Psalm 109 is an intense Psalm of Lament and Imprecation. Psalms like this can be extremely grating on our modern ears. There are very few niceties at all in the Psalm but I think our temptation is to gravitate toward what is easier to hear and gloss over the heavy hitting emotional aspects of the Psalm. What do we do with the overt desire of the Psalmist to see the destruction of his enemy rather than his redemption? Is it appropriate for God’s people today to bring similar thoughts to Him in prayer against our enemies? John Calvin reminds us that the book of Psalms is “an anatomy of all parts of the soul,” reflecting the full range of human emotions as in a mirror (Tremper Longman III: Commentary on Job, pg. 321).
It is helpful to note that the Psalmist is not asking God to give him the strength or the means to carry out the vengeance he is seeking against his enemies. Rather he commits the request to God and puts it in His hands (vs 4). Notice the basic assumption of the psalmist that he can trust God to deal justly with people. That is why he can come to God in the midst of his suffering at the hands of evil men and commit the outcome to Him. This is what Paul commends in Romans 12:19 “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’” The psalmist also demonstrates a couple of ways he appeals to God. He shows that he wants God to act retributively against his enemies and knows he would be justified in doing so (Vs. 17, 18 Let them be treated according to how they have treated others). But he appeals to God to deal with him according His names sake, out of his steadfast love (Vs. 21). He does not desire the same retributive principle to be carried out on him. Is this a double standard or a recognition that God can act with justice, God can act with mercy but God can will never act unjustly.
I think it is also helpful to contrast the request of vengeance against his enemies that the psalmist expresses in response to their injustice with Jesus’ response to those that treated him with injustice. Jesus does not hurl imprecations at his enemies. In fact he calls upon the Father not to deal with them according to their actions against him. Rather he calls for forgiveness, “for they know not what they do.” Clearly, the hymnbook of God’s people leaves room for us to cry out to God honestly and sets the proper boundaries to do so. But, as the law of Christ became fully realized in the person of Jesus, there is a maturity that we are directed towards as God’s people responding to suffering and injustice at the hands of others. While the Psalmist responds with imprecations hurled at the assailants who caused him to be the object of scorn (vs. 25), these actions against Jesus brought him to selflessly request mercy and forgiveness on his enemies.
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