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SALM 109:22 reads like this, "I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me." We've all been there. Someone said something to us or about us that we deemed unfair or ill intended. It's offensive. We like to imagine that we are strong; that we are impregnable high flyers. But, we are all susceptible... just as David was.
This Psalm was written by David precisely because he had "enemies" who were treating him in a way that seemed unfair to him. They lied about him (Psalm 109:2). They hated and resisted him Psalm 109:3). They returned to him pain for any kindness that he extended to them (Psalm 109:4). So eventually he had endured what he considered to be enough of it and as a result he wrote this Psalm... packed with imprecation.
Here he asked God to give his enemies over to Satan (Psalm 109:6). He prayed for their damnation and requested that their prayers would not be heard (Psalm 109:7). He prayed that they would die young and that they would be replaced (Psalm 109:8). He wanted them to have no grandchildren (Psalm 109:9). He asked for poverty and failure for them (Psalm 109:10-11). He desired that they would be removed and forgotten (Psalm 109:15). Frankly, David petitioned God requesting that He curse his enemies.
Of course, David prayed for mercy for himself (Psalm 109:21). "I'm the victim here, Lord!" he cried. "Shame for them; joy for me!" (Psalm 109:28). At least he was honest, eh? Of course, who among us hasn't felt a tinge of this before? Yet, in the New Testament, a higher road is paved (Romans 12:14). In Matthew 5:43-45 we read that Jesus set a standard that transcends the vengeance of Psalm 109.
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