Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 109:11

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 109:11. Let the strangers spoil his labour. — Many of these execrations were literally fulfilled in the case of the miserable Jews, after the death of our Lord. They were not only expelled from their own country, after the destruction of Jerusalem, but they were prohibited from returning; and so taxed by the Roman government, that they were reduced to the lowest degree of poverty. Domitian expelled them from Rome; and they were obliged to take up their habitation without the gate Capena, in a wood contiguous to the city, for which they were obliged to pay a rent, and where the whole of their property was only a basket and a little hay. See JUVENAL, Sat. ver. 11: -

Substitit ad veteres arcus, madidamque Capenam:

Hic ubi nocturne Numa constituebat amicae,

Nunc sacri fontis nemus, et delubra locantur

Judaeis: quorum cophinus, foenumque supellex:

Omnis enim populo mercedem pendere jussa est

Arbor, et ejectis mendicat silva Camoenis.

He stopped a little at the conduit gate,

Where Numa modelled once the Roman state;

In nightly councils with his nymph retired:

Though now the sacred shades and founts are hired

By banished Jews, who their whole wealth can lay

In a small basket, on a wisp of hay.

Yet such our avarice is, that every tree

Pays for his head; nor sleep itself is free;

Nor place nor persons now are sacred held,

From their own grove the Muses are expelled.

DRYDEN.

The same poet refers again to this wretched state of the Jews, Sat. vi., ver. 541; and shows to what vile extremities they were reduced in order to get a morsel of bread: -

Cum dedit ille locum, cophino foenoque relicto,

Arcanam Judaea tremens mendicat in aurem,

Interpres legum Solymarum, et magna sacerdos

Arboris, ac summi fida internuncia coeli.

Implet et illa manum, sed parcius, aere minuto.

Qualia cunque voles Judaei somnia vendunt.

Here a Jewess is represented as coming from the wood mentioned above, to gain a few oboli by fortune-telling; and, trembling lest she should be discovered, she leaves her basket and hay, and whispers lowly in the ear of some female, from whom she hopes employment in her line. She is here called by the poet the interpretess of the laws of Solymae, or Jerusalem, and the priestess of a tree, because obliged, with the rest of her nation, to lodge in a wood; so that she and her countrymen might be said to seek their bread out of desolate places, the stranger having spoiled their labour. Perhaps the whole of the Psalm relates to their infidelities, rebellions, and the miseries inflicted on them from the crucifixion of our Lord till the present time. I should prefer this sense, if what is said on Psalms 109:20 be not considered a better mode of interpretation.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 109:0 Those who afflict others

David complains to God about the unjust attacks of his opponents and the false accusations they bring against him (1-3). He has no desire for personal revenge; rather he has shown love for his enemies and has prayed for them (4-5).

Nevertheless, in the prayer that follows, David uses strong language as he pleads for justice to be done. With the cruelty of his enemies increasing, he hands the case over to God, the righteous judge, who will repay the wicked for their wickedness. In particular David has in mind the leader of his accusers (6-7). (See section ‘Curses on the wicked’ that follows notes on Psalms 7:0.) The evildoer will receive fitting justice if he suffers the sorrows he intended to bring upon David. The curses listed here display the character of the aggressor and the evil he intended to do to David and his family (8-15). The man ruthlessly persecuted those who could not defend themselves, and deserves a punishment that is similarly ruthless (16-20).

As for David, he is weak, sick and despised, as helpless as an insect about to be blown away. Only God can save him now (21-25). He wants God to save him and punish his persecutors in such a way that people will see the events as the direct work of God (26-29). True justice is found with God alone. David is therefore confident that God will rescue him (30-31).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Let his children be vagabonds, and beg; And let them seek their bread out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; And let strangers make spoil of his labor. Let there be none to extend kindness to him; Neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; In the generation following let their name be blotted out."

These imprecations run counter to the Christian conception that all young children are innocent. As Jesus stated it, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for unto such belongs the kingdom of heaven."

