21 But You, O GOD the Lord,
Deal with me for Your name's sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.
22 For I am poor and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am gone like a shadow
when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through
fasting, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.
25 I also have become a
reproach to them; When they look at me, they shake their heads.
26 Help me, O LORD my God! Oh,
save me according to Your mercy,
27 That they may know that
this is Your hand-- That You, LORD, have done it!
28 Let them curse, but You
bless; When they arise, let them be ashamed, But let Your servant rejoice.
29 Let my accusers be clothed
with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a
mantle.
30 I will greatly praise the
LORD with my mouth; Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude.
31 For He shall stand at the
right hand of the poor, To save him from those who condemn him.
Psalm 109 is one of the imprecatory
psalms where the psalmist calls down calamity, destruction, and God’s anger and
judgment on his enemies. David must have written Psalm 109 before he took the
throne as he was fleeing from King Saul and his men who were seeking to destroy
him. David did not avenge himself but put the matter in the hands of the Lord
and despite his present calamity he begins and ends it with praise to the Lord
(vv. 1, 30).
In verses 9-20, you will
notice that the pronouns shift from they and them to he, him and his. David
focused his prayer on the leader of the evil band that was attacking him, and
he asked God to appoint a judge or prosecuting attorney as wicked as the
defendant himself! After all, the way we judge others is the way we ourselves
will be judged (Matt. 7:1-2).
In verses 21-31, David wanted
the Lord to be mindful of his needs, for he was "poor and needy" (vv.
22-25). He had a broken heart and he felt as if his life was fading away like
the shadows of evening. As the sun sets, the shadows grow longer and longer and
then vanish. Like a locust hanging on clothing, his grip on life was feeble and
he could be shaken off at any minute. Imagine the future king of Israel
comparing himself to a fragile insect! David asked the Lord to send him a
blessing every time his enemy cursed him and to bring shame to the enemy but
joy to His servant. Finally, David promised to praise the Lord and give glory
to Him when all these trials were ended, and he did.
God did help David, in His own
time and His own way, and so He will do for us if we will trust Him!
God bless!
