Copyright © 1980 by
PSALM 109: DAVID'S POEM OF VENGEANCE
MARTIN J.
WARD
The byline of Ps 109 indicates that
David is the author of this
Psalm. As H. C. Leupold
states, "In view of the reliability of the
headings generally, we feel prompted to accept
this claim of Davidic
authorship as being correct."1 It
should be noted also that Pss 108
and 110 both carry the superscription "Psalm
of David," generally
accepted as being correct. This fact adds
additional weight to the ac-
ceptance of David as the author
of Ps 109.
Why do I thus emphasize the Davidic
authorship of this Psalm?
My
reason is that as an Imprecatory Psalm, Ps 109 seems out of har-
mony with so many of the
other psalms of David. In fact, Ps 109 is
the most emphatic of the Imprecatory Psalms in
calling down curses
on an enemy, and as such has caused commentators
to think up
various explanations as to its meaning and the
reason for its inclu-
sion in the Psalter.
C. A. Briggs, e.g., maintains that
this Psalm is a composite, the
imprecatory section having been joined to a prayer
for deliverance.2
He
sees this joining to be the work of a much later editor apparently
preparing the psalms for congregational use, the
imprecations being
from a Maccabean psalm. E.
A. Leslie, as well as others, supplies a
different kind of explanation, namely, that
"verses 6-19 . . . are not
part of the psalmist's own prayer, but a recitation
by him of the
charges which have been preferred against
him."3 He finds support
in the fact that the imprecations are hurled
against one man,
whereas the prayer section refers to enemies in
the plural; and he
also argues that the imprecations do not fit in with
David's
character.
1
H. C. Leupold, Exposition
of the Psalms (Columbus, Ohio, 1959), p. 763.
2 Charles Augustus
Briggs, A Critical and Exegetical
Commentary on the Book of
Psalms (New York, 1907), pp.
364-366.
3 Elmer A. Leslie, The Psalms (New York, 1949), p. 388.
163
164 MARTIN J. WARD
By far the greater number of commentators, however, appear
to accept the Psalm as it stands. With reference
to the view just men-
tioned, that the Psalmist is
quoting his adversaries, IB indicates
that
"a more probable interpretation is that in verses 6-19 the
psalmist:
himself is speaking, and that for the sake of
vividness he refers to his
enemies collectively as one person. ..."4
This concept is supported
by other commentators.5
If we then accept this Psalm without
assuming that it is the
work of an editor or that David is quoting his
enemies, how do we
explain David's use of such harsh and revengeful
imprecations? F.
Delitzsch proposes that "they are explained
by the depth of David's
consciousness that he is the anointed
of Jahve. . . . It is not the spirit
of
.
. . . "6 Indeed, repeatedly in the OT we find the spirit of
vengeance
shown towards God's enemies, the enemies of God's
people, and
even against God's people themselves when they
continued in their
rejection of God. We should not think it strange,
then, that David
should utter words such as these, whether against a
personal or na-
tional enemy. In either case,
such an enemy must ultimately be an
enemy of God.
With this background, we turn now to
a literary study of this
Psalm,
which may carry implications as to the Psalm's basic unity as
well as its message.
1.
Overall Structure of the Psalm
Ps 109 falls naturally into three
main divisions, having an
A-B-A'
pattern: A. There is a plea for help because of the wrong
done the Psalmist by his enemies (vss. 1-5). B. Next follow impreca-
tions against his chief enemy
in the form of a prayer to God (vss.
6-20). A'. Finally, there is a further plea for
help which concludes
with praise to God for his salvation (vss. 21-31).
The Psalm can further be thought of
as having six stanzas, each
containing five verses, except the last stanza
which has six verses:
Stanza
1 is the Psalmist's plea to God for help; stanza 2 begins the
imprecations against the Psalmist's
enemy, with emphasis on his
family; stanza 3 continues the imprecations with
emphasis on his
4 IB, 4: 582.
5 E.g., Leupold, pp. 763-764, and The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
(Washington,
D.C., 1954), 3: 878.
6 Franz Delitzsch, Biblical
Commentary on the Psalms, trans. Francis Bolton (Grand
Rapids,
DAVID'S POEM OF
VENGEANCE 165
enemy's possessions, ancestors, and posterity;
stanza 4 concludes the
imprecations with emphasis on his
enemy's character; stanza 5 is a
reiteration of the Psalmist's need; and stanza 6 is
another plea for
help, ending with praise for the deliverance the
Psalmist knows is
coming.
2. Literary
Features as a Lyric Psalm
Ps 109 must stand high among the
lyric psalms for its literary
features. Several will be noted here.
Parallelism
As would be expected in Hebrew
poetry, the Psalmist has con-
tinually used
thought-parallelism. The outstanding examples are
synonymous parallelism, as in vss.
2, 5, 9, 13, 27:7
For wicked and deceitful mouths are
opened against me,
Speaking against me with lying tongues.
So they reward me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
May his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow!
May his posterity be cut off;
May his name be blotted out in the second generation!
