A Difficult Psalm

This is one of the portions of Scripture that many would like to skip over. It is the most difficult of the imprecatory Psalms. An imprecatory Psalm is a Psalm that calls down curses upon a group of people or an individual. There are several in the book of Psalms. None are as detailed and difficult to understand as this one.

There are several explanations given for the use of imprecatory Psalms:

1) They were given under the OT. The OT had a lower view of morality in that it did not encourage much grace at all.

2) They are simply predictive in nature., In other words the Psalmist is predicting what will happen to the enemies of God when they die.

3) They are wrong. The Psalmist should have never prayed the way he did.

4) They reflect an understanding of the Abrahamic covenant. God has promised to bless those who bless Israel and to curse those who curse them (Gen. 12:3).

I hold most closely to the last explanation. God is just. The Christian knows this. Because God is just the believer desires justice to be served in this world. Justice requires that sin be punished.

In fact, we even see some evidence of imprecatory prayers in the New Testament:

2 Timothy 4:14 Paul says “ Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.”

He said in Galatians 1:9 “As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.”

John writes in Revelation 6:10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

Peter said to a false teacher in Acts 8:20 “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!”

To pretend that imprecatory language was only used under the Old Covenant is to ignore statements like this. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not suggesting we pray verse 9 over people. Jesus taught us to:

Love our enemies

Bless those who curse us

At the same time, we must recognize that God will punish sin. There is nothing wrong with the believer having a desire for sin to be punished. That desire must be coupled with a longing to see the lost saved. If they will not turn from their sins we must say “Amen” to their destruction. Let’s look at the text.

1. David describes his enemies (1-5).

“God of my praise” The reason I praise. The giver of good things. The One who has blessed me.

“be not silent” You have answered my prayers in the past, answer them now.

The Psalm is set up as if they are in a court room. That’s the imagery given (7).

David is being accused by those who had been his friends (4). “In return for my love they accuse me”.

David did them good (5)

David loved them (5)

They respond with evil and hatred.

They have made false accusations against him (2).

Wicked

Deceitful

Lying tongues

We don’t know the context. David had many people who had been his friends turn against him:

Saul, Absalom (his son), Ahithophel.

Notice David’s response to the wickedness.

“I give myself to prayer”. He prayed. This should be the first response when people attack us. We should give ourselves to prayer.

Pray for them.

Pray for ourselves.

Pray for justice.

Most of us will never be physically attacked in this world. Very few of us will not be verbally attacked in this world. Therefore, knowing how to respond to verbal attacks is important.

2. David prays that his enemies receive the justice of God (6-15).

A. He prayed that he would be removed from the office he held (6-8).

Here we have the courtroom imagery. Notice he moved from the plural to the singular regarding his enemies. This probably means there was one person who rallied others against David.

David prays that his enemy’s accuser would be another evil man. Evil men seldom show mercy. He would seek the harshest punishment possible. The word “accuser” is the Hebrew word Satan. Satan is wicked. He will not plead the case for his own people. He doesn’t care if those who side with him are punished. Satan loves no one.

In verse 7 David prays for a guilty verdict. This man has done David much harm. David even prays that the man’s prayer will be seen as hypocritical and therefore worthless. There are those who try and use the Lord for leniency in the courtroom. David prays that people will through this man’s spiritual charade.

Verse 8 is quoted in the New Testament. It is used to describe Judas Iscariot. Some people, in an attempt to understand this Psalm, have said that verses 6-15 are actually David’s enemies praying this prayer over him. That doesn’t make sense when you consider that in the NT verse 8 is used to describe not David but David’s enemy. Acts 1:20 says of Judas who had just killed himself “Let another take his office.” Judas was replaced with Matthias.

Some have also suggested this entire Psalm is about Judas. I think that takes it too far. The enemy of David was someone who held an office and used their power to try and destroy David. Therefore verse 8 had an immediate meaning and a prophetic one as well. What office did this man hold? We don’t know but David wanted him removed from it.

