The Dilemma of the Righteous Text: Psalm 109:1-5
Introduction: The Necessity of Imprecation
We come now to a psalm that has been a stumbling block for many well-intentioned Christians. This is an imprecatory psalm, which is a fifty-dollar word for a psalm that calls down curses and judgment upon the wicked. Our modern, sentimental age has a very low tolerance for this kind of talk. We have been catechized by a soft, effeminate version of Christianity that wants a Jesus who is all meekness and no majesty, all mercy and no justice. The great C.S. Lewis confessed he could not stomach this psalm, suggesting it was an example of how not to behave. Charles Spurgeon called it a psalm of "no small difficulty."
But we must not be wiser than God. We are commanded to sing the psalms, all of them. This means we are to sing this one. If these words are inspired by the Holy Spirit, then they are not only permissible, they are profitable. They are given to us for a reason. And the reason is that we live in a world that is not yet fully submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We live in a world where wickedness appears to prosper, where lies are spoken against the righteous, and where evil is returned for good. What is a righteous man to do in such a situation? Is he to pretend it is not happening? Is he to smile beatifically while his enemies slander, steal, and seek to destroy him?
No. He is to take his complaint to the high court of heaven. He is to appeal to the Judge of all the earth, who will most certainly do right. The imprecatory psalms are not outbursts of personal, sinful rage. They are not vigilante prayers. They are the formal, liturgical, covenantal appeal of the righteous for God to uphold His own name, His own law, and His own justice in the world. They are a profound act of faith, a surrendering of vengeance to the only one to whom vengeance belongs. To refuse to pray such prayers is to leave the wicked unopposed in the public square, and to leave the righteous with no recourse but bitterness or despair. This psalm, then, is not a difficulty to be explained away; it is a weapon to be taken up.
These first five verses set the stage. They describe the dilemma that David finds himself in. It is a situation that will be familiar to every believer who has ever tried to live faithfully in a fallen world. This is the setup, the legal brief presented to the judge, before the plaintiff unleashes his petition for judgment.
The Text
O God of my praise, Do not be silent! For they have opened a wicked mouth and a deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken to me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me; But I am in prayer. Thus they have set upon me evil for good And hatred for my love.
(Psalm 109:1-5 LSB)
The Plea for God to Speak (v. 1)
The psalm begins with a direct and urgent appeal to God.
"O God of my praise, Do not be silent!" (Psalm 109:1)
David addresses God as the "God of my praise." This is a crucial starting point. David is not just some random victim complaining to the universe. He is a man whose life is oriented around the worship of God. His identity is found in praising God. This means that the attacks against him are ultimately attacks against the God he praises. When the righteous are slandered, the God they represent is blasphemed. David's cause is God's cause. He is not just seeking personal vindication; he is seeking the vindication of God's own name.
His plea is simple: "Do not be silent!" Why? Because his enemies are not being silent. The wicked are speaking, and their speech is filling the airwaves with lies. In a world saturated with deceitful words, the silence of God can be deafening. David is asking God to enter the public debate. He is pleading with God to speak a word of truth, a word of judgment, that will cut through the noise and confusion created by the wicked. This is a prayer that God would make it plain who is on the Lord's side. When evil men are loud, righteous men must pray for God to be louder.
The Nature of the Attack (v. 2-3)
David then lays out the specifics of the case against his enemies. Notice that the assault is entirely verbal.
"For they have opened a wicked mouth and a deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken to me with a lying tongue. They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without cause." (Psalm 109:2-3 LSB)
The attack is a torrent of malicious speech. A "wicked mouth," a "deceitful mouth," a "lying tongue," and "words of hatred." This is not a polite disagreement. This is warfare conducted with words. We live in an age that treats words as though they are harmless puffs of air. But the Bible knows better. The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity (James 3:6). Words can destroy reputations, poison relationships, and incite violence. The ninth commandment, "You shall not bear false witness," is not a minor suggestion; it is a pillar of civilization. When that pillar is torn down, society collapses into chaos.
David says they have "surrounded" him. This is the language of a siege. He is trapped, cut off, with no apparent escape from the constant barrage of slander. And the motive for this assault? There is none. They "fought against me without cause." This is pure, unadulterated malice. It is not a response to any wrong David has done. It is the native language of the seed of the serpent. Cain hated Abel because Abel's deeds were righteous and his own were evil (1 John 3:12). This is the hatred of darkness for the light. It is irrational, relentless, and satanic. And when you are on the receiving end of it, you know that you are not dealing with a mere human disagreement. You are dealing with a spiritual power.
The Perverse Response to Goodness (v. 4-5)
The injustice becomes even more stark in the final two verses of this section. David's posture toward his enemies was one of love and goodness, which they repaid with accusation and hatred.
"In return for my love they accuse me; But I am in prayer. Thus they have set upon me evil for good And hatred for my love." (Psalm 109:4-5 LSB)
This is the ultimate perversion. David loved them, and for this love, they became his adversaries. He sought their good, and they returned evil. This is a profound description of a reprobate mind. It is a heart so twisted that it interprets love as aggression and goodness as a threat. It is the spirit of the Pharisee who saw a man healed on the Sabbath and was filled with rage. It is the spirit of the mob that screamed for the crucifixion of the only truly innocent man who ever lived.
And what is David's response to this satanic inversion of good and evil? "But I am in prayer." Some translations render this, "I give myself to prayer." While his enemies are busy plotting, slandering, and hating, David's response is to turn to God. He does not repay evil for evil. He does not start his own slander campaign. He does not take matters into his own hands. He takes his case to the supreme court. His enemies use their mouths to lie; David uses his mouth to pray. This is the crucial distinction. He is not sinning in his anger. He is taking his righteous anger and channeling it into a formal, legal appeal to the throne of God.
Verse 5 summarizes the entire complaint: "Thus they have set upon me evil for good And hatred for my love." This is the core of the injustice. This is the foundation upon which the subsequent imprecations will be built. The curses that follow are not arbitrary. They are the just and fitting response to this kind of calculated, high-handed wickedness. When men are determined to repay good with evil, they are inviting the justice of God to repay their evil with judgment.
Christ in the Complaint
As with all the psalms, we must ultimately read this through the lens of the Lord Jesus Christ. David was a type of Christ, and his sufferings prefigured the sufferings of our Lord. Who was more loving than Jesus? Who went about doing more good? And how was He repaid? He was surrounded by words of hatred. He was fought against without a cause. His love was met with accusation, and his good was repaid with the evil of the cross.
This psalm is therefore a prophetic look at the passion of the Christ. He is the ultimate righteous sufferer, the one who was slandered, betrayed, and murdered by the very people He came to save. When we read these verses, we should feel the sting of the injustice done to our King.
But it does not stop there. Because we are united to Christ, we will share in His sufferings. The apostle Paul tells us that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12). And that persecution will often take this very form: slander, false accusation, and being hated without a cause. When you stand for the truth of God's Word on marriage, sexuality, or the sanctity of life, you will be surrounded by words of hatred. When you seek the good of your community by opposing wickedness, you will be repaid with evil. This is not a sign that you are doing something wrong; it is a sign that you are doing something right. It is the family resemblance to our older brother, Jesus.
Therefore, when you find yourself in the crosshairs of the wicked, when your love is met with hatred and your good with evil, you have a choice. You can despair, you can retaliate in the flesh, or you can do what David did. You can give yourself to prayer. You can take up this inspired song and make it your own. You can lay out your case before the "God of your praise" and ask Him not to be silent. You can confidently appeal to His justice, knowing that the Judge of all the earth will do right, and that in His time, He will silence every lying tongue.