INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 109
TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, A PSALM OF DAVID. This psalm was written by
David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, concerning Judas the
betrayer of Christ, as is certain from Acts 1:16 hence it is used to
be called by the ancients the Iscariotic psalm. Whether the occasio... [ Continue Reading ]
HOLD NOT THY PEACE,.... Or be not as a deaf or dumb man, or like one
that turns a deaf ear and will give no answer; so the Lord seems to
his people when he does not give an immediate answer to their prayers,
and does not arise to help them; he seems to have forsaken them, and
to stand at a distance... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE MOUTH OF THE WICKED AND THE MOUTH OF THE DECEITFUL ARE OPENED
AGAINST ME,.... Or "of deceit" x itself; most wicked and very
deceitful men, who sometimes flattered and pretended friendship, as
the Jews did to Christ, when they designed ill against him; though at
other times their mouths were... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY COMPASSED ME ABOUT ALSO WITH WORDS OF HATRED,.... They surrounded
him as he hung on the cross, and expressed their malice and hatred
against him; then was he enclosed with these spiteful snarling dogs,
and encompassed by them as with so many bees, who everyone left their
sting in him, Psalms 22... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR MY LOVE THEY ARE MY ADVERSARIES,.... For the love that Christ
showed to the Jews; to their bodies, in going about and healing all
manner of diseases among them; to their souls, in preaching, the
Gospel to them in each of their cities; and for the love he showed to
mankind in coming into the worl... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY HAVE REWARDED ME EVIL FOR GOOD,.... For the good words and
sound doctrine he delivered to them; for the good works and miracles
he wrought among them, to the healing of them; see John 10:32.
AND HATRED FOR MY LOVE; he came to seek and save that which was lost,
and yet they hated him, and w... [ Continue Reading ]
SET THOU A WICKED MAN OVER HIM,.... Or "them", as the Syriac version;
over everyone of his adversaries, and all of them: and which may be
interpreted, as it is by Cocceius, of tyrannical princes and
governors, set over the Jews, as Tiberius, Caius, Claudius, Nero, c.
and their deputies, Pilate, Feli... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN HE SHALL BE JUDGED, LET HIM BE CONDEMNED,.... When he shall be
arraigned at the bar of his own conscience, and be charged with the
sin of which he is guilty, let conscience, which is as a thousand
witnesses, rise up against him, and condemn him; so it did Judas,
Matthew 26:1, or when he shall s... [ Continue Reading ]
LET HIS DAYS BE FEW,.... The days of men in common are but few at
most: length of days, either beyond or according to the usual term of
life, is reckoned a blessing; and to be cut off in the midst of a
man's days a curse; when this is by the immediate hand of God, as a
visible token of his displeasu... [ Continue Reading ]
LET HIS CHILDREN BE FATHERLESS, AND HIS WIFE A WIDOW. This sometimes
is the case of good men, who leave widows and fatherless children,
whom the Lord shows mercy to; being the Father of the fatherless, and
the Judge of the widow, Psalms 68:5, but sometimes it is threatened
and comes as a judgment, w... [ Continue Reading ]
LET HIS CHILDREN BE CONTINUALLY VAGABONDS, AND BEG,.... Wander from
place to place, begging their bread: this is denied of the children of
good men in David's time, Psalms 37:25 yet was threatened to the
children of Eli, 1 Samuel 2:36 and was very likely literally true of
the children of Judas; and... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE EXTORTIONER CATCH ALL THAT HE HATH,.... Or, "lay a snare for
all" c; as the Romans did, by bringing in their army, invading the
land of Judea, and besieging the city of Jerusalem; who are "the
extortioner or exacter that demanded tribute of them"; which they
refused to pay, and therefore the... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THERE BE NONE TO EXTEND MERCY UNTO HIM,.... No pity is ever
expressed at hearing or reading the sad case of Judas; and though the
Jews were pitied of those that carried them captive to Babylon,
Psalms 106:46, yet, in their last destruction by the Romans, no mercy
was shown them; the wrath of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
LET HIS POSTERITY BE CUT OFF,.... As the seed of the wicked are said
to be, Psalms 37:28, or cut down, as a tree to the very root; as the
Jewish nation was by the axe of God's judgment, which, John says, was
laid to the root of the tree, and the blow just going to be given, as
it was in a few years... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE INIQUITY OF HIS FATHERS BE REMEMBERED WITH THE LORD,.... Not
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; who, though they had their failings,
they were not remembered, and much less punished in their posterity,
but were forgiven: rather of the Amorites and Hittites; the one being
said to be the father, an... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM BE BEFORE THE LORD CONTINUALLY,.... And not cast behind his
back, or into the depths of the sea, never to be seen more, as sins
are when forgiven; but be always in sight, as loathsome and
abominable, and causing those that committed them to be abhorred for
them; and be before him, as a Judg... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THAT HE REMEMBERED NOT TO SHOW MERCY,.... As Judas did not;
neither to the poor, whom he cared not for, John 12:6 nor to Christ,
whom he betrayed with a kiss to his enemies: nor had these words of
Christ any effect upon him, to move his pity and compassion, "Friend,
wherefore art thou come?... [ Continue Reading ]
AS HE LOVED CURSING, SO LET IT COME UNTO HIM,.... Judas loved that
which brought a curse upon him, sin; and so he may be said to love the
curse; just as sinners are said to love death, Proverbs 8:36. He was
desirous of and sought after it, to bring Christ to an accursed death;
and which he accomplis... [ Continue Reading ]
AS HE CLOTHED HIMSELF WITH CURSING LIKE AS WITH HIS GARMENT,.... He
was full of it; his mouth was full of cursing and bitterness; it was
visible in him, easy to be discerned; he took pride as well as
pleasure in it, it was in his esteem an ornament to him, as his
clothes were. The Syriac version ren... [ Continue Reading ]
LET IT BE UNTO HIM AS THE GARMENT WHICH COVERETH HIM,.... Let him be
surrounded on all sides with the wrath of God; and let it be visible
to all, as a man's garment on him is: see Isaiah 66:24.
