40. Healing For A Wounded Heart Psalm 109
PSALM 109
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 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. 3 They 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 untoprayer. 5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. 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; andlet 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 breadalso 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; andin 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 shew 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 whichcovereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. 20 Letthis bethe reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul. 21 But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy isgood, deliver thou me. 22 For I ampoor 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 weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness. 25 I became also a reproach unto them: whenthey looked upon me they shaked their heads. 26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy: 27 That they may know that this isthy hand; thatthou, LORD, hast done it. 28 Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice. 29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle. 30 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. 31 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save himfrom those that condemn his soul.
HEALING FOR A WOUNDED HEART
OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
The heart that is wounded and hurt by the slander (v2), hatred (v3) and ingratitude (v4-5) can be restored through prayer. These inner promptings of the heart expressed in Holy Writ shows to us how we can find peace and joy amidst a world filled with sin and hatred as Jesus said of the end times, Matthew 24:12 “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Where God’s love is not present, there is hatred and strife. It is a state of spiritual rebellion that we are seeing in the world around us.
This is the strongest and last of the imprecatory psalms 7, 35, 55, 58, 59, 69, 79, 109. The psalmist invoked God’s just and righteous judgement to the wicked. He pleads God’s sovereign intervention that the righteous may see the justice of God. You may ask, why does the psalmist seek to hurt someone? We note that all imprecatory psalms are prayers to God. Question is therefore is it right to utter such curses to those that hurt us? Is not Old Testament law like Leviticus 19:17-18 contradicted? “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” We would like to note the faith of the psalmist to seek God’s help without a retaliatory intent. They signify a holy, moral indignation on the part of the psalmist, seeking just retribution. David here submits to God the vindication of his innocence.
(1) Grievances Given
The mouth metaphorically speaking is an opening into the inner person, a window through which the soul may be viewed, the human heart is revealed by a person’s mouth. The mouth reveals moral character. [Dictionary of Biblical Imagery] Our Lord exposes the religious leaders of Israel when He said in Matthew 12:34 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Isaiah, a man of unclean lips, was cleansed when a live coal touched him signifying purification. How as Christians, we need to reflect the cleansing that comes within our hearts when we examine our hearts and repent of our sins. David says Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”
Here, David is overwhelmed by the mouth of those who speaks deceit and lies (v2) against him. He is at the receiving end of hatred (v3a). He sees that there is no good reason for this cruel hatred, he examined his heart and could not identify a just cause (v3b). To top it all, he received hatred for the love that he showed. It cuts the heart asunder, the hurt of ingratitude.
As we examine our own lives, there can be times when we face untold opposition and oppression for being a child of God and choosing to obey Him, what do we do? As we ponder, it must bring us to our Lord Christ, who endured the great humiliation and suffering to cleanse us of our sins in the sight of our Holy God. We cry out to our Lord for help.
“When he was attacked in a cruel and hostile manner, he did not betake himself to such unlawful means as the rendering of evil for evil, but committed himself into the hand of god, fully satisfied that He alone could guard him for all ill…The Holy Spirit, however, restrains us, so that though oftentimes provoked by the cruelty of our enemies to seek revenge, we yet abandon all fraudulent and violent means, and betake ourselves to God alone.” (Calvin)
As the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
(2) Vengeance Sought (v6-20)
How many curses can you count in this section? There are at least 20. How can we treat these words of vengeance uttered by David? Calvin helps us to rightly view these curses when he said, “Respecting the imprecations contained in this psalm, it will be proper to keep in mind what I have said elsewhere, that when David forms such maledictions, or expresses his desires for them, he is not instigated by any immoderate carnal propensity, nor is he actuated by zeal without knowledge, nor is he influenced by any private personal considerations. These three matters must be carefully weighed, for in proportion to the amount of self-esteem which a man possesses, is he so enamoured with his own interests as to rush headlong upon revenge.”
He has experienced unjust persecution and his heart is broken. He experienced cursing from evil man and he is at his wit’s end. The utterance of these words is as it were pleadings for God’s intervention that justice be meted. Alas, vengeance is of the LORD. We see fit, God is the best Judge. We appeal to Him.
(3) Wounded Heart Administered (v21-29)
22 For I ampoor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
He acknowledges that he is poor and needy. He is broken in heart (v16) and wounded (v22). He sought healing and solace for his aching heart. He described himself as a locust, individually insignificant, crushable (v23), weak (v24), despised (v25). He appealed to God’s mercy (v26) to see God’s hand of deliverance for him (v27). He asked God to restore the joy in his heart (v28) and confound his enemies with shame for their mistreatment of him (v29).
(4) Praise Restored (v30-31)
30 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. 31 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save himfrom those that condemn his soul.
He is convinced in his heart of God’s faithfulness to vindicate the oppressed and needy among God’s people. Therefore his heart will rejoice. It is when he has cast his burdens upon the LORD that God’s peace comes, abides and heals his aching heart. What a glorious God we have. May we praise Him for His great and unfailing love for us. Amen.