Sermon Tone Analysis
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Slander's sting is both painful and frustrating.
When someone lies about us or wrongly accuses us, our natural reaction is to defend ourselves.
We become frustrated because we have no control over what people think of us.
Even more depressing is the reality that there is little we can do about those who believe what they hear.
When others viciously slander us, the only prudent thing we can do is trust God to handle it.
And David did precisely that in Psalm 109.
David was facing an enemy who was attempting to harm him by slander when he wrote this psalm.
We do not know the specific occasion, nor do we know who the slanderer was.
There are many occasions in David’s life that would fit this Psalm.
We are not told which one caused him to write it.
Psalm 109 is the last and most intense of David's imprecatory psalms, in which he pleads with God to destroy his foes.
In Acts 1:15–21, Peter reveals that Psalm 109 is a prophecy of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ.
David fervently requests that God punish his adversary in this psalm.
As we study it, we need to remember an important fact: God’s people in the Old Testament had not been given a command to love their enemies but a law that decreed God’s just judgment against evildoers.
David prayed that God would deal with his foe "In ways which He has revealed in His Word."
[According to God’s law], false accusers must receive what they [intended] to achieve;
those who disobey have no [guarantee of life] on earth.
Sinners bring disaster on their descendants”
In contrast, under the law of Christ, we are commanded to love our enemies and to pray for—not against—them (Lu.
6:27–36).
We must "add the teachings of the Savior in all their excellence to the Old Testament approach" when applying Psalm 109 and other imprecatory psalms to our lives.
I. David Asked for God’s Help
this should always be our first step!
(109:1–5)
David was taking a lot of damage from his enemies' attacks, and he had no way of stopping them.
Only God could silence his enemies' lying mouths.
God, on the other hand, appeared to be silent and unconcerned about his condition.
David appealed to God to intervene on his behalf by punishing his accusers.
Even in our darkest moments, when we feel as if God is ignoring us, He is worthy of our worship.
David opens and closes his prayer with a sacrifice of praise to the Lord.
A. When People Lie about You
1–4a
David's predicament was serious.
Wicked people plotted to bring him down by spreading vicious lies about him (v.2).
They were hurling hateful words against God's anointed leader, having no fear of God or king.
Their lies followed David everywhere he went.
His enemies had deliberately spread slander throughout his kingdom in order to turn many people against him.
He viewed himself as being besieged by his adversaries who were attacking him without reason (v.3).
David claims that he used to be friends with the people who were now slandering him (v.4a).
This statement lends support to the idea that he penned Psalm 109 in reaction to Ahithophel, his close confidant and counselor, who joined Absalom's insurrection.
King David held Ahithophel with high regard and esteem.
His advice was viewed as coming from the Lord, according to Scripture (1 S. 16:23).
As a result, when Ahithophel spoke out against David, his comments had a huge impact on the people.
B. When People Repay Evil for Good
(v.
4b–5).
It's worth noting that the Hebrew word for opponents is Satan, which is also the name given to the devil himself (v.
4).
David refused to fall to his so-called friends' despicable level.
He opted to be a man of prayer instead; prayer was his most powerful weapon.
David's enemies were returning David's kindness with evil.
They traded hatred in exchange for David's love and loyal friendship (v.
5).
Nevertheless, rather than retaliating or fighting his foes, David chose to pray.
The slandered king was certain Lord would deal justice to his foes, knowing that he was innocent of wrongdoing against them.
What should we do if someone attacks us and lies about us?
Jesus told us to love our enemies, do good for them, and pray for them (Mt.
5:43–45).
When people insult or damage us, we can choose to live on one of three levels:
Satan's level—returning evil for good; this is the level David's foes selected;
The human level -- returning evil for evil and good for good.
God's Level - Returning good for evil
We are commanded to live on God's level as followers of Jesus Christ.
We ought not to respond to evil with evil, but rather to defeat evil by doing good for our enemies.
(Ro.
12:17–21).
We should pray for our enemies, asking God to bring them to repentance.
It is incredibly difficult to pray for our adversaries, yet Christ has promised to bless us if we obey this tough command (Lu.
6:35).
Then we should commit our enemies to God and trust Him to deal with them fairly.
This is exactly what David did: he prayed to God for help in dealing with his enemies.
God has promised to avenge us, and He will defend us before all who falsely accuse us in His own time and way.
We, like David, should resolve to be prayer warriors, believing that prayer is our most powerful weapon.
II.
David Asked God for Justice
(109:6–15)
God's law for the people of the Old Testament was founded on perfect justice.
It stipulated that false witnesses receive exactly what they planned for individuals they slandered (Deuteronomy 19:16–19).
David prayed that his enemy would be judged strictly according to God's law, reaping exactly what he had sown.
David's pronouns "shift from they and them to he, him, and his,".
David concentrated his prayer on the enemy band's commander who was attacking him."
A. That the Accuser Accuse Him
(vv.
6–8).
David was certain that his adversary would be held accountable for his actions.
He prayed God to appoint a judge with the same character as his adversary—a evil man—in order to achieve full justice (v. 6).
He also asked for a wicked accuser to serve as prosecutor at the judge's right hand.
According to the KJV, and several other Bible versions, David may have even prayed for Satan himself to accuse his adversary (Zec.
3:1).
In addition, David prayed for three specific outcomes in the trial of his evil enemy:
⮚ That he be found guilty (v.
7a).
⮚ That his prayer be condemned (v.
7b).
Some scholars believe that the offender's pleas of innocence are referred to in prayer.
The Hebrew term for prayer (tephillah) is never used in Scripture in relation to requests made men to men.
As a result, David may have prayed that his enemy's acquittal prayers "will only be regarded as a sin and find no hearing [with God]."
⮚ That he be executed and removed from office so that he could no longer oppose God’s anointed king (vv.
8, 16–20).
B. That His Family Would Be Punished
(vv.
9–13).
Relatives could not be punished for a family member's sin under God's law (De.
24:16).
David revealed that his enemy's family was also wicked and had participated in their father's rebellion against King David, so he asks for God's judgment to descend on them.
If the father were to be executed, his family would undoubtedly suffer greatly.
David hoped that his enemy's families would feel the full force of his death since they, too, were guilty of disobedience, just as David's family had suffered immensely as a result of his enemy's slander.
In addition to the wife losing her husband and the children losing their father, David's enemy's family would lose all of their security as a result of him (v.9).
They'd lose their home and become beggars on the streets (v.
10).
This would be fair, David argued, because they would be treated the same way they had treated others (v.16).
Extortioners or creditors would seize whatever they owned, and strangers—people not related to David's enemy—would inherit everything he had worked for (v.11).
No one would help or show charity to his foe's destitute family, and no one would feel sorry for his children, David prayed (v.12).
Again, David believed this would be just, because his adversary's hardened family would reap exactly what they had sowed by their callous treatment of the poor (vv.16–18).
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