A Prayer Against Those Who Curse and Accuse

109:1–31 This prayer psalm of the individual troubles us. It utters curses on enemies with unnerving relish. It even seeks to obstruct the possibility of the enemies’ finding divine forgiveness (vv. 14–15). While it may sound initially like an interpretive dodge, there are several indications that verses 6–19 are a quotation of the speaker’s enemies, as noted in the NIV margin. They are thus not endorsed by the psalm but rather upheld as reprehensible. (For further discussion see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101–150, pp. 72–73; Kraus, Psalms 60–150, p. 338.) First, in verses 2–5 and 20–29 the opponents are always in the plural, but in verses 6–19 the object of the curses is always singular. There is no clear explanation for this shift unless the singular o…