Psalm 109:16-17

Psalm 109:16-17

Evil personified

The accusations against David’s antagonist continue to grow! These verses reveal that it was not just David who was the object of the man’s evil deeds, his influence had ruined many. The list does not make nice reading: -

·      He never thought of doing a kindness

·      He hounded the poor to death

·      He hounded the needy and the broken-hearted too

·      He loved to pronounce curses

·      He found no pleasure in blessing others

 

This collection of complaints reveals a hard-hearted, callous and evil person, it reads more like a description of the Satan himself than a human being! In fact, we could substitute the name or character of this anonymous, evil human being for the Satan in this Psalm, for verses 16-19 bear all the hallmarks of the devil and anyone who exhibits these characteristics is certainly high up on his payroll!  Sadly, there are individuals who sink so low that they cannot think of anyone but themselves, and their attitudes and character are so warped by evil that they really do not care about the way their behaviour affects others. This is as low as human nature can sink and we can now begin to understand why David is so vicious in his condemnation of the man. If the individual is a true representation of the devil himself, we might well agree with David’s sentiments, “May the curses he pronounces come back on him and may there be no place for blessing in his life!”

Are there really people like this in our communities, in our world? Sadly, there are, and I suspect you may have met one or two. What is revealing about David’s earlier rhetoric is that it is not just for himself that he cries out to the Lord for justice, it is the effect of his evil adversary on others that adds coal to the fire of his anger. We should not be afraid to ask the Lord God for justice when someone really evil is affecting not just ourselves but other helpless people too!

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