Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
It asks that the dwellings of violent opposers be laid waste and left with no one living in them. It is not a cry of private hatred or revenge but a declaration by the Spirit of the just harvest that must come upon the incorrigibly wicked who have rejected goodness to the utmost. The psalm looks forward to Christ in His betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion when He bore the sins of the world, and this plea falls upon His enemies and was spoken beforehand concerning Judas. In him it was fulfilled when his habitation was left desolate and his place in ministry and apostleship was taken by another man who had been with the disciples from the baptism of John unto the ascension to witness to the resurrection. Those who hold otherwise teach that the psalm is only a record of David's own experience and applies to Jesus no more than to anyone else hated without a cause, yet the weight holds that one part may apply literally to what is remote in Christ even when other parts, as Psalm 69:5, cannot belong to the sinless One while verses 9 and 21 were fulfilled in Him.
Words and Setting
The verse is a plea that the homes of enemies be made desolate and that no one dwell in their tents. It asks God not to let enemies rejoice but to hasten to rescue, darkening the pathway they have chosen and turning all their joy to grief.
It concerns David primarily, prayed by him as king and magistrate set to maintain law and dispense justice, to detect, arraign and punish the guilty, and as leader of Israel's armies praying for success in battle where victory means death and bereavement. It speaks of no private quarrel and breathes no personal hatred, but pleads the cause of Israel and of God against violent and implacable assailants.
It is not a vindictive prayer of personal revenge but a predictive prophecy and declaration by the Spirit of what will happen to the enemies of the church and the incorrigibly wicked, typical of the tribulation to come upon them. Because they have rejected God's goodness to the utmost, their dwelling is made desolate as the harvest of what they have sown.
Prophecy of Christ and Judas
The psalm to which the plea belongs is prophetic of Christ and describes the experience through which He passed in His betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion when the sins of the world rested upon Him for humanity's sake. It concerns David primarily and Christ finally and antitypically, so each verse must be distinguished rather than the whole applied alike. Not every verse applies to Christ, since Psalm 69:5 cannot be applied to Him without making Him a sinner, while verses 9 and 21 were fulfilled in Him. The plea itself has a literal application to Christ even though other parts of the psalm describe a sinner and cannot apply to Him, because a prophecy may apply partly to what is immediately before the reader and partly to what is remote. Use of one part in an accommodated sense does not make the whole prophecy accommodated, and literality in one part does not make every part literal.
The plea can be applied as an appropriated quotation where a later history runs parallel to David's, and that kind of application is different from fulfillment of a prediction, though both may be called fulfillment of Scripture. By a contrary reckoning held by others, the psalm is not a prediction but a simple record of David's experience and does not apply to Jesus any more than to anyone else in the present day who happens to be hated without a cause and whose history runs tangent to David's in certain points.
Read as prophecy through David's portrayal of the coming King, the plea applies to the enemies of Jesus and stands alongside the request that their names be erased from the book of the living. Its words pass over into the lips of Christ, earth's present Ruler, of whom David was a type, and were spoken beforehand by the Holy Ghost concerning Judas and used by Christ in His devotions.
The plea was spoken beforehand by the Holy Spirit through David concerning Judas, who was numbered among the apostles and received his portion in that ministry yet became guide to those who took Jesus, and it had to be fulfilled in him so that his dwelling was left desolate with no man dwelling therein. It is the scriptural basis for choosing another to take his charge and shows why the number twelve was kept. In fulfillment Judas obtained a field with the reward of his iniquity and falling headlong burst asunder with all his bowels gushing out, so that the field became known at Jerusalem as Akeldama, the field of blood. His office in ministry and apostleship had to be taken by another man who had companied with the disciples all the time from the baptism of John unto the ascension to become a witness of the resurrection. The plea thus supplies the words about a desolate habitation that Acts 1:20 uses in its application to Judas, presenting that apostolic use as an inspired interpretation of the imprecation in Psalm 109:8.
Justice and Prayerful Use
The plea for desolation is not vindictive personal revenge but predictive prophecy typical of the tribulation to come upon the enemies of the church. It presents the sin-hating God who punishes sin and simply declares His retributive providence and justice against sinners. It denies that men are allowed to live and die in sin without punishment.
The plea shows both justice and love in the divine character, God as father and also as judge. The one predominates in the Old Testament and the other in the New, but neither to the exclusion of the other. It speaks of no private quarrel and breathes no personal hatred, but pleads the cause of Israel and of God against violent and implacable assailants.
The plea belongs to a psalm referring to Christ in connection with His betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion, and to a psalm prophetic of Christ describing the experience through which He passed. It belongs to an inspired imprecatory psalm rather than being dismissed. Its inspired prayers may also be prayed by God's children when their circumstances call for them, with assurance that God hears, since Christ's triumph is theirs as well. Christ illustrates it by His punishment of sin in men and nations, and whoever would reconcile it with the sermon on the mount must reckon with the same Redeemer's government of the world in judgments such as the humiliation of France and the overthrow of American slavery.
