Do Not Be Silent, O God Of My Praise
Devotional
Companion to the Psalter
A Devotional Guide to the Psalms
Object:
For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me ...
They beset me with words of hate ...
In return for my love they accuse me,
even while I make prayer for them ...
But you, O LORD my Lord,
act on my behalf for your name's sake;
because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.
I am gone like a shadow at evening ...
Let them curse, but you will bless.
Let my assailants be put to shame ...
-- Psalm 109:2a, 3a, 4, 21, 23a, 28
Theme: An imprecatory psalm
Outline
1-5 -- Help me against my enemies who return evil for good.
6-19 -- Just listen to how my enemies curse me!
20-21 -- May the cruel things my enemies wish for me be turned on them!
22-25 -- I am almost gone. Save me. No matter how they curse, you bless -- and this is what matters.
Notes
• Imprecatory
• According to one interpretation, the curses in verses 6-19 are the psalmist's on his enemy. If so, "Psalm 109 is as unabashed a hymn of hate as was ever written" (according to C.S. Lewis).
• The NRSV translators interpret it differently, the curses in verses 6-19 are known as a quotation, "They say...." The psalmist spells out to God all the venom of his enemy's curses, but resumes his more restrained plea for retribution in verses 20-25. In favor of this, note that the psalmist's enemies are plural, while the curses are for one person. The psalmist's curses (vv. 28-29) are mild in comparison and verse 20 can be translated, "This is the work of those who hate the Lord and speak evil against me."1
• Examples of the psalmists' cursings in other psalms are: 58:6-9; 59:11-13; 69:22-28; 137:8-9. (See Psalm Types, pp. 16-17.)
For Reflection
• We live in a different age. For the psalmist, retribution was evidence of God's sovereignty. For us, the Christ has come and taught us to do good to those who mistreat us, to pray for them (Matthew 5:43-45), and he exemplified this redemptive way of dealing with wrongs suffered.
• Peter writes: "Christ ... suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps ... When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:21-23).
Prayer
Lord Jesus, as you were being nailed to the cross, you prayed for God to forgive your murderers and all who hate you. Dwell within us, that we may have the heart to bless those who curse us, to hate the evils done to us or others, and to pray for the Holy Spirit to restrain and convert them. Is this not your will for us? Amen.
____________
1. Arnold Rhodes, The Layman's Bible Commentary, Psalms (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1962), p. 151.
They beset me with words of hate ...
In return for my love they accuse me,
even while I make prayer for them ...
But you, O LORD my Lord,
act on my behalf for your name's sake;
because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.
I am gone like a shadow at evening ...
Let them curse, but you will bless.
Let my assailants be put to shame ...
-- Psalm 109:2a, 3a, 4, 21, 23a, 28
Theme: An imprecatory psalm
Outline
1-5 -- Help me against my enemies who return evil for good.
6-19 -- Just listen to how my enemies curse me!
20-21 -- May the cruel things my enemies wish for me be turned on them!
22-25 -- I am almost gone. Save me. No matter how they curse, you bless -- and this is what matters.
Notes
• Imprecatory
• According to one interpretation, the curses in verses 6-19 are the psalmist's on his enemy. If so, "Psalm 109 is as unabashed a hymn of hate as was ever written" (according to C.S. Lewis).
• The NRSV translators interpret it differently, the curses in verses 6-19 are known as a quotation, "They say...." The psalmist spells out to God all the venom of his enemy's curses, but resumes his more restrained plea for retribution in verses 20-25. In favor of this, note that the psalmist's enemies are plural, while the curses are for one person. The psalmist's curses (vv. 28-29) are mild in comparison and verse 20 can be translated, "This is the work of those who hate the Lord and speak evil against me."1
• Examples of the psalmists' cursings in other psalms are: 58:6-9; 59:11-13; 69:22-28; 137:8-9. (See Psalm Types, pp. 16-17.)
For Reflection
• We live in a different age. For the psalmist, retribution was evidence of God's sovereignty. For us, the Christ has come and taught us to do good to those who mistreat us, to pray for them (Matthew 5:43-45), and he exemplified this redemptive way of dealing with wrongs suffered.
• Peter writes: "Christ ... suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps ... When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly" (1 Peter 2:21-23).
Prayer
Lord Jesus, as you were being nailed to the cross, you prayed for God to forgive your murderers and all who hate you. Dwell within us, that we may have the heart to bless those who curse us, to hate the evils done to us or others, and to pray for the Holy Spirit to restrain and convert them. Is this not your will for us? Amen.
____________
1. Arnold Rhodes, The Layman's Bible Commentary, Psalms (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1962), p. 151.
