Psalms 109 · Clearspring

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

The Song of the Slandered

¹O God of my praise, be not silent.+ ²For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.+ ³They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.+ ⁴In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.+ ⁵They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.+ ⁶Set over him a wicked man; let an accuser stand at his right hand.+ ⁷When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayer be regarded as sin.+ ⁸May his days be few; may another take his position.+ ⁹May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.+ ¹⁰May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.+ ¹¹May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.+ ¹²May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children.+ ¹³May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.+ ¹⁴May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.+ ¹⁵May their sins always remain before the LORD, that He may cut off their memory from the earth.+ ¹⁶For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death.+ ¹⁷The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him.+ ¹⁸The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.+ ¹⁹May it be like a robe wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him.+ ²⁰May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me.+ ²¹But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name; deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.+ ²²For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.+ ²³I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.+ ²⁴My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.+ ²⁵I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.+ ²⁶Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to Your loving devotion.+ ²⁷Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, O LORD, have done it.+ ²⁸Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.+ ²⁹May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe.+ ³⁰With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely; I will praise Him in the presence of many.+ ³¹For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.+

The Song of the Slandered

Study Psalm 109