Psalms 109:1-16: a reflection

1God of my praise, don’t remain silent, 2for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me. They have spoken to me with a lying tongue. 3They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause. 4In return for my love, they are my adversaries; but I am in prayer. 5They have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. 6Set a wicked man over him. Let an adversary stand at his right hand. 7When he is judged, let him come out guilty. Let his prayer be turned into sin. 8Let his days be few. Let another take his office. 9Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. 10Let his children be wandering beggars. Let them be sought from their ruins. 11Let the creditor seize all that he has. Let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor. 12Let there be no one to extend kindness to him, neither let there be anyone to have pity on his fatherless children. 13Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out. 14Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by the LORD. Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out. 15Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off their memory from the earth; 16because he didn’t remember to show kindness, but persecuted the poor and needy man, the broken in heart, to kill them.

The psalmist has been wronged in a bitter way: he has loved people who have returned his love with hatred, done good to those who have rewarded him with evil. In return for my love they are my adversaries, he laments; they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. It is a painful thing to be repaid evil for good, to have our love answered with hostility, our kindness with hatred. But notice what the psalmist does in the midst of it: But I am in prayer, he says; I give myself to prayer. When wronged, when repaid evil for good, he does not repay in kind, does not take his own revenge; he turns to God in prayer, bringing the whole bitter matter to him. His response to being wronged is to give himself to prayer, laying the injustice before God rather than taking it into his own hands. When repaid evil for good, the psalmist turns to prayer.

Notice the psalmist's response to being wronged: he gives himself to prayer. He has been treated bitterly, his love answered with hatred, his good repaid with evil. This is among the hardest wrongs to bear, to be repaid evil for good by those we have loved. But the psalmist does not respond by taking his own revenge or repaying hatred with hatred; he says, I give myself to prayer. He turns to God, bringing the wrong before him, laying the bitter matter in God's hands rather than his own. This is a wise and faithful response to being wronged: to turn to prayer, to bring the injustice to God, rather than to nurse it or avenge it ourselves. When we are repaid evil for good, prayer is where we can take the pain and the wrong, entrusting it to God who judges rightly. The psalmist's honesty is raw, but his turning is toward God. To give ourselves to prayer when we are wronged is to put the matter where it belongs, in God's hands. Prayer is the faithful response to being wronged.

That is worth taking to heart, for when we are wronged and repaid evil for good, we can turn to prayer, bringing the matter to God. When our love is answered with hostility, our good repaid with evil, we can be tempted to nurse the wrong or avenge it ourselves; but the psalmist, repaid evil for good, gave himself to prayer, turning to God rather than taking the matter into his own hands. To bring the wrong to God in prayer is to entrust it to the one who judges rightly, rather than repaying evil with evil. When you are wronged and repaid evil for good, turn to prayer, as the psalmist did, bringing the matter to God. Turn to prayer when you are wronged and repaid evil for good, bringing the whole bitter matter to God rather than nursing it or avenging it yourself, as the psalmist, whose love was answered with hatred and whose good was repaid with evil, said, but I give myself to prayer; for to be repaid evil for good is among the hardest wrongs to bear, and the faithful response is not to take our own revenge but to give ourselves to prayer, laying the injustice before God who judges rightly rather than taking it into our own hands.

Lord, the psalmist has been wronged in a bitter way: he has loved people who have returned his love with hatred, done good to those who have rewarded him with evil. In return for my love they are my adversaries, he laments; they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love. It is a painful thing to be repaid evil for good, to have our love answered with hostility. But notice what the psalmist does in the midst of it: but I am in prayer, he says; I give myself to prayer. When wronged, he does not repay in kind, does not take his own revenge; he turns to you in prayer, bringing the whole bitter matter to you. Show me the psalmist's response to being wronged: he gives himself to prayer. He has been treated bitterly, his love answered with hatred, his good repaid with evil. This is among the hardest wrongs to bear. But the psalmist does not respond by taking his own revenge; he says, I give myself to prayer. He turns to you, bringing the wrong before you, laying the bitter matter in your hands rather than his own. This is a wise and faithful response to being wronged: to turn to prayer, to bring the injustice to you, rather than to nurse it or avenge it ourselves. Take that to my heart, for when I am wronged and repaid evil for good, I can turn to prayer, bringing the matter to you. When my love is answered with hostility, my good repaid with evil, I can be tempted to nurse the wrong or avenge it myself; but the psalmist gave himself to prayer, turning to you. To bring the wrong to you in prayer is to entrust it to the one who judges rightly. When I am wronged and repaid evil for good, help me turn to prayer, Lord, as the psalmist did, bringing the matter to you rather than taking it into my own hands.