21 But deal with me, Yahweh the Lord, for your name’s sake,
because your loving kindness is good, deliver me; 22 for I am poor and needy.
My heart is wounded within me. 23 I fade away like an evening shadow.
I am shaken off like a locust. 24 My knees are weak through fasting.
My body is thin and lacks fat. 25 I have also become a reproach to them.
When they see me, they shake their head. 26 Help me, Yahweh, my God.
Save me according to your loving kindness; 27 that they may know that this is your hand;
that you, Yahweh, have done it. 28 They may curse, but you bless.
When they arise, they will be shamed,
but your servant shall rejoice. 29 Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor.
Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe. 30 I will give great thanks to Yahweh with my mouth.
Yes, I will praise him among the multitude. 31 For he will stand at the right hand of the needy,
to save him from those who judge his soul.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 109:21-31
Commentary on Psalm 109:21-31
(Read Psalm 109:21-31)
The psalmist takes God's comforts to himself, but in a very humble manner. He was troubled in mind. His body was wasted, and almost worn away. But it is better to have leanness in the body, while the soul prospers and is in health, than to have leanness in the soul, while the body is feasted. He was ridiculed and reproached by his enemies. But if God bless us, we need not care who curses us; for how can they curse whom God has not cursed; nay, whom he has blessed? He pleads God's glory, and the honour of his name. Save me, not according to my merit, for I pretend to none, but according to thy-mercy. He concludes with the joy of faith, in assurance that his present conflicts would end in triumphs. Let all that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him. Jesus, unjustly put to death, and now risen again, is an Advocate and Intercessor for his people, ever ready to appear on their behalf against a corrupt world, and the great accuser.