Psalms 109
109
God, It’s Time for Vengeance
To the Pure and Shining One
A poetic song by King David
1God of all my praise, don’t stand silently by, aloof to my pain,
2while the wicked slander me with their lies.
Even right in front of my face they lie through their teeth.
3I’ve done nothing to them, but they still surround me
with their venomous words of hatred and vitriol.
4Though I love them, they stand accusing me like Satan
for what I’ve never done.
I will pray until I become prayer itself. # 109:4 In the face of accusation and slander, David wrote in Hebrew literally “I am prayer!”
5They continually repay me with evil when I show them good.
They give me hatred when I show them love.
6-7Show him how it feels! Let accusing liars be raised up against him,
like Satan himself standing right next to him.
And let him be declared guilty by a wicked judge.
May even his prayers be seen as sinful!
8Shorten his life and let another replace him!
9Make his wife a widow and his children orphans!
10Let them wander as beggars in the street,
like homeless vagabonds, evicted from their ruins!
11Let the creditors seize his entire estate,
and strangers, like vultures, take all that’s left!
12Let no one be kind to him by showing pity to his fatherless children!
13May all his posterity die with him! Cut down his family tree!
14-15And may all the sins of his ancestors be recorded,
remembered before you, forever!
Cut off even the memory of his family from the face of the earth,
16because he never once showed love or kindness to others,
but persecuted the poor, the brokenhearted, and afflicted ones,
even putting them to death!
17Since he enjoyed cursing them,
may all his curses now come raining back on him
until it all overwhelms him with misfortune!
Since he refused to bless others,
God, withhold every single blessing from him!
18Bitterness, such vile vindictiveness, was upon everything he did.
Cursing was his lifestyle.
19-20So smother him now with his own curses as his just reward.
This will be the Lord’s punishment upon him and
all my lying accusers who speak evil against me.
21But now, O Yahweh-God, make yourself real to me
like you promised me you would. # 109:21 The Hebrew text reads “for your name’s sake.”
Because of your constant love and your heart-melting kindness, come be my hero and deliver me!
22I’m so broken, needy and hurting.
My heart is pierced through and I’m so wounded.
23I’m slipping down a dark slope, shaken to the core, and helpless.
24All my fasting has left me so weak I can hardly stand.
Now I’m shriveled up, nothing but skin and bones.
25I’m the example of failure and shame to all who see me.
They just walk by me, shaking their heads.
26You have to help me, O Lord God!
My true hero, come to my rescue and save me,
for you are loving and kind.
27Then everyone will know that you have won my victory,
and they will all say to the Lord, “You have finished it!”
28So let them curse me if they want,
but I know you will bless me!
All their efforts to destroy me will fail,
but I will succeed and be glad.
29So let my Satan-like accusers fail!
Make them look ridiculous if they try to come against me.
Clothe them with a robe of guilty shame from this day on!
30But I will give my thanks to you over and over,
and everyone will hear my lavish praises.
31For you stand right next to the broken ones
as their saving hero to rescue them from all their accusers!
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Psalms 109: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 109
109
1-5My God, don’t turn a deaf ear to my hallelujah prayer.
Liars are pouring out invective on me;
Their lying tongues are like a pack of dogs out to get me,
barking their hate, nipping my heels—and for no reason!
I loved them and now they slander me—yes, me!—
and treat my prayer like a crime;
They return my good with evil,
they return my love with hate.
6-20Send the Evil One to accuse my accusing judge;
dispatch Satan to prosecute him.
When he’s judged, let the verdict be “Guilty,”
and when he prays, let his prayer turn to sin.
Give him a short life,
and give his job to somebody else.
Make orphans of his children,
dress his wife in widow’s black;
Turn his children into begging street urchins,
evicted from their homes—homeless.
May the bank foreclose and wipe him out,
and strangers, like vultures, pick him clean.
May there be no one around to help him out,
no one willing to give his orphans a break.
Chop down his family tree
so that nobody even remembers his name.
But erect a memorial to the sin of his father,
and make sure his mother’s name is there, too—
Their sins recorded forever before God,
but they themselves sunk in oblivion.
That’s all he deserves since he was never once kind,
hounded the afflicted and heartbroken to their graves.
Since he loved cursing so much,
let curses rain down;
Since he had no taste for blessing,
let blessings flee far from him.
He dressed up in curses like a fine suit of clothes;
he drank curses, took his baths in curses.
So give him a gift—a costume of curses;
he can wear curses every day of the week!
That’s what they’ll get, those out to get me—
an avalanche of just deserts from God.
21-25Oh, God, my Lord, step in;
work a miracle for me—you can do it!
Get me out of here—your love is so great!—
I’m at the end of my rope, my life in ruins.
I’m fading away to nothing, passing away,
my youth gone, old before my time.
I’m weak from hunger and can hardly stand up,
my body a rack of skin and bones.
I’m a joke in poor taste to those who see me;
they take one look and shake their heads.
26-29Help me, oh help me, God, my God,
save me through your wonderful love;
Then they’ll know that your hand is in this,
that you, God, have been at work.
Let them curse all they want;
you do the blessing.
Let them be jeered by the crowd when they stand up,
followed by cheers for me, your servant.
Dress my accusers in clothes dirty with shame,
discarded and humiliating old ragbag clothes.
30-31My mouth’s full of great praise for God,
I’m singing his hallelujahs surrounded by crowds,
For he’s always at hand to take the side of the needy,
to rescue a life from the unjust judge.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.