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1 O God, whom I praise,
do not remain silent,
2 for wicked and deceitful men
have opened their mouths against me;
they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
3 With words of hatred they surround me;
they attack me without cause.
4 In return for my friendship they accuse me,
but I am a man of prayer.
5 They repay me evil for good,
and hatred for my friendship.
6 Appoint an evil man to oppose him;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
and may his prayers condemn him.
8 May his days be few;
may another take his place of leadership.
9 May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.
10 May his children be wandering beggars;
may they be driven[a] from their ruined homes.
11 May a creditor seize all he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his labour.
12 May no one extend kindness to him
or take pity on his fatherless children.
13 May his descendants be cut off,
their names blotted out from the next generation.
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD;
may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
15 May their sins always remain before the LORD, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
16 For he never thought of doing a kindness,
but hounded to death the poor
and the needy and the broken-hearted.
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17 He loved to pronounce a curse –
may it come back on him.
He found no pleasure in blessing –
may it be far from him.
18 He wore cursing as his garment;
it entered into his body like water,
into his bones like oil.
19 May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,
like a belt tied for ever round him.
20 May this be the LORD’s payment to my accusers,
to those who speak evil of me.
21 But you, O Sovereign LORD,
deal with me for your name’s sake;
out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
22 For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I fade away like an evening shadow;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees give way from fasting;
my body is thin and gaunt.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they shake their heads.
26 Help me, O LORD my God;
save me according to your unfailing love.
27 Let them know that it is your hand,
that you, LORD, have done it.
28 They may curse, but you will bless;
when they attack they will be put to shame,
but your servant will rejoice.
29 My accusers will be clothed with disgrace
and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.
30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng I will praise him.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
to save their lives from those who would condemn him.
(NIV)
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Psalm 109: This psalm reminds me of Jesus with the woman accused of adultery. How she had a ring of men ready to stone her, and Jesus said let the one who has committed no wrong throw the first stone. They all melted away into the crowd and no one was there to condemn her.
We have all committed things that we have done wrong that we should not have done.
There have been times when we have been a Local Preacher or Church Steward, and we have come across wrongs within the church.
I remember an old man coming into church, people obviously disturbed by his presence.
I went over and talked with him, he said he was sorry for what he had done, and that day was the anniversary of his mother’s death and wanted to come and say he was sorry. He said he could see that he had upset people inside church, and he would go away. I persuaded him to sit with me at the church door and I prayed for him and all that he had been through. He thanked me for listening to him and helping him and left me with tears in his eyes.
The people in church told me off for letting him in, and for listening to him. They said he was a bad man and had been in jail. I told them he needed help and that is what I gave him.
In the psalm there is a valid righteous offence against sin. We must remember that God possesses the right to judge all people. Jesus said that at the last day God will pass verdict on the destruction of the wicked.
In the curses used here are, actually part of a prayer that places the matter into the hands of God to condemn.
The psalmist seems to identify himself with God. He knows what God will do at the end of time. The psalmist maybe weeping for what has happened, and his declaration of innocence (verses 1-5), and the list of curses that he prays will fall on his enemies (verses 6-20), is his plea to God that He will give him mercy and protection (verses 21-31).
I wonder what we do if we were savagely beaten or robbed or called bad names?
• Would we feel the same hurt brought on us as the one who wrote the psalm.?
• Have we wanted the same hurt to be brought on those who hurt us,
• or do we quell the anger and report it to the police or just let it go?
Prayer is the answer, we tell God what has happened, and you do not know why it happened, ask God to give you an answer to what you should do.
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