Set a wicked man over him. Let an adversary stand at his right hand.
Parallel translations
- KJV Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
- BSB Set over him a wicked man; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
- NKJV Set a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand.
- NASB ¶Appoint a wicked person over him, And may an accuser stand at his right hand.
- NLT They say, “Get an evil person to turn against him. Send an accuser to bring him to trial.
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 asks God to set a wicked accuser against his enemy, so that the persecutor may face judgment. It begins the psalm's intense imprecation against a treacherous foe.
Overview
Psalm 109 is an imprecatory psalm in which David, betrayed by those he loved (vv. 4-5), calls on God to judge his enemy justly. The 'adversary' at the right hand pictures a prosecutor in court, asking that the slanderer be himself accused. Such prayers leave vengeance to God rather than taking it personally (Romans 12:19), and Acts 1:20 applies v. 8 to Judas, the betrayer of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Zech 3:1He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before Yahweh’s angel, and Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary.
- Matt 5:25Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are with him on the way; lest perhaps the prosecutor deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison.
- Matt 27:4saying, “I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? You see to it.”
- John 13:2During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,
- John 13:27After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 109:6 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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