21 But do thou for me, Jehovah, Lord, for thy name's sake; because thy loving-kindness is good, deliver me: 22 For I am afflicted and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. 23 I am gone like a shadow when it lengtheneth; I am tossed about like the locust; 24 My knees are failing through fasting, and my flesh hath lost its fatness; 25 And I am become a reproach unto them; [when] they look upon me they shake their heads. 26 Help me, Jehovah my God; save me according to thy loving-kindness: 27 That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, Jehovah, hast done it. 28 Let them curse, but bless thou; when they rise up, let them be ashamed, and let thy servant rejoice. 29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with confusion, and let them cover themselves with their shame as with a mantle. 30 I will greatly celebrate Jehovah with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. 31 For he standeth at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those that 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.