Psalm 109:9-10

Psalm 109:9-10

A prayer for justice!

This is a very tough prayer, it goes way beyond the perimeters of the kind of prayers that you and I might offer to God. You won’t find much like it in the Book of Common Prayer, or in the sanctimonious prayers that are often offered from the pages of modern liturgies! The curse of the accuser’s misdeeds falls even upon his wife and children, for a man’s family was regarded as part of himself; his punishment was not complete unless they were included in it; and for full retribution they must share his ruin for doubtless this man’s schemes, if successful, would have involved the ruin of the Psalmist’s family. We should note that David was only asking for things that his attacker was personally guilty of. That comes across strongly in verses 16-20. David was asking, as one who lived in Old Testament days, that God would deal with the wicked people in the way they had dealt with him and with others too. In other words, these pleas simply asked the Lord God to inflict the sort of pain on his accusers that they had inflicted on others. They were callous, cruel and totally unrepentant and David was praying that they would reap what they had sown. As I said, this would be a hard prayer for us to pray!

One other point, verse 8 ends with the words, “May another take his place of leadership.” Peter quotes these words after the death of Judas, “May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it” and “May another take his place of leadership.” Acts 1:20.

 

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