselves.: and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.

I will greatly praise the LORD For that deliverance which I confidently expect. with my mouth: yea, I will praise him among the multitude Or, among the mighty or great men, as this word sometimes signifies. Comp. Psal. 119. 46..

For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor To defend him from his adversary, who stood in that place to accuse him, and to procure his condemnation and destruction. See above on v. 6., to save him from those that condemn his soul That pass a sentence of death upon him..