I am for prayer. "I find refuge in prayer, committing myself and my cause unto thee." The point of the psalm which seems to be missed is this - the psalmist, deeply moved in his feeling by the treacherous wrong done to him, nevertheless does not express his feeling to
his fellow-men, nor act revengefully toward his
enemies, but lets out his heart to God, speaking quite freely to him all that he thought and felt. It may, indeed, be said that the psalmist should not have felt so bitterly under any provocation. But we can clearly see that, if he did feel thus, he did what was altogether the wisest and most hopeful thing, when he spoke his bad feelings to God rather than to men. It is generally agreed that David was the author of the psalm, and that the treachery and wickedness of some individual is the cause of David's extreme anger and distress. Doeg, Cush, Shimei, and Ahithophel have been suggested. The treachery of his trusted friend Ahithophel perhaps affected David more than any other wrong done to him. But Shimei was brutal in his enmity. The expressions David uses must be judged in the light of his age.
I. ACTING IN VINDICATION OF SELF MAY BE WRONG. And acting includes speech and deed. In David's case - if the association is the rebellion of Absalom - he could not act; he was helpless to defend himself. But if he had been able, it was clearly wiser not to attempt such defense. There are many forms of trouble to which men are subject which they must leave alone. Attempted vindications only make matters worse. Men often make grave mistakes through over-anxiety about self-vindication; and their own heat of feeling, and the public prejudice excited, make the methods of vindication imprudent, and the results ineffective. "Avenge not yourselves." On David's side it should be urged that he did not attempt to avenge himself.
II. APPEALING TO GOD FOR VINDICATION IS ALWAYS RIGHT. And he who goes to God may be, and should be, genuine with God; and if he does feel strongly, he should say what he feels. Illustrate by the way in which a mother encourages her boy to tell everything to her when he is in a passion. The boy tells how he hates, and wishes evil done to, the person who has injured him. The mother does not misunderstand, and her work is to get the boy soothed and calmed. We may freely speak out our bad feelings to our Father-God. That very unreserve he uses to bring us to our right minds. We may show how wrongly we feel by what we say to God, as David did; but the saying it to God is certainly right. Take your very anger to God in prayer. - R.T.
They have rewarded me evil for good.
Florence, when dominated by the preaching of Savonarola, became transformed; high-born ladies threw aside their jewels and finery, men turned from evil ways into sobriety, the churches were crowded with all classes of the people, from nobles to peasants; the very children were turned into instruments of the good work, going through the streets in procession, singing hymns and collecting money for the poor — and then the tide turned, and, when Savonarola was in the crisis of his struggle with the pope, almost the whole city was against him; a mob attacked his convent of San Marco; and the great friar went to his martyrdom, with the sorer martyrdom of his heart at the thought that all his work was overturned.
()
People
David,
PsalmistPlaces
JerusalemTopics
Evil, Exchange, Friendship, Hate, Hatred, Laid, Love, Repaid, Reward, Rewarded, ThusOutline
1. David complains of his slanderous enemies16. He shows their sin21. Complaining of his own misery, he prays for help29. He promises thankfulnessDictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 109:5 5889 ingratitude
Psalm 109:1-5
5951 slander
Psalm 109:3-5
5875 hatred
Library
Psalm. Cix. 21. ; Micah, vi. 9
Psalm. cix. 21.; Micah, vi. 9. Sweet is Thy mercy, O my God! When humbled at Thy feet, I learn the lessons of Thy rod, Thy mercy, Lord, is sweet. For Thou dost not in wrath chastise, But when I go astray, "Return," a voice behind me cries, "Walk here;--this is the way." Impatient of Thine easy yoke, If heedless yet I roam, Some sharp affliction, with a stroke Of kindness, warns me home. That godly sorrow then I feel, Which nothing can control, Until the hand that wounded, heal, That bruised me, …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and HymnsIf Anyone Shall Say that Jesus as Man is Only Energized by the Word Of...
