Psalm 109 (108)
Have no pity for them. Someone who only had words of friendship has been
accused and slandered. He asks justice from God who does not forsake his
own. God will show no mercy for those who are merciless.
14 Break your silence, O God whom I praise,
2 now that the wicked and deceitful hurl their false accusations at me.
3 They assail me with words of hatred; they attack me for no valid cause.
4 They return my friendship with slander, and yet I pray for them.
5 They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked man against him; find an accuser to repeat this curse:
7 ¡°Let him be found guilty when tried; let his own plea condemn him.
8 May his days be numbered, his office be taken by another.
9 May his children lose a father and his wife a husband.
10 May his children go begging, driven out of their ruined homes.
11 May the creditor seize all his belongings and strangers plunder the
fruits of his toil.
12 Let no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his orphaned children.
13 May his posterity be destroyed, their names blotted out in the next
generation.
14 May his father¡¯s evil be remembered before the Lord; may his mo ther¡¯s
sin never be effaced.
15 May their sins be ever before the Lord, and their memory cut off from the
earth.¡±
16 For he did not remember to show kindness, but hounded the poor, the
needy, and the brokenhearted to their death.
17 He loved to curse; may he be cursed. He loathed blessing; may it be far
from him.
18 He wrapped himself in cursing; may it soak into his body like water,
penetrate his bones like oil.
19 May it be like a garment he wears, like the belt he ties around himself.
20 May the Lord reward my accusers with this, and others who speak evil of
me.
21 But as for me, O God my Lord, for your name¡¯s sake, act on my behalf, de
liver me, in the goodness of your love.
22 For I am poor and needy, my heart is stricken within me.
23 Like an evening shadow, I fade away; like a locust, I am swept away.
24 My knees have become weak from fasting, my body is wasted of its
substance.
25 I have become the butt for the scorn of my foes; people shake their heads
at me in derision.
26 Help me, O Lord my God, and save me for the sake of your love.
27 Let them know that this is your hand, that it is you, Lord, who do this.
28 They may curse, but you will bless; when they attack, they will be
disgraced; but may your servant rejoice!
29 Let my accusers be clothed with dishonor; let them be wrapped in their
own shame.
30 To the Lord, I will give my thanks; I will praise him in the great
assembly.
31 He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save them from those who
condemn them.