By Jeremy Bell
I am going to share my personal study on Psalm 109 using groupings from my motif analysis. I have taken these groupings of the Psalm and put them together. So, the entirety of the Psalm will be read, but these groupings will present the text in a different order. These groupings are futher displayed through highlights in my book, Psalms in Motif Visualization.
This Psalm is to the choirmaster. The choirmaster is not named but we do know this is a Psalm by David. So, David wrote it and gave it to someone, the choirmaster. David appointed men from the tribe of Levi to be put in charge of the service of song in the house of the Lord after the ark rested there. They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting until Solomon built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they performed their service according to their order.
Asaph
Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer; and his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, namely, Asaph the son of Berechiah. On the left hand were more brothers. David brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins.
David appointed some of the Levites as ministers, and a choirmaster, before the ark of the Lord, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. Asaph was the chief and was to sound the cymbals. Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord by Asaph and his brothers. David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister regularly before the ark as each day required. Heman and Jeduthun (another brother) had trumpets and cymbals for the music and instruments for sacred song.
So, it is likely David wrote this Psalm and gave it to Asaph, the chief choirmaster and fellow Psalm writer. Here are the Psalms Asaph wrote with very quick summaries.
Asaph Psalm Summaries
Psalm 50 — God will come to judge
Psalm 73 — Godliness seems in vain except within God’s sanctuary
Psalm 74 — Cry of desperation for God to remember his promises and his people
Psalm 75 — God hears his people’s cry and executes justice
Psalm 76 — God is the one to be feared
Psalm 77 — Although it seems God has forgotten his Psalmist, the Psalmist will remember God’s faithful acts
Psalm 78 — God’s people have always rejected God, but God has always been faithful and gracious
Psalm 79 — Remember and forgive us drawing us back to him
Psalm 80 — That Israel might listen to God and the He would subdue the enemies
Psalm 81 — Turn to us and restore us
Psalm 82 — Judge the earth and rescue the weak
Psalm 83 — Destroy the enemies that they may know the LORD
I hope that gives some perspective and consideration when reading or hearing this Psalm. God, the people, the downtrodden, and the powerful were known entities to Asaph. Justice was on his mind and David joins. When I post for Audio Visualization, my goal is to highlight the motif patterns and intent over strict translation. I hope it gives fresh encouragement, but I strongly recommend the Psalm to be read as is for proper understanding. Psalm 109, in motif audio visualization:
[ Psalm 109 ]
Grouping A
God of my praise, don’t remain silent,
for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me.
They have spoken to me with a lying tongue.
They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
and fought against me without a cause.
Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him.
They may curse, but you bless.
Grouping B
In return for my love, they are my adversaries;
but I am in prayer.
They have rewarded me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
Set a wicked man over him.
Let an adversary stand at his right hand.
When he is judged, let him come out guilty.
Let his prayer be turned into sin.
He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him.
He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment.
It came into his inward parts like water,
like oil into his bones.
When they arise, they will be shamed,
but your servant shall rejoice.
Grouping C
Let his days be few.
Let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless,
and his wife a widow.
Let his children be wandering beggars.
Let them be sought from their ruins.
Let the creditor seize all that he has.
Let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.
Let there be no one to extend kindness to him,
neither let there be anyone to have pity on his fatherless children.
Let his posterity be cut off.
In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by Yahweh.
Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Let them be before Yahweh continually,
that he may cut off their memory from the earth;
because he didn’t remember to show kindness,
but persecuted the poor and needy man,
the broken in heart, to kill them.
Let it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself,
for the belt that is always around him.
This is the reward of my adversaries from Yahweh,
of those who speak evil against my soul.
Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor.
Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
Grouping D
But deal with me, Yahweh the Lord, for your name’s sake,
because your loving kindness is good, deliver me;
for I am poor and needy.
My heart is wounded within me.
Help me, Yahweh, my God.
Save me according to your loving kindness;
that they may know that this is your hand;
that you, Yahweh, have done it.
I will give great thanks to Yahweh with my mouth.
Yes, I will praise him among the multitude.
to save him from those who judge his soul.
Grouping E
I fade away like an evening shadow.
I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees are weak through fasting.
My body is thin and lacks fat.
I have also become a reproach to them.
When they see me, they shake their head.
For he will stand at the right hand of the needy,
Protest
In today’s political and celebrity climate Westerners have come to know the protest song as one that speaks up for rights and against those who would oppress those rights. This certainly targets well to those who are discriminated against, afraid, forgotten, broken, and weak. And this is right, they need help. As fellow human beings, we all need help and we are all able to give help. Justice speaks to those who receive help but either don’t give help when they are able or even keep help from those who need it. Protests singers put themselves in the role of choirmaster to gather justice seekers together.
They may not recognize it, but most of the protest songs are laced with hints of what Jesus told people when He said to love your enemies. Protest songs hate the processes and loopholes that allow for a miscarriage of justice and demand change. But rarely is heard the demand for justice for the oppressors and the wicked. Justice, in fact, has two sides. It is conformity to what is good. This means bringing goodness to those to whom it has been withheld and baring those who withhold it. For those who refuse to conform to the good, sentencing is carried out with punishment.
Imperfect System
It may be said that ideal justice can never be fully realized because all humans fail, no one is perfect. People strive and fight to be better, but the perfect will never be achieved. This is great for business vision, but in life it disregards the precepts given by the moral creator, God. Precepts we often know as the law, like the ten commandments, but precepts and justice even given in song. People will always fail; it is their nature to love the darkness and wallow in death. But God is. God is personal and gives hope. He is the perfect choirmaster, and He will deliver; He has sent His Son to give us a new nature to love the light and wallow in life. This is the Nature of Joy.
Resources and Notes
All scripture in this article is from the WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE (WEB). The World English Bible (WEB) is a Public Domain (no copyright) Modern English translation of the Holy Bible. The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version of the Holy Bible first published in 1901, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament.
For more related to this blog, check out my post on Truth Basics for Christian Living with Strategic Options.
This is a reliable translation, but it is always good to read other translations as well. Biblegateway.com has a multitude of translations to read from. It is a great resource.
Another great resource is Biblehub.com. There are multiple translations, commentaries, and so much more. Great research can be done on this platform.
One more I use regularly is Gotquestions.org. This is a great site to answer questions and find threads of related questions.
There are many resources. The key is that God wants relationship directly with you, the individual. His primary source for revealing who He is and growing in intimacy is His word, the scriptures. Don’t just read for instruction. Analyze and read for understanding. Explore, ask questions, and be transformed in Jesus every moment you possibly can. There is no dispute this is a key desire of God. People are brough to the Father, in the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit. This… This is the Nature of Joy.
Jeremy is an author, musician, and business intelligence manager. His mission is to equip and encourage those in Christ, to equip and encourage others in Christ. Jesus, Christ, is the Nature of Joy and melody of the heart. Jeremy unites business analytics (business intelligence), songs, and Scripture for Christian living in the power of the Holy Spirit.