Let them know that this is thy hand;
Thou, 0 Lord, hast done it!
In the last distich, there is also,
in vs. 31, an example of syn-
thetic parallelism of reason:
For he stands at the right hand of
the needy,
To save him from those who
condemn him to death.
It is interesting to note that of
the thirty-one verses in this Psalm
(as given in our English Bible), twenty-eight are distichs. The other
three are tristichs.
Figures of Speech
Another important lyric aspect in Ps
109 is the use of figures of
speech, as in vs. 18:
He clothed himself with cursing as
his coat,
May it soak into his body like water,
Like oil into his bones!
7 All quotations herein
from the Psalms are from the RSV, used by permission of the
Division
of Education and Ministry of the National Council of the Churches of Christ
in the
166 MARTIN J. WARD
Here
the first line employs a metaphor to state that the enemy cursed
so much that it was as if curses were continually
around him as a
coat is around a man. Then the Psalmist uses
similes, "like water"
and "like oil," to imply that the curses
instead of being around his
enemy should enter wholly into him and become part of
him, thus
acting on his life rather than on those originally
cursed. This
thought is further emphasized by the use of two
more similes in vs.
19.
Another metaphor and simile
combination is found in vs. 29:
May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
May they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle!
The
first line gives the metaphor "clothed with dishonor" in re-
questing that everything about the enemy should
only bring
dishonor to him. The Psalmist then continues the
synonymous
parallel by employing a simile saying that his
enemy's shame should
cover him just as a mantle covers the body.
Vs. 23 furnishes an interesting
example of a sequential use of
similes:
I am gone, like a shadow at evening;
I am shaken off like a locust.
The Emotional Element
Leland Ryken
states that "the emotional element in a lyric
poem is often considered its chief identifying trait
— its differentia."8
Ps
109 is built around emotion. Section 1 (vss. 1-5)
portrays a plea to
God
for help, uttered because of the depths of despair and
helplessness in which the Psalmist
found himself. His enemies spoke
lies against him, attacked him without cause, and
even returned
hatred for love. What more could the Psalmist do than
appeal to
God? In section 2 (vss.
6-20), the Psalmist speaks from a heart filled
with anger as he hurls imprecations against his
chief adversary. He
asks that his enemy's life be short, his goods be
seized, his posterity
be cut off, his sins be ever before the Lord and
that all curses should
become part of him. Although it is obvious that these
curses arise
from a heart full of anger seeking vengeance, it is
not clear whether
these curses are David's wishes against a personal
enemy or whether
they are uttered in behalf of the Lord God whose
representative the
8 Leland Ryken, The Literature of the
Bible (Grand Rapids, Mich., 1974), p. 123.
DAVID'S POEM OF VENGEANCE 167
Psalmist
is. Section 3 (vss. 21-31) is built on two emotions.
First
there is a repetition of the despair mentioned in
section 1, and then
the mood changes to gratitude and praise. The
Psalmist's physical
condition or position has not changed, but with
the hand of faith he
has grasped God's promises as having already been
fulfilled, and he
gives thanks for them.
Use of Concrete Terms
One other important literary aspect
of this work is the
Psalmist's use of concrete terms rather than
abstractions.
This is par-
ticularly true in section 2,
where it would have been possible to utter
abstract imprecations against his enemy. However,
this section is
brought to life by the use of concrete details,
illustrated by the
following, in vss. 9,
11, 13:
May his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow!
May the creditor seize all that he
has; . . .
May his posterity be cut off; . . .
Each
time, the concrete detail furnishes an added facet to the pic-
ture of ultimate destruction
and oblivion that the Psalmist wishes on
his adversary.
Conclusion
What meaning, then, can we get from
this Psalm? The obvious
or primary meaning is David's plea for divine help
and his curses on
his chief adversary. In addition, we could see this
as a prophetic
Psalm
(cf. Peter's quoting of vs. 8 and applying it as a fulfilled pro-
phecy in the experience of
Judas Iscariot [Acts 1:20]), and we might,
indeed, view the imprecations of this Psalm as
prophetic utterances
against all bad men.
Moreover, as R. G. Moulton reminds
us, "We in modern times
are quite accustomed to feel enthusiasm for the
abstract thing we
call ‘a cause’; with the ancient world it was
necessary for the cause to
be embodied in a concrete party. . . . When the
psalmist's hatred of
evil men has once been translated into the form of
hatred against
evil, it will be felt that the passages cannot be
too strongly worded."9
When
viewed in the light of this concept, the overall structure and
the lyric features we have noted above speak to the
unified theme of
9 Richard G. Moulton, The Literary Study of the Bible (
168 MARTIN
J. WARD
Ps
109, but also raise another pertinent question: Can we not in
this Psalm see more than merely a desire for a
particular adversary
to be brought low? Can we not indeed see David's
desire for sin or
wickedness itself to be extirpated? If so,
moreover, can we not
ourselves much more readily identify with David as
Psalmist?
This material is cited with gracious
permission from:
SDA Theological
Berrien Springs
http://www.andrews.edu/SEM/
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