"Let strangers make spoil of his labor" It becomes clear here why David prayed that it might be a wicked judge who would try his enemy and sentence him to death. "The strangers, not subject to Hebrew law, would take advantage of his condemnation to death and appear with all kinds of claims against his estate, whether valid or not. It would matter little, for the claims would be sustained by the wicked judge, to whom they will give a share of the spoil."International Critical Commentary, Vol. II, p. 370.

"Let his posterity be cut off… their name be blotted out" "His prayer is that his orphaned children will be reprobates, banished from home, doomed to a speedy death, because of destitution, exposure and hunger."Ibid.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Let the extortioner catch all that he hath - literally, “Let the extortioner cast a snare over all that he hath;” that is, let him seize all his property. The word rendered “catch” - נקשׁ nâqash - is a word which means to lay a snare, as for birds and wild animals, and hence, it means to ensnare, to entrap, to catch. The word rendered “extortioner” means literally one who lends or borrows money; a money-loaner; in our times, a “broker.” Here it refers to one who loaned money on interest; or who took advantage of the necessities of others to lend money at high rates - thus sooner or later seizing upon and securing the property of another. The prayer here is, that he might be in such circumstances as to make it necessary to fall into the hands of those who would thus come into possession of all his property.

And let the strangers spoil his labor - Let strangers “plunder” his labor; that is, the fruit of his labor. Let them seize and possess what he has earned and gained to enjoy it themselves. The remarks made on Psalms 109:10, will apply to this verse and the following.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 109:1-31 makes me glad that I'm not an enemy of David. For this is one of those psalms where he really takes off again against his enemies, and I mean he goes after them with tongs.

Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue ( Psalms 109:1-2 ).

So these people were talking about David. They were lying about David. And he's saying, "God, don't hold Your peace. Get angry with them."

For they compassed me about also with words of hatred; and they fought against me without a cause. For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer ( Psalms 109:3-4 ).

Oh, what wisdom there is in verse Psalms 109:4 . I've loved them, but they've become my adversaries. And so I will give myself unto prayer. Rather than striking out against them in kind, rather than trying to get vengeance myself, rather than getting involved, how much better if I will just give myself to prayer. Oh, how many times I wish I'd given myself to prayer rather than getting involved.

You see, it is the trick of Satan to draw you in to a physical conflict, to get you at odds, to get you in this physical area of bantering back and forth. Satan is constantly trying to draw you into the physical arena to do battle with you. Why? Because if he can get you in the flesh, he can clean up on you like nobody's business. Every time he gets me in the flesh, he gives me such a beating you'd think I'd learn not to get in the flesh. But he's always seeking to draw me into the flesh. For he has a decided advantage over me.

Now David said, "I will give myself unto prayer." I'm going to stay in the Spirit. Oh, how important that I stay in the Spirit, because in the spirit realm, I have a decided advantage over him. For you see, he was defeated at the cross. And if I can just stay in the Spirit, I can just wipe him out with the victory of Jesus Christ upon the cross. And prayer is actually the big guns of the Spirit by which I can defeat the enemy.

Now, the world is filled with spirits. And spirits have a decided advantage over us in many ways. For spirits are not bound by the time, space, material things by which we are bound. As we've gathered together here tonight, there are many spirits that have gathered here also, lot of angels around the place tonight. Because they're very curious at the work that God has done in your life, and they desire to look into it.

Peter, in talking about the grace and the goodness of God towards us, he said, "Which things the angels desire to look into" ( 1 Peter 1:12 ). And if He has "given His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. To bear thee up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone" ( Psalms 91:11-12 ), that means the angels are here tonight. You know, they're watching over you. They'll be watching over you as you go home tonight.

