Psalm 109 Revisited and Corrected

(We will return to our study of Character Traits in tomorrow's post, Lord willing.)

I would like to revisit Psalm 109.  In yesterday’s post we talked about “imprecatory” Psalms and what David was trying to do.  While you were reading that, I was in Psalm 109 and seeing the Psalm in a completely different light.  Then I went back in the evening to read the blog that I had written several years ago, and rejoiced that the Lord had not given up on me.  What I am saying is that I think I really missed the boat.  Here is what I see in Psalm 109 now.

 ·        109:1-5: There is not a word in these verses that Jesus could not have spoken from His cross.  Verses 2-4 are somewhat of a summary of what comes in the rest of the Psalm.  He is not talking about the Romans.  When He arrived at Golgotha He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  These words did not apply to the religious leaders, the shepherds of Israel.  They did know.  In the final days in Jerusalem leading up to the Cross Jesus warned the people of what was coming because of their rejection of Him.

 ·        109:6-13: In this paragraph we have a clue.  Peter quoted v8b in Acts 1 when they were choosing a replacement for Judas.  But I know there are many who read these OT quotes and think that the Apostles just pulled these words out of context because they fit what they were doing.  If you follow our blog, you know that we don’t believe that at all.  All the NT quotes come from OT contexts that perfectly fit their point.  Verse 6 begins, “Set a wicked man over him.”  It’s singular.  You can read this stanza again and hear Jesus speaking these words about His betrayer.

 ·        109:14-20: Now look at v14: Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.  The Psalm now moves to those who used Judas, the shepherds of Israel, the religious leaders.  They were Jesus’ “accusers” (v20).  They brought Jesus to Pilate and demanded that he crucify Him. 

 ·        109:21-25: You can now hear these words from the cross of Christ.  This is an expanded version of “into Thy hands I commit My spirit.” 

 ·        109:26-31: And finally, we can hear Jesus pray that God would make it clear that He, God, was at work in all of this.  He concludes by speaking of future ministry beyond the cross and the grace.  This fits Psalm 22 (v22-31) and Isa. 53 (v10-12).

 Now lest you think we are making this too much about Messiah and not enough about David, let me remind you of two things.  1) Jesus was tempted/tested in all points like we are.  From just a human point of view, David did not experience anything in the way of testing that Christ did not also experience.  We should expect to see Jesus in the testimony of David.  2) Jesus is the “end of the line” of the Davidic Covenant.  David experienced the rage of proud men (Ps. 2:1-3) and trusted in the promise of God for victory over the nations (Ps. 2:4-9).  But we know that Psalm 2 is a most powerful Messianic Psalm.  Thus, again, we should expect to see David, when he is at his best, showing us what the Messiah would experience.  Psalm 109, like all Scripture, is best understood with a focus on Christ.