Psalm 109 · a question people ask
"Let his days be few. Let another take his office" (109:8). How do Christians read a psalm that prays like this?
First, what the psalm says. It is a prayer from its first words: "God of my praise, don’t remain silent" (109:1). The psalmist says he was repaid "evil for good, and hatred for my love" (109:5). Then come the requests of 109:6-19, among them "Let his days be few. Let another take his office" (109:8) and "Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow" (109:9). The psalm gives its reason: "because he didn’t remember to show kindness, but persecuted the poor and needy man, the broken in heart, to kill them" (109:16). It asks that the iniquity of the man's fathers "be remembered by the LORD" (109:14), and the psalmist doesn't say he will act against anyone himself. The New Testament quotes one of these lines. Peter stood up among the disciples (Acts 1:15) and said, "Brothers, it was necessary that this Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus" (Acts 1:16), and "For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation be made desolate. Let no one dwell in it;’ and, ‘Let another take his office.’" (Acts 1:20). The second line is 109:8's words in the WEB, word for word. Christians read prayers like this in three main ways, each resting on its verses, and these notes don't choose between them. All three agree that the psalm is spoken to God (109:1, 109:21), that the psalmist doesn't say he will act against anyone himself, and that Peter reads 109:8 concerning Judas (Acts 1:16-20). Christians who hold each view take both of these as words for them: "Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord" (Romans 12:19), and Jesus' "love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). They differ on how 109:6-20 sits beside them.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
An appeal to God's justice, leaving vengeance to him
Those who read it this way note that the psalm asks God, not the psalmist, to act. The psalmist's answer to his adversaries is "but I am in prayer" (109:4), and he asks for help "that they may know that this is your hand; that you, LORD, have done it" (109:27). Paul writes, "Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”" (Romans 12:19). In Revelation the souls under the altar cry out, "How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:10), and "They were told that they should rest yet for a while" (Revelation 6:11). Paul says of one man, "Alexander the coppersmith did much evil to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds" (2 Timothy 4:14). On this reading, 109:6-20 is a right cry to God for justice from someone who leaves the repaying to him, and it sits alongside the call to love one's enemies.
Psalm 109:4 · Psalm 109:27 · Romans 12:19 · Revelation 6:9-11 · 2 Timothy 4:14
An honest prayer that Jesus' words and example go beyond
Those who read it this way take 109:6-20 as a true record of what was prayed, and read it beside what Jesus taught and did. Jesus said, "bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you" (Luke 6:28). On the cross he prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). As Stephen was stoned he "cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!”" (Acts 7:60). Paul wrote, "Bless those who persecute you; bless, and don’t curse" (Romans 12:14). On this reading, 109:6-20 shows how honestly God's people may bring their hurt to him, and Jesus' words and example teach his followers to pray for their enemies' good.
Psalm 109:6-20 · Luke 6:28 · Luke 23:34 · Acts 7:59-60 · Romans 12:14
Words the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand, through David
Those who read it this way start from how the New Testament reads this psalm. Peter said, "it was necessary that this Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus" (Acts 1:16), and gave 109:8's "Let another take his office" as "written in the book of Psalms" (Acts 1:20). Of David, Peter also said, "being a prophet" (Acts 2:30). On this reading, 109:6-20 is prophecy: the Holy Spirit speaking beforehand, through David, of what would come on Judas, and the psalm's requests are read as foretelling it. Acts quotes only 109:8 from this psalm, and those who hold this view read its other requests the same way.
Psalm 109:8 · Acts 1:16 · Acts 1:20 · Acts 2:30
The verses
“For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. God of my praise, don’t remain silent,”
“They have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. Set a wicked man over him. Let an adversary stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come out guilty. Let his prayer be turned into sin. Let his days be few. Let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.”
“Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by the LORD. Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out.”
“because he didn’t remember to show kindness, but persecuted the poor and needy man, the broken in heart, to kill them.”