Psalm 109

1    Keep silent no longer, O God of my praise,  

for the mouth of wickedness and treachery

    is opened against me.

2    They have spoken against me with a lying tongue;  

they encompassed me with words of hatred

    and fought against me without a cause.

3    In return for my love, they set themselves against me,  

even though I had prayed for them.

4    Thus have they repaid me with evil for good,  

and hatred for my good will.

5    They say, ‘Appoint a wicked man over him,  

and let an accuser stand at his right hand.

6    ‘When he is judged, let him be found guilty,  

and let his prayer be counted as sin.

   ‘Let his days be few  

and let another take his office.

8    ‘Let his children be fatherless  

and his wife become a widow.

9    ‘Let his children wander to beg their bread;  

let them seek it in desolate places.

10  ‘Let the creditor seize all that he has;  

let strangers plunder the fruit of his toil.

11  ‘Let there be no one to keep faith with him,  

or have compassion on his fatherless children.

12  ‘Let his line soon come to an end  

and his name be blotted out in the next generation.

13  ‘Let the wickedness of his fathers

    be remembered before the Lord,  

and no sin of his mother be blotted out;

14  ‘Let their sin be always before the Lord,  

that he may root out their name from the earth;

15  ‘Because he was not minded to keep faith,  

but persecuted the poor and needy

    and sought to kill the brokenhearted.

16  ‘He loved cursing and it came to him;  

he took no delight in blessing and it was far from him.

17  ‘He clothed himself with cursing as with a garment:  

it seeped into his body like water

    and into his bones like oil;

18  ‘Let it be to him like the cloak

    which he wraps around him  

and like the belt that he wears continually.’

19  Thus may the Lord repay my accusers  

and those who speak evil against me.

20  But deal with me, O Lord my God, according to your name;  

O deliver me, for sweet is your faithfulness.

21  For I am helpless and poor  

and my heart is disquieted within me.

22  I fade like a shadow that lengthens;  

I am shaken off like a locust.

23  My knees are weak through fasting  

and my flesh is dried up and wasted.

24  I have become a reproach to them;  

those who see me shake their heads in scorn.

25  Help me, O Lord my God;  

save me for your loving mercy’s sake,

26  And they shall know that this is your hand,  

that you, O Lord, have done it.

27  Though they curse, may you bless;  

let those who rise up against me be confounded,

    but let your servant rejoice.

28  Let my accusers be clothed with disgrace  

and wrap themselves in their shame as in a cloak.

29  I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth;  

in the midst of the multitude will I praise him;

30  Because he has stood at the right hand of the needy,  

to save them from those who would condemn them.

 

Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, material from which is included here,
is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2000 and published by Church House Publishing.

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