If anyone shall say that Jesus as man is only energized by the Word of God, and that the glory of the Only-begotten is attributed to him as something not properly his: let him be anathema. Notes. Nestorius. VII. If any one says that the man who was formed of the Virgin is the Only-begotten, who was born from the bosom of the Father, before the morning star was (Ps. cix., 3) [256] , and does not rather confess that he has obtained the designation of Only-begotten on account of his connection with …
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils
First Antiphon and Psalm
Third Tone (a ending) Chanter Dum esset rex Choir in accubitu suo, nardus mea dedit odorem suavitatis. Alleluia. Dixit Dominus (Psalm 109) 1. Dixit Dominus, Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis: 2. Donec ponam inimicos tuos, scabellum pedum tuorum. 3. Virgam virtutis tuae emitte Dominus ex Sion: dominare in medio inimicorum tuorem. 4. Tecum principium in die virtutis tuae in splendoribus sanctorum: ex utero ante luciferum genui te. 5. Juravit Dominus, et non paenitebit eum: Tu es sacerdos in aeternum …
Various—The St. Gregory Hymnal and Catholic Choir Book
Prayer
But I give myself unto prayer.' Psa 109: 4. I shall not here expatiate upon prayer, as it will be considered more fully in the Lord's prayer. It is one thing to pray, and another thing to be given to prayer: he who prays frequently, is said to be given to prayer; as he who often distributes alms, is said to be given to charity. Prayer is a glorious ordinance, it is the soul's trading with heaven. God comes down to us by his Spirit, and we go up to him by prayer. What is prayer? It is an offering …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments
Fourteenth Day. Endurance in Contradiction.
"Who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself."-- Heb. xii. 3. What endurance was this! Perfect truth in the midst of error; perfect love in the midst of ingratitude and coldness; perfect rectitude in the midst of perjury, violence, fraud; perfect constancy in the midst of contumely and desertion; perfect innocence, confronting every debased form of depravity and guilt; perfect patience, encountering every species of gross provocation--"oppressed and afflicted, He opened not His mouth!" …
John R. Macduff—The Mind of Jesus
Ninth Day for God's Spirit on Our Mission Work
WHAT TO PRAY.--For God's Spirit on our Mission Work "The evangelisation of the world depends first of all upon a revival of prayer. Deeper than the need for men--ay, deep down at the bottom of our spiritless life, is the need for the forgotten secret of prevailing, world-wide prayer." "As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul. Then when they had fasted and prayed, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed."--ACTS …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession
Bunsen's Biblical Researches.
When geologists began to ask whether changes in the earth's structure might be explained by causes still in operation, they did not disprove the possibility of great convulsions, but they lessened necessity for imagining them. So, if a theologian has his eyes opened to the Divine energy as continuous and omnipresent, he lessens the sharp contrast of epochs in Revelation, but need not assume that the stream has never varied in its flow. Devotion raises time present into the sacredness of the past; …
Frederick Temple—Essays and Reviews: The Education of the World
A Discourse of Mercifulness
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7 These verses, like the stairs of Solomon's temple, cause our ascent to the holy of holies. We are now mounting up a step higher. Blessed are the merciful . . '. There was never more need to preach of mercifulness than in these unmerciful times wherein we live. It is reported in the life of Chrysostom that he preached much on this subject of mercifulness, and for his much pressing Christians to mercy, he was called of many, the alms-preacher, …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12
How Intent the Ruler Ought to be on Meditations in the Sacred Law.
But all this is duly executed by a ruler, if, inspired by the spirit of heavenly fear and love, he meditate daily on the precepts of Sacred Writ, that the words of Divine admonition may restore in him the power of solicitude and of provident circumspection with regard to the celestial life, which familiar intercourse with men continually destroys; and that one who is drawn to oldness of life by secular society may by the aspiration of compunction be ever renewed to love of the spiritual country. …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great
The Water of Life;
OR, A DISCOURSE SHOWING THE RICHNESS AND GLORY OF THE GRACE AND SPIRIT OF THE GOSPEL, AS SET FORTH IN SCRIPTURE BY THIS TERM, THE WATER OF LIFE. BY JOHN BUNYAN. 'And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.'--Revelation 22:17 London: Printed for Nathanael Ponder, at the Peacock in the Poultry, 1688. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Often, and in every age, the children of God have dared to doubt the sufficiency of divine grace; whether it was vast enough to reach their condition--to cleanse …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3
Travelling in Palestine --Roads, Inns, Hospitality, Custom-House Officers, Taxation, Publicans
It was the very busiest road in Palestine, on which the publican Levi Matthew sat at the receipt of "custom," when our Lord called him to the fellowship of the Gospel, and he then made that great feast to which he invited his fellow-publicans, that they also might see and hear Him in Whom he had found life and peace (Luke 5:29). For, it was the only truly international road of all those which passed through Palestine; indeed, it formed one of the great highways of the world's commerce. At the time …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life
Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament
Links
Psalm 109:5 NIVPsalm 109:5 NLTPsalm 109:5 ESVPsalm 109:5 NASBPsalm 109:5 KJV
Psalm 109:5 Bible AppsPsalm 109:5 ParallelPsalm 109:5 Biblia ParalelaPsalm 109:5 Chinese BiblePsalm 109:5 French BiblePsalm 109:5 German Bible
Psalm 109:5 Commentaries
Bible Hub