B. David prays that his accuser’s family would suffer (9-13).

v. 9 He prays that his children would be orphans and his wife a widow. That means he desires the man receive capital punishment.

v. 10 Here he prays that his children would not receive the normal charity reserved for orphans. The OT made provisions for widows and orphans. People would hesitate to help those believed to be cursed by God. Look at verse 12.

v. 11 He prays that there is nothing left behind for his family. It could be that the man obtained what he had illegally and David desires it be returned to where it belonged.

v. 13 He prays that his lineage would cease. This is a prayer that he would have no grandchildren to carry on his name.

C. David prays that his enemy would be guilty before God (14-15).

It’s clear this man shared the sins of his own mother and father. They had raised an ungodly man. David desires the Lord to hold the entire family accountable. He wants the Lord to remember their sin and therefore punish them for it.

3. David gives more detail concerning the character of his enemy (16-20).

In this section David appeals to what is known as the Lex Talionis. This is the law of retribution: an eye for an eye (Lev. 24:19-21).

v. 16 His enemy did not show mercy to the weakest in society. No mercy should be shown to him (16). He executed capital punishment on those who should have been protected. He never imagined that his own children may be in the position of those he refused to show mercy to (v. 10). Jesus tells us the merciful will receive mercy. James tells us those who do not show mercy will not receive mercy from God (James 2:13).

v. 17-19 He cursed others, may he be cursed now. He hoped that God would judge others. Notice how much this man loved to curse others. It was like a garment he wore.

David prays that the curse of God would consume this man. He wants the curse of God to wrap around him like a belt and be fastened upon him every day.

v. 20 “from the Lord” David is not taking matters into his own hands. He trusts the Lord for vengeance. Notice his enemies want him dead. David is praying that they will reap what they have sown.

4. David describes himself (21-25).

David wants the Lord to deliver him from the hand of his enemy for the sake of the name of the Lord. David was King. He represented the nation of Israel. He was also an outspoken servant of God.

Notice the contrast between the character of God and the character of David’s enemies.

“Your steadfast love is good”. God loves David.

v. 22 David is poor and needy. He needs God’s help. His enemies are making advances on him.

His heart is stricken within him. He is broken-hearted.

v. 23 He is wasting away like an evening shadow.

He is so weak you can shake him off like you’d shake a locust off your arm.

v. 24 His knees are weak through fasting. He has been seeking the Lord to the point he is physically weakened.

His body is wasting away from not eating.

v. 25 David’s appearance is so pitiful when his enemies see him, they just shake their heads. They insult him. They have no respect for or fear of him.

We should not see David as some powerful King praying that God would kill his enemies. David is a broken hearted child of God. He has been lied on. He is being pursued by enemies who had once claimed to be his friends. His is in a pitiful state.

5. David calls on the Lord for help (26-29).

Help me! A great prayer for us all.

David appeals to the love of God. He knows God and that is what compels him to pray. He prays that God delivers him in such a way that others will know the Lord is the One who should get the glory.

“Let then know that this is Your hand!”

v. 27 David knows that his enemies may curse him, but God will bless him.

v. 28 They will arise. God will allow them to attack him. But in the end the Lord will put them to shame. David’s disposition will be changed. He will be glad when the Lord gives the victory.

v. 29 Here he prays that his enemies are enveloped with shame and dishonor. Remember this, those who treat the servants of the Lord sinfully will one day be shamed for it. God will vindicate His people.

6. David praises the Lord (30-31).

It was the intent of David’s enemies to condemn him to death. Look at the end of verse 31. What a humbling thing it must be to know someone wants you dead.

The Lord stood at the right hand of David. He is poor and needy. He was a powerful king, but he was poor and needy. God is looking for those who are poor in spirit. These are those he helps.

For that reason David says he “will give great thanks to the Lord.”

He will praise Him in the midst of the throng. He would survive and he would publicly praise God for it.

It is a wonderful thing to know the Lord stands at our right hand. He stands there:

To protect us- He fights our battles

To comfort us- we are not alone

Notice who stands at the right hand of David’s enemies- the accuser (6).

In this world we will have people who hate us.

In this world we will have people who want to see us fail.

In this world we will have people who want nothing good for us.

In this world we will have people who want no mercy for us.

When we recognize this we should trust that God is at our right hand. We should trust that He will deal with our enemies in the proper way. We should praise Him when He does.