AND FOR A GIRDLE WHEREWITH HE IS GIRDED CONTINUALLY; let him be in the
utmost straits and distress, being... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THIS BE THE REWARD OF MINE ADVERSARIES FROM THE LORD,.... Who were
so many Satans, as the word used signifies; and Judas particularly is
called a devil; and of the same malevolent and diabolical disposition
were the Jews in general, John 6:70 and what is before imprecated upon
them is the just r... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT DO THOU FOR ME, O GOD THE LORD, FOR THY NAME'S SAKE,.... The sense
of the petition is, and which is a prayer of Christ as man, that the
Lord God would take his part, be on his side, be present with him,
work with him, help and assist him, and that for his own honour and
glory, for his truth and... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I AM POOR AND NEEDY,.... As he was in human nature, being born of
poor parents, brought up in a mean manner, had not where to lay his
head, and was ministered to by others; though he was Lord of all, and
immensely rich in the perfections of his nature, and in his vast
empire and dominion, and th... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM GONE LIKE THE SHADOW WHEN IT DECLINETH,.... When the sun is
setting, and the shadow is going off; man's life is often compared to
a shadow, because fleeting, momentary, and soon gone,
1 Chronicles 29:15 and death is expressed by going the way of all
flesh; and by going to the grave, the house... [ Continue Reading ]
MY KNEES ARE WEAK THROUGH FASTING,..... Either voluntary or forced,
through want of food or refreshment; this was verified in Christ, when
he kneeled and prayed, and his sweat was as it were great drops of
blood falling to the ground; see Psalms 69:10.
AND MY FLESH FAILETH OF FATNESS; or "for want... [ Continue Reading ]
I BECAME ALSO A REPROACH UNTO THEM,.... Or they reproached him; not
only in life, traducing his conversation, blaspheming his miracles,
calling him a Samaritan, saying he had a devil, and charging him with
sedition; but at the time of his death they reviled him, and treated
him in the most opprobrio... [ Continue Reading ]
HELP ME, O LORD MY GOD,.... Jehovah the Father is here addressed, who
is the God of Christ, as Christ is man; who formed him, supported him,
and glorified him; and whom Christ loved, believed in, obeyed and
prayed unto; nor did he pray to a God that could not hear, but to one
that was able to save h... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THEY MAY KNOW THAT THIS IS THY HAND,.... Which inflicted
vengeance, and executed judgments on Judas and the Jews, as before
imprecated: so the Targum,
"that they may know that this is thy stroke;''
or which was concerned in all the sorrows and sufferings of the
Messiah, which could never have... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM CURSE, BUT BLESS THOU,.... Let them curse me, as Shimei did
David, the type of Christ; let them curse themselves, as they did; or
my people: or "let them be cursed", as the Syriac version; cursed in
life and at death, and to all eternity: but "bless thou [me]", the
Messiah; as he did, when... [ Continue Reading ]
LET MINE ADVERSARIES BE CLOTHED WITH SHAME,.... This is only
explanative of what is said before,
AND LET THEM COVER THEMSELVES WITH THEIR OWN CONFUSION AS WITH A
MANTLE: the Arabic version is, "as with a breastplate." Some
understand it as a petition of Christ, that they might be brought to
repenta... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL GREATLY PRAISE THE LORD WITH MY MOUTH,.... Vocally, and in the
highest strains.
YEA, I WILL PRAISE HIM AMONG THE MULTITUDE: of converted persons, both
Jews and Gentiles, and by them: or, "among the mighty" l; or great
ones; the great congregation, as in Psalms 22:25 among the innumerable
and... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE SHALL STAND AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE POOR,.... Of the Messiah,
as in Psalms 109:22 at whose right hand the Lord was, to guide and
direct, help and assist, protect and defend, Psalms 16:8, or of his
people, who are poor in every sense; but the Lord is on their side,
and is a present help in ti... [ Continue Reading ]