Psalms · 31 verses
Psalms 109
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The right hand changes occupants in this psalm: first an accuser is stationed there, and at the end God stands there instead, beside the needy one.
Accusation and the cursevv. 1–20
David is surrounded by lying mouths and hateful words, though his own reply is prayer. Against the accuser he asks for an extraordinary reversal: the man’s prayer itself is to count as sin, his days to be few, and his household to fall into want. The curse then acquires a remarkably complete wardrobe—coat, water, oil, robe, and belt—before being named the LORD’s reward to those who speak evil.
A needy man asks for the hand of Godvv. 21–27
Then the voice turns from what should happen to the accusers to what is happening to David: he is poor, needy, wounded, fading, shaken off, weakened by fasting, and made an object of scorn. He asks for kindness, help, and salvation, with the plain desire that the accusers should know whose hand has done it.
The right hand changes sidesvv. 28–31
The accusers may curse, but the answer is blessing; they may rise, but they will be put to shame, while David rejoices. He will thank the LORD publicly, because the right hand that once held an accuser against the wicked man now belongs to God beside the needy one, saving him from those who condemn his soul.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Ps 109:1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O God of my praise, be not silent.
Ps 109:2For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.
Ps 109:3They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.
Ps 109:4In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
Ps 109:5They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
Ps 109:6Set over him a wicked man; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
Ps 109:7When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayer be regarded as sin.
Ps 109:8May his days be few; may another take his position.
Ps 109:9May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
Ps 109:10May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
Ps 109:11May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
Ps 109:12May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children.
Ps 109:13May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
Ps 109:14May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
Ps 109:15May their sins always remain before the LORD, that He may cut off their memory from the earth.
Ps 109:16For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death.
Ps 109:17The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him.
Ps 109:18The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.
Ps 109:19May it be like a robe wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him.
Ps 109:20May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me.
Ps 109:21But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name; deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.
Ps 109:22For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.
Ps 109:23I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
Ps 109:24My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.
Ps 109:25I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
Ps 109:26Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to Your loving devotion.
Ps 109:27Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, O LORD, have done it.
Ps 109:28Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.
Ps 109:29May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe.
Ps 109:30With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely; I will praise Him in the presence of many.
Ps 109:31For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 317 passages were voted onto 31 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 27Job 37:7He seals up the hand of every man, so that all men may know His work.
- 31Psalms 121:5The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand.
- 271 Kings 18:36–37At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.
- 31Psalms 16:8I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
- 4Psalms 38:20Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.
- 27Exodus 8:19“This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
- 7Proverbs 28:9Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer is detestable.
- 17Matthew 7:2For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
- 27Psalms 64:8–9They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
- 27Acts 4:16“What shall we do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it.
- 271 Samuel 17:46–47This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
- 27Psalms 17:13–14Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,
- 27Acts 2:32–36God has raised this Jesus to life, to which we are all witnesses.
- 27Psalms 126:2Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”
- 31Isaiah 54:17No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.
- 31Psalms 73:23Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand.
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