Sunday, December 03
Let God Be the Judge
Psalm 109:6-31
6 Set a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty, And let his prayer become sin.
8 Let his days be few, And let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow.
10 Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.
11 Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder his labor.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy to him, Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off, And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14 Let 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 continually before the LORD, That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;
16 Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted the poor and needy man, That he might even slay the broken in heart.
17 As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.
18 As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, So let it enter his body like water, And like oil into his bones.
19 Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.
20 Let this be the LORD'S reward to my accusers, And to those who speak evil against my person.
21 But You, O GOD the Lord, Deal with me for Your name's sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.
22 For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.
25 I also have become a reproach to them; When they look at me, they shake their heads.
26 Help me, O LORD my God! Oh, save me according to Your mercy,
27 That they may know that this is Your hand-- That You, LORD, have done it!
28 Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, let them be ashamed, But let Your servant rejoice.
29 Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.
30 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.
Psalm 109 is one of the imprecatory psalms where the psalmist calls down calamity, destruction, and God’s anger and judgment on his enemies. David must have written Psalm 109 before he took the throne as he was fleeing from King Saul and his men who were seeking to destroy him. David did not avenge himself but put the matter in the hands of the Lord and despite his present calamity he begins and ends it with praise to the Lord (vv. 1, 30).
In verses 9-20, you will notice that the pronouns shift from they and them to he, him and his. David focused his prayer on the leader of the evil band that was attacking him, and he asked God to appoint a judge or prosecuting attorney as wicked as the defendant himself! After all, the way we judge others is the way we ourselves will be judged (Matt. 7:1-2).
In verses 21-31, David wanted the Lord to be mindful of his needs, for he was "poor and needy" (vv. 22-25). He had a broken heart and he felt as if his life was fading away like the shadows of evening. As the sun sets, the shadows grow longer and longer and then vanish. Like a locust hanging on clothing, his grip on life was feeble and he could be shaken off at any minute. Imagine the future king of Israel comparing himself to a fragile insect! David asked the Lord to send him a blessing every time his enemy cursed him and to bring shame to the enemy but joy to His servant. Finally, David promised to praise the Lord and give glory to Him when all these trials were ended, and he did.
God did help David, in His own time and His own way, and so He will do for us if we will trust Him!
God bless!