But there are also other spirits that are here tonight. Spirits that are antagonistic to you as a child of God. Seeking to bring hurt and harm. And in the spirit realm, there is a real warfare that is going on. You remember when Daniel decided to fast and pray and wait upon God. After twenty-one days, the angel came and said, "Daniel, you know, twenty-one days ago when you started this fast, God sent me down here to bring you the answers. But, man, that prince of Persia got hold of me," talking about Satan, "and he took me captive and he held me for twenty-one days until Michael, that great prince, came and set me free. But now I'm come to tell you the things that the Lord wants to reveal unto you. The things that you had upon your heart. God dispatched me. There was a warfare. I got captured for a while until Michael came."

There is a fierce warfare going on in the spiritual realm. But that warfare was climaxed at the cross. In that, on the cross, Jesus defeated the spirit forces of Satan and darkness. In Colossians, chapter 2, we are told that He triumphed over the principalities and powers, which are names for spiritual entities, spiritual forces. He said He triumphed over them through the cross, making an open display of His victory as He triumphed over them in the cross. So that Satan is a defeated foe. So that if I stay in the spiritual realm, I have a decided advantage over Satan because he was defeated at the cross, and I can come against him in the power of the victory of Jesus Christ. And he's got to back down. He's got to back down. He was defeated at the cross.

Now these spirit forces, as I say, are not restricted to time and space and material obstacles as are we. Therefore, they have a decided advantage over us. Some of the spirits that are here tonight visiting with us in this service could quite possibly have been over a few moments ago watching the Syrian troops at the border of Jordan to see if anything was going to happen tonight. When nothing was going to happen, they decided, "Come on over, let's go to Calvary Chapel to see what's happening there tonight, you know." And as fast as you can think it, because they are not bound by, despite the time, space limitations as we are, as fast as you can think it, they were here. You see, they can they can get around really in a hurry. And if things get boring here, they might head for China or something and see what's going on there tonight, or tomorrow morning which over there.

Now, when we came in tonight, we came in through the doors. Hopefully. But the spirits that are here, they came through the ceiling or through the walls, or actually, if they were in China they may have just made a shortcut and come right through, because they are not restricted by material obstacles. They are able to pass through.

Now, it is difficult to fight with an enemy that you can't see. That can only bring spiritual pressures. That you can only feel but without being able to see them, it's extremely difficult to fight against them. But we have spiritual weapons. The Bible said, "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal," they're not fleshly, "but they are mighty through God to the pulling down of the strongholds of the enemy" ( 2 Corinthians 10:4 ). And the big gun in the spiritual warfare is prayer.

And it is interesting, because the prayer itself takes on the nature of a spirit in that the prayer does not become restricted to time or space or material. So that we can pray here tonight for a friend in Florida who is maybe going through a real spiritual trial. The enemy is really oppressing them, giving them a bad time. I can go into my closet. I can get on my knees. And I can begin to intercede for my friend in Florida. And as I pray for them, my prayer takes on the nature of a spirit in that it goes immediately to Florida, right into the home where they are and begins to do business for God right there in their house. Driving back the forces of darkness. Binding the forces of the enemy, and releasing God's work in their lives. Doing spiritual battle.

And so God has given us weapons whereby we have a decided advantage over the enemy. But whenever he gets you into the flesh, then he has the advantage. And Satan is always trying to get us into the flesh for that reason. So the best thing when someone is lying about me, someone is trying to cut me down and all, the best thing you can do is what David did, give yourself to prayer. Don't get into the physical. You'll only get wiped out. But retreat into prayer, and man, you can blast him to pieces and they don't even know where it's coming from. As you enter into the spiritual warfare and you do battle in the spirit through prayer. Oh, the change that you can bring in the lives of people.

Several years ago there was a United States senator from Missouri, very popular senator. He had a very keen mind. And he was sitting in the Senate in Washington during an especially busy session. His wife was in a prayer group with some ladies in their home state in Missouri. And her husband, because of his popularity, was actually being considered as a possible candidate for the presidency of the United States. One day, she and a group of the ladies at the prayer meeting decided that they were going to band together to pray for her husband's salvation. A brilliant man, but he was an atheist.

