November 18
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LORD, DO NOT BE SILENT, DEAL WITH MY ENEMIES
God of my praise, do not be silent!
2 For they have opened a wicked and deceitful mouth against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And have fought against me without cause.
4 In return for my love they act as my accusers;
But I am in prayer.5 So they have repaid me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.6 Appoint a wicked person over him,
And may an ]accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged, may he come out guilty,
And may his prayer become sin. -Psalm 109:1-7
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Matthew Henry says: “Whether David penned this psalm when he was persecuted by Saul, or when his son Absalom rebelled against him, or upon occasion of some other trouble that was given him, is uncertain; and whether the particular enemy he prays against was Saul, or Doeg, or Ahithophel or some other not mentioned in the story, we cannot determine; but it is certain that in penning it, he had an eye to Christ, his sufferings and his persecutors, for that imprecation (v8) is applied to Judas (Acts 1:20). The rest of the prayers here against his enemies were the expression, not of passion, but of the Spirit of prophecy. He lodges a complaint in the court of heaven of the malice and base ingratitude of his enemies and with it, an appeal to the righteous God. He prays against his enemies and devotes them to destruction.
People may be wondering how David could pray this way to God, almost like giving God a command in verse 1 not to let these evil people continue their ways without being rebuked or corrected and punished. In verse 2, he files a complaint to God for their lies and wickedness. It only exhibits David’s dependence on a God he really knew very well. He knows that he belongs to Him and that the Lord hates evil. He is looking forward to be vindicated by God as he opens up his heart to God for all the evil done to him by his enemies. Like a little child, in verses 3-4, he tells the Lord what they have done to him and yet he repaid them good for the evil they did. In verse 6, he pleads God to bring justice to the evil they have done to him.
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REFLECTION
• How often do we come to God for deliverance like David does?