Psalm 109 written by David is obviously an
imprecatory Psalm, one that wishes evil to befall an enemy. And here he was
invoking evil to befall his enemies. In his life David had personal enemies
that he disliked. There were three in particular. The first was Doeg, who betrayed
him to King Saul by revealing his whereabouts while he was running away from
the king. Then there was Shimei. He was the guy who cursed him while he was
running away from his son, Absalom. And then of course there was Ahithophel,
his once trusted counsellor. This wicked counsellor turned against him and
began to teach Absalom to act wickedly against him. This Psalm contains personal
wishes that David wanted God to do for him against his enemies. But what the
Holy Spirit did was to take what he wrote, years later turned them into
prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. We see it was prophetically
fulfilled in the life of Judas Iscariot immediately after he betrayed Jesus.
Reading this Psalm disturbs some people. The
question we struggle with is: how can a person who relies on God, prays such venomous
curses, found in verses 6-20, to fall on his enemies? It seems incongruous of a man of God.
However, we must know that there is such a thing as righteous anger against
terrible wrongs. This is allowed in the Scripture. Jesus Christ our Lord showed
that in His earthly ministry. He demonstrated righteous indignation on those
who insistently opposed the work of God that He came to do. Besides, in the
prayer that Jesus taught, He included the phrase that says, “Thy Kingdom
come….” When God’s Kingdom comes, evil would be dealt with and wickedness would
be destroyed. Secondly, the curses expressed here were prayers in which David put
himself into the hand of His God, Who is holy, righteous and just. Thirdly, in Acts 1:20 the Apostle Peter
quoted from Psalm 109, and attributed it to the Holy Spirit. Fourthly, when
David penned these words, he was in total agreement with the thinking of God. Hence
his enemies in a real sense became God’s enemies.
In verses 1-5, David began by declaring his
innocence. Then he immediately turned from being an accused to the prosecutor
and accused his enemies of evil done to him. So in verses 6-20, we see a whole
load of bombardment and onslaught of curses upon his wicked enemies. Then he
came around in verse 21, and right to the end of this Psalm, to plead with God
asking Him to mercifully protect him. In the Psalm, David even prescribed the
punishment that he desired his enemies to receive. But of course we can feel
his sense of justice in verses 21-29 before he turned around and lauded and
praised the Lord.
From this Psalm we can
learn that God’s people do have to endure suffering at the hand of wicked
people. We must be careful, however, to ensure that the cause of suffering is
not self-invited. This we must avoid, that in our walk with Christ, it must be few
and far in between. However, if we are suffering for the sake of righteousness,
God let us know that “Vengeance is His, and He will repay it.” We must trust
God that He understands what we are going through. He will come to our rescue.
God will not allow us to bear with something that He knows we cannot even endure.
Paul tells us that with each trial and affliction, God is faithful and He will
provide a way of escape. Let’s take heart and continue to rely on Him no matter
how tough an affliction life may dish out to us! Remember that God is still in control,
he has not relinquished it!
No comments:
Post a Comment