In this psalm, David calls upon God to deal with all those who are verbally attacking him, but as we go through the psalm, we begin to see that whoever is attacking him, God’s anointed king over Israel, is actually attacking God Himself.
Although the headings aren’t inspired by God, they are important because they give us some understanding of the Psalm, and they help us to see why it was written. The headings usually tell us four things.
1. Who wrote them, probably wrote them, or possibly wrote them.
2. Information about the historical background to the Psalm. Why was it written?
3. They tell us of the tune the Psalm was written to.
4. How it was used.
The heading tells us that this was written for the director of music. Some commentators believe that the ‘director of music’ is God Himself, and others believe that it is a song leader who led choirs or musicians, 1 Chronicles 6:33 / 1 Chronicles 16:17 / 1 Chronicles 25:6. The heading also tells us this is a psalm of David.
David begins by asking the God he praises not to remain silent, Psalm 109:1. His enemies aren’t using swords to attack him, but words, deceitful words against him, Psalm 109:2. He asks God not to remain silent, because he doesn’t want his enemies to have the last word.
His enemies’ hatred towards him is seen in their lies, and they are attacking him without cause, Psalm 109:3, that is, with no real reason, Psalm 35:7 / Psalm 69:4 / John 15:25. They were using words which were used to falsely accuse David of things he hadn’t done or words which would attack his character.
All David wanted to do for his enemies was to offer them friendship, Psalm 109:4 / Romans 12:20-21, but in return, they falsely accused him of all kinds of evil, Psalm 109:5.
It’s an incredible thought that even though David’s enemies wanted nothing but his destruction, David prayed for them, Psalm 109:4 / Matthew 5:11-12 / Luke 23:34.
Despite doing good to his enemies, they pay him back with evil. Despite offering friendship to his enemies, they offer hatred, Psalm 109:5. This is typical behaviour of those who want to take over and gain all the power from someone else.
David now asks God to help him by bringing judgment upon those who were falsely accusing him with deceitful words. He wants God to raise up someone to oppose his enemy, someone who would accuse them at their right hand, Psalm 109:6.
In other words, he wants his enemy to be in a hopeless situation with no one to defend them. Notice how David also speaks of his enemy as an individual throughout these verses, Psalm 109:6-20.
If his enemy were in a courtroom, they would be found guilty, Psalm 109:7. In other words, David is requesting that one of the same characters, a perverse accuser, be his adviser.
Because of David’s enemies’ slanderous attacks against the righteous leader, the prayers of the slanderous person were sinful in that they were spoken from an ungodly heart, Psalm 109:7.
Peter quoted Psalm 109:8 in Acts 1:20, when he was condemning Judas. If David’s enemy dies young, then that would mean his children would become orphans and his wife would be a widow, Psalm 109:9. His children, who would be fatherless, will suffer great poverty, Psalm 109:10.
David asks that no mercy should be shown, either to him or his family, Psalm 109:12. This is not only because of the way they were treating David but also because of the way they treated the poor and needy, Psalm 109:16.
They would live as though they were cursed, Psalm 109:17, that is, their names would be blotted out, Psalm 109:13-15. David also asks that his enemy’s descendants’ sins be held against them and that God would never forget their sins, Psalm 109:14-15 / Exodus 20:5 / Romans 5:12-21.
His enemy never even thought of showing kindness, not only to the poor and needy but also to the broken-hearted, Psalm 109:16, which in itself is totally opposite to how God treats the broken-hearted, Psalm 34:18 / Psalm 51:17.
His enemy loved to pronounce a curse, and David asked God that his enemy reap what he was sowing, Psalm 109:17 / 1 Peter 5:5 / Job 29:14. David’s enemies found no pleasure in blessing people; they found it more enjoyable to curse people.
David wants them to be dressed in their own curses, Psalm 109:18. All these curses are what David asked God to bring down on his enemies, those who were deceitful in their false accusations against him, Psalm 109:19-20 / Leviticus 19:13. David appears to be content to leave the matter in God’s hands for Him to deal with at His appointed time.
David knew he couldn’t deal with his enemies on his own; he knew he needed God’s help. He asks for help on the basis of God’s Name and because of God’s love, Psalm 109:21 / Daniel 9:18-19. In other words, he wanted God to have all the glory for delivering him.
All those lies and false accusations from his enemies are having a negative effect on David. Earlier, David says that his enemies were treating the poor and needy and the broken-hearted badly, Psalm 109:26, and here, David says that’s exactly how he is feeling, poor, needy and broken-hearted, Psalm 109:22.
Physically, he felt he was wasting away like an evening shadow, Psalm 109:23, and as a result of his fasting, he had spent so much time fasting that he was physically weak, Psalm 109:24.
His fasting shows us how desperate he is to be delivered from his enemies, Hebrews 12:12. Because David is so weak, his enemies are trying to take advantage of his physical state.
We can almost imagine his enemies looking down at David and shaking their heads in pity and disgust as they pass by, Psalm 109:25 / Psalm 22:7 / Matthew 27:39.
No wonder David asks God to help him according to God’s unfailing love, Psalm 109:26 / Matthew 15:21-25. David wants all his enemies to have no doubts that it was God who delivered him from his enemy’s hands, Psalm 109:27. It had nothing to do with David, and what he did, the glory belongs to God and God alone, Psalm 109:27.
David knows that his enemies’ curses could never defeat God’s blessings and when his enemies come to understand that, they would be put to shame, Psalm 109:28 / Job 6:20 / Psalm 25:2-3, and David would rejoice, Psalm 109:28.
When his enemies come to understand that their curses could never defeat God’s blessings, his enemies would be clothed in disgrace and end up wearing shame like a cloak, Psalm 109:29.
On the day when his enemies are disgraced and clothed with shame, David says he will greatly extol the Lord, Psalm 109:30. In other words, he will give God all the credit for delivering him, and he will do it publicly, Psalm 109:30 / Psalm 22:25 / Isaiah 38:20.
He will praise God because He stands at the right hand of the needy, Psalm 109:31. In other words, God is their strength, and He will save them from the hands of those who sought to condemn them, Psalm 109:31.
In this psalm, David spoke about those who were falsely accusing him of doing and saying things he had never done. There’s nothing more painful than being accused of something we haven’t done, and just like David, those accusations make us feel lonely and very vulnerable to even more attacks from those who accuse us.
As Christians, when we’re falsely accused of something, there are a few things we can do to help ourselves.
1. Remember, Jesus knows what it is like to be falsely accused, Luke 23:2-3.
2. Remember, Jesus understands and sympathises with us, Hebrews 4:15.
3. Remember, God will fight for us and will have the last word; all we need to do is be silent, Exodus 14:14.
4. Remember, not to take matters into our own hands, leave vengeance to God, Romans 12:18-19.
5. Remember, to count it all as joy, and we will be stronger by the time it’s over, James 1:2-4.