It should be borne in mind that David was not a merely private person, and that he does not write this psalm as a private person. He was a king, placed in an official position, responsible to his people for the due punishment of all wrongdoers. And the treachery and wickedness of which he complains was committed against him as
king. (This is clearly seen if the association of the psalm be with either Shimei or Ahithophel.) And there is another thing. David was not an independent king He was the anointed of Jehovah - the true king. When David had a case of unusual difficulty, one in which personal feeling was likely unduly to influence him, every way the wisest thing for him to do was to refer the matter to the supreme Sovereign, and let him decide. The psalm is to be regarded as the appeal of a vicegerent to his superior. This view relieves the psalm of its burden, because we can see that the superior will only take the representations of his subordinate into due consideration. He will be sure not to be unduly influenced by them. He will act on the eternal principles of righteousness.
I. EVERY MAN HAS A POWER TO PUNISH. Presently David would have been able to punish these men of whom he complains. When a man wrongs us we can punish
(1) by slighting him;
(2) by speaking of him so as to take away his character;
(3) by injuring him in his circumstances.
It is a fatal power - one of the most dangerous trusts a man has. Man seldom uses it well See the uncertainty, and frequent injustice, of magistrates' decisions. Feeling guides rather than judgment. Custom tends to exaggerate sins, and so exaggerate judgments. As in the case of poaching. The Christian spirit puts strict limitation on the desire to punish.
II. EVERY MAN SHOULD LEAVE GOD TO PUNISH. That is what David does. And that is the good side of the psalm. True, he seems to prescribe what God ought to do, but that we may put down to the intensity of his feeling. He leaves God to punish both his own enemies and the enemies of the kingdom. That is precisely what we ought to do always. And we may be quite sure
(1) that God will punish;
(2) will punish justly;
(3) will punish efficiently;
(4) will punish mercifully;
(5) will vindicate us by the punishment. - 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.
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People
David,
PsalmistPlaces
JerusalemTopics
Accuser, Adversary, Appoint, Bring, Evil, Oppose, Placed, Satan, Stand, Standeth, Trial, WickedOutline
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 109:6 5201 accusation
Psalm 109:6-20
6040 sinners
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
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