"To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
Be not silent, O God of my praise!
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
but I give myself to prayer.
5 So they reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked man against him;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his prayer be counted as sin!
8 May his days be few;
may another take his office!
9 May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow!
10 May his children wander about and beg,
seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13 May his posterity be cut off;
may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 May 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 before the Lord continually,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
but pursued the poor and needy
and the broken-hearted, to put them to death.
17 He loved to curse; let curses come upon him!
He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!
18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
may it soak into his body like water,
like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps round him,
like a belt that he puts on every day!
20 May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
of those who speak evil against my life!
21 But you, O God my Lord,
deal on my behalf for your name's sake;
because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone like a shadow at evening;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting;
my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they wag their heads.
26 Help me, O Lord my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love!
27 Let them know that this is your hand;
you, O Lord, have done it!
28 Let them curse, but you will bless!
They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonour;
may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death."
Psalm 109
One possible explanation of 6-20 is to suggest that the curses are not really curses, but rather predictions of what would happen to the evildoers. Another is to take these verses as a quotation, i.e. the Psalmist incorporates into his song the things that his enemies were saying against him, and that he is simply repeating the terrible imprecations that they had uttered against him. Maclaren thinks these are two obviously makeshift ideas that simply cover over a difficult problem. Kidner also questions this kind of interpretation. Nevertheless some notable commentators maintain this line of interpretation including Artur Weiser who certainly is not a commentator that can be lightly dismissed. It is pointed out, in support of this view, that in 6 there is a sudden change from the plural (used in 1-5) to the singular. Also, the words in 28 'let them curse...' seem likely to refer to 6-20, and the enemies' imprecations upon David rather than otherwise. Weiser maintains that the accusation is that the Psalmist has been guilty of the death of some poor man (16), presumably by means of magically effective curses, 17ff (cf the sometimes baseless accusations brought against missionaries of the gospel in primitive societies, when they are blamed for sickness and death in a tribe) - this is by no means a farfetched notion or idea in the service of God. On this interpretation 27 takes a new and specific meaning: the Psalmist's prayer is that God would show the enemies that the poor man's death (16) was caused by God Himself, not by the Psalmist (so Weiser). A practical lesson here in this connection is this: men of God are always very vulnerable to baseless accusation, and often helpless to prevent it. There will generally be those who will take the attitude of 'no smoke without a fire'. It is all very well to dismiss this by saying 'It is simply mud-throwing'. It may well be; it generally is; but the trouble about throwing mud is that some of it will stick and stain and mark, sometimes indelibly.