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Senior Sunday School 4 : Psalms Book 5 : Psalm 109 : 2nd June 2024

Text: Psalm 109
2 June 2024

SSS 4
Book 5
Psalms 107-150
2 June 2024

Psalm 109
(Part one)

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 Do not keep silent,
O God of my praise!

2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful
Have opened against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without a cause.

4 In return for my love they are my accusers,
But I give myself to prayer.

5 Thus they have rewarded me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.

6 Set a wicked man over him,
And let an accuser stand at his right hand.

7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
And let his prayer become sin.

8 Let his days be few,
And let another take his office.

9 Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.

10 Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg;
Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.

11 Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder his labour.

12 Let there be none to extend mercy to him,
Nor let there be any to favour his fatherless children.

13 Let his posterity be cut off,
And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15 Let them be continually before the LORD,
That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;

16 Because he did not remember to show mercy,
But persecuted the poor and needy man,
That he might even slay the broken in heart.

17 As he loved cursing, so let it come to him;
As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.

18 As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
So let it enter his body like water,
And like oil into his bones.

19 Let it be to him like the garment which covers him,
And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.

20 Let this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers,
And to those who speak evil against my person.

Psalm 109:1-20

TWO PSALMS Of DAVID

1. Two Psalms of David were placed side by side

2. They are contrasting in many details

3. Some obvious areas of contrast

a) The focus of Psalm 108
i) Praise
ii) Prayer
b) The focus of Psalm 109
i) An imprecatory prayer
ii) Strongly worded prayer

WHAT IS AN IMPRECATORY PSALM?

1. It is calling on God

a) To judge severely
b) To curse and condemn a wicked person

2. The imprecatory element is obvious in Psalm 109:1-20

a) This Psalm needs careful interpretation
b) We need to understand the depth of emotions of the Psalmist

IT IS STILL A PRAYER

1 Do not keep silent,
O God of my praise!

2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful
Have opened against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without a cause.

4 In return for my love they are my accusers,
But I give myself to prayer.

5 Thus they have rewarded me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.

Psalm 109:1-5

1. The LORD is still the “God of my praise”

2. David still gave himself to prayer

A DEEPLY EMOTIONAL PRAYER

1. David’s concern was “the wicked”

a) He had shown kindness and love
b) He had sought to be good
c) He had also sought to be a prayerful man

2. A short opening word concerning the wicked

a) They were called “the wicked and the deceitful”
b) They spoke against David with lies
c) They surrounded him with hatred
d) They fought against him without a cause
e) They were his “accusers”
f) They returned evil for good

IMPRECATORY PLEAS TO THE LORD I

6 Set a wicked man over him,
And let an accuser stand at his right hand.

7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
And let his prayer become sin.

8 Let his days be few,
And let another take his office.

9 Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.

10 Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg;
Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.

Psalm 109:6-10

1. To be exposed to wickedness

Set a wicked man over him,
And let an accuser stand at his right hand.

Psalm 109:6

a) To a wicked person
b) To an accuser

2. To be judged by the LORD

When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
And let his prayer become sin.

Psalm 109:7

a) To be found guilty
b) His prayers to be regarded as sinful

3. Personal life and family

8 Let his days be few,
And let another take his office.

9 Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.

10 Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg;
Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.

Psalm 109:8-10

a) His earthly life to be shortened
b) His office to be filled by another person
c) His wife to be a widow
d) His children to be vagabonds and beggars

IMPRECATORY PLEAS TO THE LORD II

11 Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder his labour.

12 Let there be none to extend mercy to him,
Nor let there be any to favour his fatherless children.

13 Let his posterity be cut off,
And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15 Let them be continually before the LORD,
That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;

Psalm 109:11-15

1. To suffer loss

Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder his labour.

Psalm 109:11

2. No mercy

Let there be none to extend mercy to him,
Nor let there be any to favour his fatherless children.

Psalm 109:12

3. Posterity

13 Let his posterity be cut off,
And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.

14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

15 Let them be continually before the LORD,
That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth;

Psalm 109:13-15

a) Posterity to be cut off
b) Name blotted out
c) Iniquity of the wicked be remembered be remembered
d) Sin of the mother not to be blotted out
e) All sins to be remembered by the LORD
f) That God may blot out their names forever

IMPRECATORY PLEAS TO THE LORD III

16 Because he did not remember to show mercy,
But persecuted the poor and needy man,
That he might even slay the broken in heart.

17 As he loved cursing, so let it come to him;
As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.

18 As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
So let it enter his body like water,
And like oil into his bones.

19 Let it be to him like the garment which covers him,
And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.

20 Let this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers,
And to those who speak evil against my person.

Psalm 109:16-20

1. Reasons for this Imprecatory prayer

a) Because no mercy was shown
b) Because of slaying of the poor and needy and the broken-hearted
c) Because of a love for cursing people
d) Because of no delight in blessing people

2. Consequences

a) Evil would be his garments
b) Evil would be deep inside him
c) Evil would gird him
d) This would be God’s “reward” to the wicked person