¹ Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise; ² 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.

What would the Lord want the Father to do for Him?


2. The Lord Prays Against the Enemies (v. 6-20)

Our Lord had many enemies. Butone man stood out as so often is the case when we have many who oppose us. Theman who stood out as our Lord’s enemy was Judas Iscariot. He was not the leaderof the enemy band, but he stood out because what he did in betraying the Lordand returning evil for good to Him was by comparison far more sordid anddamnable than the open hatred of all the unbelieving Jews and leaders combined.

Our Lord therefore singled himout for imprecation:

⁶ Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. ⁷When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. ⁸Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

Verse8 is the verse referred to by the apostle Peter. Our Lord minces no words inHis imprecation against Judas. He did not pretend that Judas had only sinnedlightly. No, no; Judas sinned against the Son of Man.

“The Son ofman indeed goeth, as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Sonof man is betrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born” saysour Lord (Mk 14:21).

We will not elaborate on theimprecation. Suffice to say that our Lord felt that Judas deserved bothtemporal and eternal suffering for what he did. He deserved loss and shame uponthe earth. He deserved the wrath of God and the torment of Satan for eternity.

Why?Because he was a heartless man whose depravity showed itself shamelessly in hisrefusal to show mercy and his willingness to persecute the poor and needy (v.16). Our Lord was already suffering because of persecution. Judas would haveknown that. The Lord spoke of His impending death often. And His movement wasalso restricted because of those who sought to kill Him. But Judas did notcare. He would rather enrich himself than that the Master who taught him andprovided for him should be protected.

OurLord who is perfectly righteous and sinless could not overlook such a greatsin. Indeed, He would have the Father deal with all who would be ungrateful,cruel and wicked like Judas in the same way that He wants Judas to be dealtwith (v. 20).

Let all who are tempted toallow the depravity of the heart to do the unthinkable take heed. No professingbeliever can betray the Lord and His church and servants without graveconsequences.

^{But those who face persecution like the Lord, let them cry unto the Father like our Lord did. For consider thirdly, how…}

<sup>3. The Lord Pleads the Father’s Help

      21</sup> But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake: because thymercy is good, deliver thou me. ²² For I am poor and needy, and myheart is     wounded within me. ²³ I am gone like the shadow when itdeclineth.

OurLord was suffering. He was wounded in His heart and He was dying. His days weredeclining like a shadow as the sun goes down the horizon. He was bleeding andweakened by lack of food and water. The people around Him did not care. Theywagged their heads when they saw Him (v. 25). “And they that passed by reviledhim, wagging their heads.… He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if hewill have him: for he said, I am the Son of God” they jeered (Mt 27:39).

Butwhen there was no one to help. Yet the Father never fails.…

²⁶ Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: ²⁷That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.

TheFather would indeed hear His prayer. As the Son was bearing the sin of Hispeople; He would experience the Father’s wrath. Our Lord must have cringed atthis thought. He would suffer intensely. But He knew that His Father would hearHis prayer and vindicate Him. “Let thyservant rejoice” He says (v. 28).

Indeed,this thought of vindication and restoration evoked a beautiful conclusion tothis psalm of intense sadness and imprecation.

³⁰ I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise himamong the multitude.³¹ For he shall stand at the right hand of thepoor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.

Our Lord Jesus anticipated theFather’s vindication and restoration. He also looked forward to praising theLORD His Father in union with His people. Our Lord’s hope has been fulfilled.He was raised again from the dead on the third day. He ascended to the righthand of the throne of God to take the highest office that man can ever begiven. From there He sent the Holy Spirit upon His people.

Multitudes have been converted.Multitudes have praised the Father who raised the Lord for their justification.The Son will through the church, His body, praise the Father for Hiseverlasting love and salvation for all eternity.

Conclusion

This is Psalm 109. This is aPsalm with strong feelings. We live in a day when strong feelings andexpressions are considered politically incorrect and rude. But we must notforget that the sentiments of Psalm 109 are not the sentiments of a mere man,but the Son of God.

We may not use the sameimprecations against our personal enemies because we often make enemies due toour sin. But we may surely use the words of this psalm against the publicenemies of the Lord—both of false religions and the church of the antichrist.

But more than that, let us assimilate the Lord’s indignation towardssin against Christ and His church and not lightly overlook such sins. May theLord grant that our heart will beat with His heart beat—that we may hate whatHe hates and love what He loves! May we learn to weep where He weeps and hopeaccording to His Hope as a people united to Him on account of His blood shedfor us. Amen. Ω