And so these ladies began every day at ten o'clock, no matter what they were doing, they would stop and agree together in prayer that God would get hold of the heart of this lady's husband and bring him to Jesus Christ. Binding the work of the enemy that had blinded him; was holding him captive. During the Congressional recess, he came home. And on Sunday as she got up to go to church, she was surprised that he also got up. And she said, "Well, where are you going today?" He said, "I'm going to church with you." And it rather surprised her, but she played it cool. And that morning in the service, when the invitation was given, he went forward to publicly receive Jesus Christ.

And, of course, she was absolutely ecstatic, as were all of the ladies that were in her prayer group who had been praying for his salvation. Afterwards, she told him of this prayer pact that these ladies had made. He said, "When did you start?" And so she said, "Well, let's see, it was you know, Tuesday afternoon or Tuesday morning, and let's see, it was just before... " and she figured out the date and she said, "March the twelfth, ten o'clock, Tuesday morning."

He pulled out his diary to that date and with the time difference, he said, "Though I am sitting here in the Senate," in his diary, "and there is debate going on, suddenly I have become conscious of a great need in my life for God." Spirit force, the Spirit power by which lives can be changed.

"I will give myself," the psalmist said, "unto prayer." The wisest thing you can do. Now I don't really believe that you should give yourself to prayer as the psalmist did. For he says in verse Psalms 109:5 , concerning the wicked and his enemies,

They have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. [Therefore, Lord,] Set a wicked man over him: let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, condemn him: and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he has; and let the strangers spoil his labor. And let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any favor for his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and the needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing like with a garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. Let it be unto him as the garment which covers him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. Let this be the reward of my adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul ( Psalms 109:5-20 ).

Boy, he's really out for blood! How far this is, of course, from the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, who said, "Bless those that curse you, do good unto those that despitefully use you" ( Matthew 5:44 ). But this is David, and this is what I feel many times when someone's done me wrong. I feel, "Lord, give them one." So though I can identify with the prayer, yet I realize that this is not the new nature in Christ of forgiveness. Realizing how much God has forgiven me, I also am to forgive.

Now, "Let another take his office," verse Psalms 109:8 . In the first chapter of the book of Acts, after Jesus had ascended into heaven and the disciples were meeting together in Jerusalem waiting for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Peter said to them, "You know, it's necessary that we get someone to take Judas' place who by transgression fell. For, the scriptures said, 'Let another take his bishopric,'" ( Acts 1:20 ). And Peter is quoting this particular psalm, verse Psalms 109:8 , "Let another take his office," and he applies it unto Judas Iscariot. And as you read David's vilification against this traitor, the man who lied against him and all, Satan standing at his right hand, condemned and all, there is a shadow of Judas behind it.

Now David prayed that for his enemies, but now he's praying for himself in verse Psalms 109:21 , and he sure changes the tune.

But for me, O God the LORD, do for me for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, my heart is wounded within me. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth ( Psalms 109:21-23 ):

Referring to the sundial.

I am tossed up and down as the locust. My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness ( Psalms 109:23-24 ).

I'm skinny and weak.

I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me they shaked their heads ( Psalms 109:25 ).

And if you go over there today, you'll see them when they are fighting with each other or talking with each other, they just shake their heads violently as they're yelling at one another.

Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it. Let them curse, but You bless: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let your servant rejoice. Let my adversaries be clothed with shame; and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle. And I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul ( Psalms 109:26-31 ).

Interesting psalm. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 109

This individual lament is one of the imprecatory psalms in which the writer called on God to avenge his enemies (cf. Psalms 3:7; Psalms 5:10; Psalms 6:10; Psalms 7:14-16; Psalms 28:4-5; Psalms 31:17-18; Psalms 37:2; Psalms 37:9-10; Psalms 37:15; Psalms 37:20; Psalms 37:35-36; Psalms 40:14-15; Psalms 54:5; Psalms 55:9; Psalms 55:15; Psalms 55:23; Psalms 59:12-13; Psalms 63:9-11; Psalms 64:7-9; Psalms 71:13; Psalms 79:6; Psalms 79:12; Psalms 139:19-22; Psalms 140:9-10). [Note: See Day, "The Imprecatory . . .," pp. 176-80.]

