Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 109. This is an individual lament, geared to a situation in which a faithful Israelite is suffering the attacks of vicious accusers who return evil to him for the good he has done to them (vv. 1-5). It contains an extensive prayer that his accusers (or their chief) would receive what they deserve (vv. 6-20), and finishes with a prayer that appeals to, and rests confidently on, God's "steadfast love" (vv. 21-31). An important repeated word is "accuse" (vv. 4, 6, 20, 29), indicating the invidious situation. The tone and content of this psalm are reminiscent of Psalm 69. A major difference is that the sufferer in Psalm 69 acknowledges that wrongs he has done have played a role in his troubles, while the sufferer in Psalm 109 professes innocence. This facilitates its application to Jesus and to Judas. Though readers may instinctively feel that Jesus would not have said such things about his betrayer and those who plotted against him, the Gospels do include his harsh condemnations of Judas (Matt. 26:24; Mark 14:21), Pilate, and the Jewish leaders (John 19:11). Jesus asked only for the soldiers to be forgiven, "for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Nevertheless both contain curses on the enemies (see notes on Ps. 69:22-28), and both are appropriated by Christians (69:25 and 109:8 in Acts 1:20). In both psalms the "enemies" are influential Israelites who are unfaithful to the covenant. The same principle applies to David's authorship as with Psalm 69, namely, that this is a prayer well-suited to each of God's people in analogous situations.

109:1-5 I Need Help against Those Who Accuse Me. The opening section describes the situation: people attack the singer without cause; they accuse him in return for his love. The singer has shown the accusers love and good, which they repay with evil and hatred. The psalm offers the right response: I give myself to prayer, both prayers for his enemies in the past (cf. 35:13) and now in prayer for God's help in the present.