Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.
Parallel translations
- WEB This is the reward of my adversaries from Yahweh, of those who speak evil against my soul.
- BSB May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me.
- ESV May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my life!
- NKJV Let this be the Lord’s reward to my accusers, And to those who speak evil against my person.
- NASB May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord, And of those who speak evil against my soul.
- NLT May those curses become the Lord’s punishment for my accusers who speak evil of me.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David sums up these petitions as the just reward from God for his slanderous accusers. He commits the matter of vengeance to the Lord.
Overview
This verse marks the close of the imprecation, naming the foes as those 'who speak evil against my soul.' By calling it 'the reward... from Yahweh,' David hands judgment to God rather than retaliating himself. This restraint anticipates the New Testament command to leave room for God's wrath (Romans 12:19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 2 Tim 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
- Ps 94:23And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.
- 1 Kgs 2:44The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst to David my father: therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head;
- Ps 21:8–12Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.
- Ps 110:5–6The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.
- Ps 71:10For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
- Mark 9:39But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
- Matt 26:66–67What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.
- Luke 19:27But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
- Matt 12:24But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
- Ps 2:12Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
- Ps 110:1The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
- Matt 11:19The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
- 2 Sam 18:32And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe? And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.
- 2 Sam 17:23And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
- Ps 40:14–15Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
- 1 Th 2:15–16Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
- Ps 2:5–6Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
- 1 Cor 12:3Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 109:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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