Psalm 109 is an individual lament and an imprecatory psalm. It begins and ends with praise to God and an expression of confidence in God (vv 1, 30-31).
The psalmist is being troubled by enemies who, motivated by hatred, attack him with lying, deceitful words (vv 2-3). Like Satan, they are accusers (v 4).
One of these accusers, in partcular, "did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death" (v 16). He is someone who "loved to curse" (v 17).
The psalmist prays that God will grant justice in measure-for-measure fashion, bringing an accuser against the accuser (v 6) and bringing curses against this man who loves to curse (v 17). He levies a string of curses against the one who has been cursing him. His prayer is a "thy kingdom come" kind of prayer, crying out for the time when there will be no more evil in the world.
The accuser in this psalm has been associated with Judas. Verse 8 is familiar: "May his days be few, may another take his office!" Peter quoted this verse in Acts 1:20 to argue that the 11 apostles should appoint a replacement for Judas.
This is one of the hardest of the imprecatory psalms for us to read today. The psalms show the honest feelings of those who prayed them; they are not necessarily illustrating how we are "supposed to feel." In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on June 3, 2023, Kyle Kettering reminded us of the pinnacle of the teachings of Jesus, the directive to love our enemies (Mt 5:38-48; Luke 6:27-36).
No comments:
Post a Comment