"Whereas Psalms 88 is preoccupied with the absence and silence of God, Psalms 109 is concerned for vindictiveness toward other human beings who have seriously violated the speaker. I group them together because I believe the two psalms embody the main problems of Christian faith: the problem of trusting a God who seems not available, and the problem of caring for a neighbor who is experienced as enemy." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 81.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The psalmist prayed that God would do several specific things to avenge him. He asked God to return what his enemy was doing to him back on himself. He wanted a wicked man to oppose and accuse him. He wanted God to judge his enemy guilty and put him to death. He also asked that God punish his wife and children for his wickedness. In the future he hoped no one would remember him and that he would have no descendants. Having one’s family name terminated was considered to be a great tragedy in the ancient Near East. [Note: See Childs, p. 71.]

It seems inappropriate for David to ask God to punish children for the sins of their fathers, since God specifically forbade this in the Mosaic Law (cf. Deuteronomy 26:12-14). Perhaps David prayed contrary to God’s will, allowing his hatred to get the better of him. Even though the Bible records many things that it does not condone, there is nothing in this text that would suggest that David was not praying in the will of God. Another explanation is that he was praying in hyperbole. In other words, he did not really mean what he was saying but used extreme language to communicate his strong feelings. However, he did not just make one statement about his enemy’s wife and children but developed this desire in considerable detail. This seems to indicate that he meant what he said. I think the best explanation is that David’s concern in these requests was his enemy rather than his enemy’s wife and children. He said what he did as a punishment on his enemy, not because his hatred of his enemy extended to his wife and children. David seems to have been anticipating various consequences that his enemy would experience because of God’s judgment. [Note: See my comments on the strong language in the imprecatory psalms at the beginning of these notes.]

"One might think the punishment should be confined to the individual and that his family should not have to suffer for his crimes. However, in ancient Semitic thought a man and his offspring were inseparably bound together so that the actions of the former could influence the destiny of the latter. Of course, one sees this principle at work in the world every day and, not surprisingly, it permeates the Bible as well." [Note: Chisholm, "A Theology . . .," p. 280, n. 35.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. Imprecations on foes 109:6-20

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Let the extortioner catch all that he hath,.... Or, "lay a snare for all" c; as the Romans did, by bringing in their army, invading the land of Judea, and besieging the city of Jerusalem; who are "the extortioner or exacter that demanded tribute of them"; which they refused to pay, and therefore they seized on all they had for it. The Syriac and Arabic versions render it, "the creditor"; who sometimes for a debt would take wife and children, and all that a man had; see 2 Kings 4:1. It might be literally true of Judas; who dying in debt, his wife and children, and all he had, might be laid hold on for payment.

And let the stranger spoil his labour; plunder his house of all his goods and substance he had been labouring for: which was true of the Romans, who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; who came into the land, and spoiled their houses, fields, and vineyards, they had been labouring in; they took away their place and nation, and all they had, John 11:48.

c ינקש "illaqueet", Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Piscator, Gejerus; "iretiat", Vatablus, Michaelis.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      6 Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.   7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.   8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.   9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.   10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.   11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.   12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.   13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.   14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.   15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.   16 Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.   17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.   18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.   19 Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.   20 Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.

