Psalms 109:16
Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.
Psalm 109, to which the verse belongs, is counted among the cursing or imprecatory psalms. It contains fierce denunciations and prayers for the destruction of others. It is one of the Bible's difficult passages that some ministers would rather avoid. Its words were considered difficult to reconcile with Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.
The verse belongs to a prediction of God's retributive wrath upon evildoers. Its words are predictive of tribulation coming upon the enemies of God's people, declaring God's retributive justice, not an expression of personal revenge or an incitement to cruelty. The psalm is one in which God pronounces judgment on the wicked, rather than David asking God to curse his enemies. Its curses describe punishments coming upon people whose lives were evil and who sought to inflict suffering on others, and it is a plea for divine justice in which those who plot wickedness against the innocent receive the fruit of their own deeds.