It asks that the dwellings of violent opposers be laid waste and left with no one living in them. It is not a cry of private hatred or revenge but a declaration by the Spirit of the just harvest that must come upon the incorrigibly wicked who have rejected goodness to the utmost. The psalm looks forward to Christ in His betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion when He bore the sins of the world, and this plea falls upon His enemies and was spoken beforehand concerning Judas. In him it was fulfilled when his habitation was left desolate and his place in ministry and apostleship was taken by another man who had been with the disciples from the baptism of John unto the ascension to witness to the resurrection. Those who hold otherwise teach that the psalm is only a record of David's own experience and applies to Jesus no more than to anyone else hated without a cause, yet the weight holds that one part may apply literally to what is remote in Christ even when other parts, as Psalm 69:5, cannot belong to the sinless One while verses 9 and 21 were fulfilled in Him.
Words and Setting
The verse is a plea that the homes of enemies be made desolate and that no one dwell in their tents. It asks God not to let enemies rejoice but to hasten to rescue, darkening the pathway they have chosen and turning all their joy to grief.
It concerns David primarily, prayed by him as king and magistrate set to maintain law and dispense justice, to detect, arraign and punish the guilty, and as leader of Israel's armies praying for success in battle where victory means death and bereavement. It speaks of no private quarrel and breathes no personal hatred, but pleads the cause of Israel and of God against violent and implacable assailants.
It is not a vindictive prayer of personal revenge but a predictive prophecy and declaration by the Spirit of what will happen to the enemies of the church and the incorrigibly wicked, typical of the tribulation to come upon them. Because they have rejected God's goodness to the utmost, their dwelling is made desolate as the harvest of what they have sown.
Prophecy of Christ and Judas
The psalm to which the plea belongs is prophetic of Christ and describes the experience through which He passed in His betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion when the sins of the world rested upon Him for humanity's sake. It concerns David primarily and Christ finally and antitypically, so each verse must be distinguished rather than the whole applied alike. Not every verse applies to Christ, since Psalm 69:5 cannot be applied to Him without making Him a sinner, while verses 9 and 21 were fulfilled in Him. The plea itself has a literal application to Christ even though other parts of the psalm describe a sinner and cannot apply to Him, because a prophecy may apply partly to what is immediately before the reader and partly to what is remote. Use of one part in an accommodated sense does not make the whole prophecy accommodated, and literality in one part does not make every part literal.
The plea can be applied as an appropriated quotation where a later history runs parallel to David's, and that kind of application is different from fulfillment of a prediction, though both may be called fulfillment of Scripture. By a contrary reckoning held by others, the psalm is not a prediction but a simple record of David's experience and does not apply to Jesus any more than to anyone else in the present day who happens to be hated without a cause and whose history runs tangent to David's in certain points.
Read as prophecy through David's portrayal of the coming King, the plea applies to the enemies of Jesus and stands alongside the request that their names be erased from the book of the living. Its words pass over into the lips of Christ, earth's present Ruler, of whom David was a type, and were spoken beforehand by the Holy Ghost concerning Judas and used by Christ in His devotions.
The plea was spoken beforehand by the Holy Spirit through David concerning Judas, who was numbered among the apostles and received his portion in that ministry yet became guide to those who took Jesus, and it had to be fulfilled in him so that his dwelling was left desolate with no man dwelling therein. It is the scriptural basis for choosing another to take his charge and shows why the number twelve was kept. In fulfillment Judas obtained a field with the reward of his iniquity and falling headlong burst asunder with all his bowels gushing out, so that the field became known at Jerusalem as Akeldama, the field of blood. His office in ministry and apostleship had to be taken by another man who had companied with the disciples all the time from the baptism of John unto the ascension to become a witness of the resurrection. The plea thus supplies the words about a desolate habitation that Acts 1:20 uses in its application to Judas, presenting that apostolic use as an inspired interpretation of the imprecation in Psalm 109:8.
Justice and Prayerful Use
The plea for desolation is not vindictive personal revenge but predictive prophecy typical of the tribulation to come upon the enemies of the church. It presents the sin-hating God who punishes sin and simply declares His retributive providence and justice against sinners. It denies that men are allowed to live and die in sin without punishment.
The plea shows both justice and love in the divine character, God as father and also as judge. The one predominates in the Old Testament and the other in the New, but neither to the exclusion of the other. It speaks of no private quarrel and breathes no personal hatred, but pleads the cause of Israel and of God against violent and implacable assailants.
The plea belongs to a psalm referring to Christ in connection with His betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion, and to a psalm prophetic of Christ describing the experience through which He passed. It belongs to an inspired imprecatory psalm rather than being dismissed. Its inspired prayers may also be prayed by God's children when their circumstances call for them, with assurance that God hears, since Christ's triumph is theirs as well. Christ illustrates it by His punishment of sin in men and nations, and whoever would reconcile it with the sermon on the mount must reckon with the same Redeemer's government of the world in judgments such as the humiliation of France and the overthrow of American slavery.