      David here fastens upon some one particular person that was worse than the rest of his enemies, and the ringleader of them, and in a devout and pious manner, not from a principle of malice and revenge, but in a holy zeal for God and against sin and with an eye to the enemies of Christ, particularly Judas who betrayed him, whose sin was greater than Pilate's that condemned him (John 19:11), he imprecates and predicts his destruction, foresees and pronounces him completely miserable, and such a one as our Saviour calls him, A son of perdition. Calvin speaks of it as a detestable piece of sacrilege, common in his time among Franciscan friars and other monks, that if any one had malice against a neighbour he might hire some of them to curse him every day, which he would do in the words of these verses; and particularly he tells of a lady in France who, being at variance with her own and only son, hired a parcel of friars to curse him in these words. Greater impiety can scarcely be imagined than to vent a devilish passion in the language of sacred writ, to kindle strife with coals snatched from God's altar, and to call for fire from heaven with a tongue set on fire of hell.

      I. The imprecations here are very terrible--woe, and a thousand woes, to that man against whom God says Amen to them; and they are all in full force against the implacable enemies and persecutors of God's church and people, that will not repent, to give him glory. It is here foretold concerning this bad man,

      1. That he should be cast and sentenced as a criminal, with all the dreadful pomp of a trial, conviction, and condemnation (Psalms 109:6; Psalms 109:7): Set thou a wicked man over him, to be as cruel and oppressive to him as he has been to others; for God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another, to spoil the spoilers and to deal treacherously with those that have dealt treacherously. Set the wicked one over him (so some), that is, Satan, as it follows; and then it was fulfilled in Judas, into whom Satan entered, to hurry him into sin first and then into despair. Set his own wicked heart over him, set his own conscience against him; let that fly in his face. Let Satan stand on his right hand, and be let loose against him to deceive him, as he did Ahab to his destruction, and then to accuse him and resist him, and then he is certainly cast, having no interest in that advocate who alone can say, The Lord rebuke thee, Satan (Zechariah 3:1; Zechariah 3:2); when he shall be judged at men's bar let not his usual arts to evade justice do him any service, but let his sin find him out and let him be condemned; nor shall he escape before God's tribunal, but be condemned there when the day of inquisition and recompence shall come. Let his prayer become sin, as the clamours of a condemned malefactor not only find no acceptance, but are looked upon as an affront to the court. The prayers of the wicked now become sin, because soured with the leaven of hypocrisy and malice; and so they will in the great day, because then it will be too late to cry, Lord, Lord, open to us. Let every thing be turned against him and improved to his disadvantage, even his prayers.

      2. That, being condemned, he should be executed as a most notorious malefactor. (1.) That he should lose his life, and the number of his months be cut off in the midst, by the sword of justice: Let his days be few, or shortened, as a condemned criminal has but a few days to live (Psalms 109:8; Psalms 109:8); such bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. (2.) That consequently all his places should be disposed of to others, and they should enjoy his preferments and employments: Let another take his office. This Peter applies to the filling up of Judas's place in the truly sacred college of the apostles, by the choice of Matthias, Acts 1:20. Those that mismanage their trusts will justly have their office taken from them and given to those that will approve themselves faithful. (3.) That his family should be beheaded and beggared, that his wife should be made a widow and his children fatherless, by his untimely death, Psalms 109:9; Psalms 109:9. Wicked men, by their wicked courses, bring ruin upon their wives and children, whom they ought to take care of and provide for. Yet his children, if, when they lost their father, they had a competency to live upon, might still subsist in comfort; but they shall be vagabonds and shall beg; they shall not have a house of their own to live in, nor any certain dwelling-place, nor know where to have a meal's-meat, but shall creep out of their desolate places with fear and trembling, like beasts out of their dens, to seek their bread (Psalms 109:10; Psalms 109:10), because they are conscious to themselves that all mankind have reason to hate them for their father's sake. (4.) That his estate should be ruined, as the estates of malefactors are confiscated (Psalms 109:11; Psalms 109:11): Let the extortioner, the officer, seize all that he has and let the stranger, who was nothing akin to his estate, spoil his labour, either for his crimes or for his debts, Job 5:4; Job 5:5. (5.) That his posterity should be miserable. Fatherless children, though they have nothing of their own, yet sometimes are well provided for by the kindness of those whom God inclines to pity them; but this wicked man having never shown mercy there shall be none to extend mercy to him, by favouring his fatherless children when he is gone, Psalms 109:12; Psalms 109:12. The children of wicked parents often fare the worse for their parents' wickedness in this way that the bowels of men's compassion are shut up from them, which yet ought not to be, for why should children suffer for that which was not their fault, but their infelicity? (6.) That his memory should be infamous, and buried in oblivion and disgrace (Psalms 109:13; Psalms 109:13): Let his posterity be cut off; let his end be to destruction (so Dr. Hammond); and in the next generation let their name be blotted out, or remembered with contempt and indignation, and (Psalms 109:15; Psalms 109:15) let an indelible mark of disgrace be left upon it. See here what hurries some to shameful deaths, and brings the families and estates of others to ruin, makes them and their despicable and odious, and entails poverty, and shame, and misery, upon their posterity; it is sin, that mischievous destructive thing. The learned Dr. Hammond applies this to the final dispersion and desolation of the Jewish nation for their crucifying Christ; their princes and people were cut off, their country was laid waste, and their posterity were made fugitives and vagabonds.

