Today we read the darkest Psalm in the Bible. It’s so dark because, as C. S. Lewis says in his book, Reflections on the Psalms, Psalm 109 reveals resentment in its natural state.

“For here one saw a feeling we all know only too well, Resentment, expressing itself with perfect freedom, without disguise, without self-consciousness, without shame – as few but children would express it today . . . We therefore see it in its ‘wild’ or natural condition.”

But perhaps that the same description could be given to every Psalm David wrote. He thought, felt, meditated, and wrote whatever was on his heart. We see David’s relationship with God in its “wild or natural condition.”

Because David keeps coming to the Lord with his various natural conditions, he is able to work his way through them. He’s not just a resentful man, nor is he merely a happy man; he is all of that and more.

Psalm 103 – Instruct Your Soul

Have you ever thought of instructing your soul to praise the Lord? David did that in this Psalm. He not only told his soul to praise God, but he gave it reasons.

“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – “ Psalm 103:1-2

Here are the benefits David brought to mind to prompt his soul to praise the Lord:

• Think of all the sins he has forgiven for you.
• Consider how many times the Lord has healed you from diseases.
• Do you remember all of the times he lifted you out of a pit of despair?
• God has put love and compassion on your head, you wear them like a crown.
• You told him your desires and he answered you with good things.
• When your energy ran out, he restored you so you could soar like an eagle.

Anyone can take this list and put their soul through an exercise that produces praise.

Love and Forgiveness Intertwined

In Psalm 103:6-12 David tells us how God’s love is inseparable from his forgiveness.

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:8-12

The Lord’s compassion is like that of a father for his little child, yet how amazing that we matter at all to him!

“For he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” Psalm 103:14-16

On the other hand, God’s love for us comes from eternity and continues into eternity. Before we arrived on earth he thought of us and loved us; after we depart he will remember us and still love us.

“From everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.” Psalm 103:17-18

How wonderful to think that if we keep the Lord’s covenants and obey his precepts we may usher his blessings into the lives of our children’s children. We are made of dust, but the Lord of the universe loves us forever.

Psalm 109 – the Darkest Psalm

Here’s a quote from C.S. Lewis in Reflections on the Psalms:

“In some of the Psalms the spirit of hatred strikes us in the face like the heat from a furnace mouth . . . Examples can be found all over the Psalter, but perhaps the worst is Psalm 109 . . . One way of dealing with these terrible or (dare we say) contemptible Psalms is simply to leave them alone. But unfortunately the bad parts will not ‘come away clean’; they may, as we have noticed, be intertwined with the most exquisite things.”

Some of the most beautiful Psalms sometimes have the darkest prayers dropped into them. One of my favorites, Psalm 63, has three verses at the end that jolt my sensibilities every time I read them. I’ve memorized Psalm 63:1-8, but I didn’t bother with verses 9-11.

But since all Scripture is given for our edification, we need to see what a Psalm like Psalm 109 has to teach us. Is it an example for us to follow?

No. God did not provide for this kind of condemnation of an enemy in his Law. Quite the opposite, as Leviticus 19:17-18 says,

“Do not hate your brother in your heart . . . Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.”

What About the Anger?

Tension lies in the fact that people do terrible things that make us angry. The man David curses in Psalm 109,

“never thought of doing a kindness, but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted . . . He loved to pronounce a curse – he found no pleasure in blessing – he wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil.” Psalm 109:16-18

David is deeply offended by this person. He is indignant, but he goes too far with his curses. David wants to be the final judge and pronounce the sentence of punishment. It goes beyond the man to his descendants, and even reaches back to his ancestors.

“May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out. May their sins always remain before the Lord, that he may blot out their name from the earth.” Psalm 109:13-15

Praying Through to the Turning Point

Since only God can judge people, David overreached his authority in this prayer, but he also recovers a bit as he goes on. He confesses to the Lord the pain in his heart and asks for healing from him.

“But you, Sovereign Lord, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.” Psalm 109:21-23

This is where David could have started his prayer, instead of going into his tirade, but he wasn’t ready yet. Now he prays on and lets the Lord take over the situation.

“Help me, Lord my God; save me according to your unfailing love. Let them know that it is your hand, that you, Lord, have done it. While they may curse, you will bless . . . “ Psalm 109:26-28

As C. S. Lewis said, this is prayer in its wild and natural condition. God doesn’t rebuke David for being so honest, but he waits until David climbs down from the judge’s bench before he helps him. In the end David is grateful to the Lord for standing by him while he struggled.

“With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him. For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them.” Psalm 109:30-31

Pray About Everything

These Psalms of David tell us that we can pray about everything. God wants us to come to him “with perfect freedom, without disguise, without self-consciousness, without shame.” He understands that sometimes we have to work our way through dark thoughts and hard feelings before we can quiet the chaos inside us enough to hear him.

God probably never thinks we pray too much when we pour out our hearts to him. If anything, he wants us to keep going until we have said everything there is to say. Then he can touch our wounded hearts and start to heal us.

There was some debris God had to deal with in the first part of David’s prayer in Psalm 109, but he loved the last part. And as he listened, God remembered that David was also the man who wrote Psalm 103.

We tend to think of ourselves one-dimensionally, as if the condition we are in at the moment is the only condition we can possibly be in. But God sees our whole story. He remembers that we are capable of joyful praise as well as loud complaints. If we are honest with him, he will help us get  back into balance and restore the peace inside. Then we can “greatly extol the Lord.” Which is what he really wants from us.