Psalms 109:13

Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. -God's visitation on the wicked man's property (Psalms 109:11); on his name and memorial (Psalms 109:13). The inspired prophetic prayer rests on the principle that divine justice is an all-consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29), which does not rest until it has utterly extirpated the hardened transgressor. Verse 11. AND LET THE STRANGER SPOIL HIS LABOUR - the fruit of "his labour:" instead of his own family and kindred enjoying it. Verse 12. LET THERE BE NONE TO EXTEND MERCY UNTO HIM - as a creditor does to a debtor; or an almsgiver does to the...

13._Let his posterity be cut off. _This is a continuation of the same subject, upon the consideration of which the prophet had just now entered, that God would visit the iniquities of the fathers upon their children. And as he had to deal with the whole court of Saul, and not with any single individual, he here employs the plural number. But as in deeds of wickedness, there are always some who are the prime movers, and act as the ringleaders of others, we need not be surprised that having spoken of one person, he next addresses the many, and then returns to the same person. The more natural and simple mode of explanation is to refer it to his offspring, for the Hebrew term which signifies _posterity _is collective, implying a multitude, and not a single individual only. This is a heavier imprecation than the former. It sometimes happens, that a family, overthrown by an unexpected disaste...

21-31 The psalmist takes God's comforts to himself, but in a very humble manner. He was troubled in mind. His body was wasted, and almost worn away. But it is better to have leanness in the body, while the soul prospers and is in health, than to have leanness in the soul, while the body is feasted. He was ridiculed and reproached by his enemies. But if God bless us, we need not care who curses us; for how can they curse whom God has not cursed; nay, whom he has blessed? He pleads God's glory, and the honour of his name. Save me, not according to my merit, for I pretend to none, but according to thy-mercy. He concludes with the joy of faith, in assurance that his present conflicts would end in triumphs. Let all that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him. Jesus, unjustly put to death, and now risen again, is an Advocate and Intercessor for his people...

Verse Psalms 109:13. _LET HIS POSTERITY BE CUT OFF_] It is a fact that the _distinction_ among the Jewish tribes in entirely lost. Not a Jew in the world knows from what tribe he is sprung; and as to the royal family, it remains nowhere but in the person of Jesus the Messiah. He _alone_ is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Except as it exists in him, _the name is blotted out_....

LET HIS POSTERITY BE CUT OFF - To have a numerous posterity, to have the name and family perpetuated, was regarded among the Hebrews as one of the greatest and most desirable blessings. Hence, to pray that all one’s family might be cut off was one of the severest forms of malediction which could be employed. AND IN THE GENERATION FOLLOWING - The very next generation. Let not his family be perpetuated at all. LET THEIR NAME BE BLOTTED OUT - As a name is erased from a catalogue or muster-roll when one dies....

EXPOSITION THE title of this psalm—"To the chief musician, a psalm of David"—is thought to be not inappropriate. We may have here David's own appeal to God against his persecutors, and especially against a chief persecutor, who may be Saul, or Doeg, or Ahithophel, or Shimei. The psalm opens with mingled complaint and prayer. The adversaries are spoken of in the plural (Psalms 109:2). They have abused and maligned the writer, have returned evil for the good that he has sought to do them, and given him hatred for his love (Psalms 109:5). The psalmist, in return, utters against them, or rather against his chief persecutor, a series of male dictions (Psalms 109:6) which constitute a stand

LET HIS POSTERITY BE CUT OFF,.... As the seed of the wicked are said to be, Psalms 37:28, or cut down, as a tree to the very root; as the Jewish nation was by the axe of God's judgment, which, John says, was laid to the root of the tree, and the blow just going to be given, as it was in a few years after, Matthew 3:10 or, as the Targum, "let his end be for destruction;'' and so the Syriac version, "let their end be for destruction"; their last end, which it is said shall be cut off, and issue in death, eternal death; when the end of a good man is peace and eternal life, see Psalms 37:37. AND IN THE GENERATION FOLLOWING LET THEIR NAME BE BLOTTED OUT: or, in another age d; the nex

PSALM 109-113 Psalms 109 Christ in Humiliation _ 1. Despised and rejected (Psalms 109:1)_ 2. The rejectors and their fate (Psalms 109:6) 3. The Christ in His sorrow (Psalms 109:21) The five Psalms which are next grouped together belong to the most interesting in the whole collection. They give a marvellous prophecy concerning Christ, His rejection, exaltation and coming glory. In Psalms 109:1 we see Him rejected. In Psalms 110:

CIX. A PSALM OF CURSING. This Ps. is further than anything else in the whole Psalter from the spirit of Christianity. It falls into three parts: Psalms 109:1. The Psalmist's distress in persecution; Psalms 109:6. Bitter curses against his foes; in Psalms 109:21 he recurs to his suffering but is confident of final deliverance. Note that in Psalms 109:6 he does not merely assert that God will punish. Had he done so, he would have felt his pain of body and soul much softened. As it is, he is in utter wretchedness, and curses his foes in the anguish of his spirit. No doubt he regards his enemies as utterly wicked. But we do not

THEIR NAME. Some codices, with Septuagint and Vulgate, read "His name"....