Psalms 109
The Song of the Slandered
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.2They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.
3In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
4They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
5Set over him a wicked man; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
6When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayer be regarded as sin.
7May his days be few; may another take his position.
8May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
9May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
10May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
11May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children.
12May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
13May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
14May their sins always remain before the LORD, that He may cut off their memory from the earth.
15For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death.
16The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him.
17The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.
18May it be like a robe wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him.
19May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me.
20But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name; deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.
21For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.
22I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
23My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.
24I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
25Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to Your loving devotion.
26Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, O LORD, have done it.
27Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.
28May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe.
29With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely; I will praise Him in the presence of many.
30For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.