      II. The ground of these imprecations bespeaks them very just, though they sound very severe. 1. To justify the imprecations of vengeance upon the sinner's posterity, the sin of his ancestors is here brought into the account (Psalms 109:14; Psalms 109:15), the iniquity of his fathers and the sin of his mother. These God often visits even upon the children's children, and is not unrighteous therein: when wickedness has long run in the blood justly does the curse run along with it. Thus all the innocent blood that had been shed upon the earth, from that of righteous Abel, was required from that persecuting generation, who, by putting Christ to death, filled up the measure of their fathers, and left as long a train of vengeance to follow them as the train of guilt was that went before them, which they themselves agreed to by saying, His blood be upon us and on our children. 2. To justify the imprecations of vengeance upon the sinner himself, his own sin is here charged upon him, which called aloud for it. (1.) He had loved cruelty, and therefore give him blood to drink (Psalms 109:16; Psalms 109:16): He remembered not to show mercy, remembered not those considerations which should have induced him to show mercy, remembered not the objects of compassion that had been presented to him, but persecuted the poor, whom he should have protected and relieved, and slew the broken in heart, whom he should have comforted and healed. Here is a barbarous man indeed, not it to live. (2.) He had loved cursing, and therefore let the curse come upon his head, Psalms 109:17-19; Psalms 109:17-19. Those that were out of the reach of his cruelty he let fly at with his curses, which were impotent and ridiculous; but they shall return upon him. He delighted not in blessing; he took no pleasure in wishing well to others, nor in seeing others do well; he would give nobody a good word or a good wish, much less would he do any body a good turn; and so let all good be far from him. He clothed himself with cursing; he was proud of it as an ornament that he could frighten all about him with the curses he was liberal of; he confided in it as armour, which would secure him from the insults of those he feared. And let him have enough of it. Was he fond of cursing? Let God's curse come into his bowels like water and swell him as with a dropsy, and let it soak like oil into his bones. The word of the curse is quick and powerful, and divides between the joints and the marrow; it works powerfully and effectually; it fastens on the soul; it is a piercing thing, and there is no antidote against it. Let is compass him on every side as a garment,Psalms 109:19; Psalms 109:19. Let God's cursing him be his shame, as his cursing his neighbour was his pride; let it cleave to him as a girdle, and let him never be able to get clear of it. Let it be to him like the waters of jealousy, which caused the belly to swell and the thigh to rot. This points at the utter ruin of Judas, and the spiritual judgments which fell on the Jews for crucifying Christ. The psalmist concludes his imprecations with a terrible Amen, which signifies not only, "I wish it may be so," but "I know it shall be so." Let this be the reward of my adversaries from the Lord,Psalms 109:20; Psalms 109:20. And this will be the reward of all the adversaries of the Lord Jesus; his enemies that will not have him to reign over them shall be brought forth and slain before him. And he will one day recompense tribulation to those that trouble his people.