Reading through the Book of Psalms regularly, I always have a problem with Psalm 109, so today I sit down to examine it more thoroughly – to dig a little deeper.
I know it is a psalm of David that would have been written when his life was in danger. It involves prophesy, and in most of his writings we can come to understand why he was a “man after God’s heart.” Yes, we recognise his faults as well as his strengths, with his desire to be on the right side of his God. Even here, in the last two verses, we can echo his words, “With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng I will praise Him. For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him.”
Where my problem comes in, is the complete lack of desire to find any place of forgiveness, or any hint of intercession for the perpetrators of the evil he is complaining about.
In v4 David shows his desire for reconciliation – In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. They repay me evil for good and hatred for my friendship.
If we go further back in the Old Testament, to Deuteronomy for example, we see the principle of an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot (Deut 19:16-21)and I recognise that these are the Scriptures David would know and understand.
My problem continues as a New Testament reader aware of the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Peter, in Acts 1:20 sees verse 8 of the psalm as being fulfilled by Judas Iscariot. May his days be few, may another take his place of leadership, and this brings a certain amount of understanding as a prophetic piece of writing.
David complains that these evil-doers attack him without cause, (v3) but I wonder about their perception of him and whether there was any was misunderstanding, taking into account the differences in belief. David was a follower of the Great unseen God, while they were most likely unbelievers. We cannot take a leaf out of his book if unbelievers of today attack us “without cause” as is happening with great impact in the world today. Misunderstanding followers of Allah attack Christians with impunity, but are we to rain down curses upon them, or pray for their salvation?
In Matthew 5:11-12 Jesus says, Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of eveil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In Numbers 5:23-31, we read of the test for an unfaithful wife who is made by the priest to drink bitter water that brings a curse, and in verse 8 of the psalm we read that cursing entered David’s opponent like water – showing the cultural aspect of David’s pleas.
Psalm 109 highlights the differences between the Old and the New Covenants, and I doubt I will ever use it in prayer as I do with many others, except for those final two verses. My understanding may still be dim, so I will save my questions with the others that await the meeting with my Lord face to face.
What joy awaits the believer!
No comments:
Post a Comment