<<  PSALM CIX. >>

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

1. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;
2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit
have they opened against me:
They have spoken unto me with a lying tongue.
3. They have compassed me about also with words of
hatred,
And fought against me without a cause.
4. For my love they are my adversaries:
But I give myself unto prayer.
5. And they have rewarded me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
6. Set thou a wicked man over him;
And let an adversary stand at his right hand.
7. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty;
And let his prayer be turned into 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 vagabonds, and beg;
And let them seek their bread out of their desolate
places.
11. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath;
And let strangers make spoil of his labor.
12. Let there be none to extend kindness unto him;
Neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless
children.
13. Let his posterity be cut off;
In the generation following let their name be blotted
out.
14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with
Jehovah;
And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15. Let them be before Jehovah continually,
That he may cut off the memory of them from the
earth;
16. Because he remembered not to show kindness,
But persecuted the poor and needy man,
And the broken in heart, to slay them.
17. Yea, he loved cursing, and it came unto him;
And he delighted not in blessing, and it was far from
him.
18. He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment,
And it came into his inward parts like water,
And like oil into his bones.
19. Let it be unto him as the raiment wTherewith he covereth
himself,
And for the girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
20. This is the reward of mine adversaries from Jehovah,
And of them that speak evil against my soul.
21. But deal thou with me, O Jehovah the Lord, for thy
name's sake:
Because thy lovingkindness is good, deliver thou me;

 

1. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;
2. For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit
have they opened against me:
They have spoken unto me with a lying tongue.
3. They have compassed me about also with words of
hatred,
And fought against me without a cause.
4. For my love they are my adversaries:
But I give myself unto prayer.

General Subject. Of the perverted Jewish church. P. P.
1-6. It repudiated the Lord, and considered Him vile, and hated Him. P. P.
2. See Psalm v. 7. A. 9013.
See Psalm v. 7. R. 624.
See Psalm v. 7. E. 866.

5. And they have rewarded me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
6. Set thou a wicked man over him;
And let an adversary stand at his right hand.
7. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty;
And let his prayer be turned into 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 vagabonds, and beg;
And let them seek their bread out of their desolate
places.

5, 6. This, like most other things in the Psalms, is a prophecy concerning the Lord and His temptations, and concerning the most cruel of all which He sustained. Since the Lord in His temptations fought from Divine love against the hells, which were most hostile to Him, it is said — see verse 5. — Since the most infernal evil and false prevail in those hells, it is said — see verse 6.— To stand at the right side signifies to be altogether possessed, and Satan — the infernal false with which he was to be possessed. E. 740.
7-12. They will perish in the judgment, and there will be others in their place, who will be received, and a church established with them. P. P.

11. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath;
And let strangers make spoil of his labor.
12. Let there be none to extend kindness unto him;
Neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless
children.
13. Let his posterity be cut off;
In the generation following let their name be blotted
out.
14. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with
Jehovah;
And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15. Let them be before Jehovah continually,
That he may cut off the memory of them from the
earth;
16. Because he remembered not to show kindness,
But persecuted the poor and needy man,
And the broken in heart, to slay them.
17. Yea, he loved cursing, and it came unto him;
And he delighted not in blessing, and it was far from
him.
18. He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment,
And it came into his inward parts like water,
And like oil into his bones.
19. Let it be unto him as the raiment wTherewith he covereth
himself,
And for the girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
20. This is the reward of mine adversaries from Jehovah,
And of them that speak evil against my soul.
21. But deal thou with me, O Jehovah the Lord, for thy
name's sake:

13-20. Their posterity will likewise perish because they are in falsities of evil, and because they reject the Lord. P. P.
14. See Psalm lxxviii. 57. A. 3703.
16. See Psalm ix. 19. R. 209.
See Psalm xxxvii. 14. E. 238.
18, 20. In the spiritual sense concerning the Lord, for David as a king represented the Lord, and thence signified Him as to the Divine spiritual, which is the royalty of the Lord. The reward of them who are hostile to the Lord, and who speak evil against His soul, is described as hell originating in the love of the false and evil by verse
18. It is said as waters and oil because waters signify the falses of faith, and oil evils of love, whence by both is understood the love or affection for the false and evil, which is hell. This may appear also from this consideration, that love imbibes all things that agree with it, like a sponge does water and oil, for the love of evil nourishes itself from falses, and the love of the false from evils. As love is of such a nature it is therefore said, that cursing entered into the midst of him as waters, and as oil between the bones.  E. 695.

22. For I am poor and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
23. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth:
I am tossed up and down as the locust.
24. My knees are wTeak through fasting;
And my flesh faileth of fatness.
25. I am become also a reproach unto them:
When they see me, they shake their head.
26. Help me, O Jehovah my God;
Oh save me according to thy lovingkindness:
27. That they may know that this is thy hand;
That thou, Jehovah, hast done it.
28. Let them curse, but bless thou:
When they arise, they shall be put to shame,
But thy servant shall rejoice.
29. Let mine adversaries be clothed with dishonor,
And let them cover themselves wTith their own shame
as with a robe.
30. I will give great thanks unto Jehovah with my mouth;
Yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
31. For he will stand at the right hand of the needy,
To save him from them that judge his soul.

21-25. To the Father for help, because He is considered vile, and as nothing. P. P.
22. See Psalm ix. 19. R. 209.
See Psalm ix. 19. E. 238.
22, 23. See Deuteronomy xxviii. 38. This was one of the curses with which the Israelites were threatened if they did not observe and do the commandments of Jehovah. By the seed of the field is understood the Word, and by the locust the dense falsity from the sensual man consuming and destroying it. The same is signified by locust in David. E. 543.
26-29. Let them be put to shame. P. P.
30. See Psalm xxxv. 17, 18. A. 3880.
30, 31. Song in praise of the Father, because He gives help. P. P.

Author: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)