Psalms 109:4

For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
love	אַהֲבָתִ֥י 'a.ha.va.Ti	H160	affection (in a good or a bad sense) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
adversaries	יִשְׂטְנ֗וּנִי yis.te.Nu.ni	H7853	to attack · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix
prayer	תְפִלָּֽה te.fi.Lah	H8605	intercession · noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Psalms 38:20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
Psalms 35:7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.
Psalms 69:12-13 They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
Luke 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Psalms 55:16-17 As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
Psalms 35:12 They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.
Luke 6:11-12 And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus.
John 10:32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 109:1-5

It is the unspeakable comfort of all good people that, whoever is against them, God is for them, and to him they may apply as to one that is pleased to concern himself for them. Thus David here. I. He refers himself to God's judgment (Psa 109:1): "Hold not thy peace, but let my sentence come forth from thy presence, Psa 17:2. Delay not to give judgment upon the appeal made to thee." God saw what his enemies did against him, but seemed to connive at it, and to keep silence: "Lord," says he, "do not always do so." The title he gives to God is observable: "O God of my praise! the God in whom I glory, and not in any wisdom or strength of my own, from whom I have every thing that is my praise, or…

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John Gill on Psalms 109:4

For my love they are my adversaries,.... For the love that Christ showed to the Jews; to their bodies, in going about and healing all manner of diseases among them; to their souls, in preaching, the Gospel to them in each of their cities; and for the love he showed to mankind in coming into the world to save them, which should have commanded love again; but instead of this they became his implacable adversaries: they acted the part of Satan; they were as so many Satans to him, as the word signifies. But I give myself unto prayer; or "I am a man of prayer" (y); as Aben Ezra and Kimchi supply it; so he was in the days of his flesh, Hebrews 5:7, he was constant at it, and fervent in it; someti…

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John Calvin on Psalms 109:1-5

Psalm 109:1-5 To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David. 1. O God of my praise! be not silent; 2. Because the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit are opened upon me: they have spoken against me with the tongue of guile. 3. And they have encompassed me with the words of hatred, and have contended with me without cause. 4. On account of my love they have been opposed to me; but I gave myself to prayer. 5. They rendered to me evil for good, and hatred for love. 1 O God of my praise! be not silent In these words, which may be considered as an introduction to the psalm, David declares that he neither could find nor would desire any other than God to stand forward in vindication of the in…

The Church Fathers

Instead of loving me, they disparaged me: but I kept praying. In return for the benefits which I had conferred upon them, they were doing me insults. But what was I doing? I kept praying. These are the weapons of the Lord: and these are our weapons too, prayer. So then, whenever anyone persecutes us, and hates us, let us say: Instead of loving me, they disparaged me. But what was I doing? I kept praying. That I might overcome them? Far from it: for whom did the Lord pray that he might overcome? But what did he say — but I kept praying? What was I saying? "Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do."
— Jerome, Homily 35, on Psalm 108

He addeth, "Thus have they rewarded me evil for good" (ver. 4). And as if we asked, what evil? for what good? "And hatred," he saith, "for my good will." This is the sum total of their great guilt. For how could the persecutors injure Him who died of His own free-will, and not by compulsion? But this very hatred is the greatest crime of the persecutor, although it be the willing atonement of the sufferer. And he hath sufficiently explained the sense of the above words, "In place of loving me," since they owed love not as a general duty only, but in return for His love: in that he hath here added, "for my good will." This love He mentioneth in the Gospel, when He saith, "How often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou wouldest not!"
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 109

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Enemy · The wickedness of David’s — The wickedness of David’s
Ingratitude · .David’s companions to David — .David’s companions to David
Malice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Prayerfulness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 109:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 109:1-5

John Gill on Psalms 109:4

John Calvin on Psalms 109:1-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 109:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 109:1-5

John Gill on Psalms 109:4

John Calvin on Psalms 109:1-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 109:1-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 109:4-5

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 109:4