This is the first imprecatory psalm we encounter, a form which has no parallel in Western literature. It sounds to us like petty vengeance because we lack the proper moral background in our world.
Paul warns us that all Creation groans under the burden of moral injustice. This is not merely poetic characterization, but in the Hebrew mind a verifiable truth. The stamp of God’s moral character is the foundation for all that exists. The very fabric of our dimension in time and space cries out for deliverance from sin. When people sin, God may well be patient and tolerant, but never doubt that it grates on His nerves. This is the background for David’s prayer here. All he’s asking is that God act according to His own revealed character in defense of the man He made king over the nation that was His living revelation.
There are three sections in this psalm. The first ten verses are set in martial tones. It is in essence a vassal lord calling on his emperor to enforce the imperial law, to exact punishment for insults against His divine Person. David is not willing to take the law into his own hands, but pleads with God to bring about His justice. He is careful to frame it in terms of breaking even, in the sense of letting his attackers suffer their own ends. Let them receive what they intended for their victim. David then assures God that he will advertise to all and sundry that there is no one in the same class as God. In a pagan world with competing claims, God has made it clear he tolerates not so much as the allegation that other gods exist.
In the second section of eight verses, David pleads for God to notice that his own hands were clean. He had been just toward his enemies, treating them with due respect and social equity. Divine justice demands we let mercy first do its work. However, the mere fact that David is king is enough to provoke envy from a certain type of immoral soul. Conscious justifications are all over the map, but wherever God raises anyone to serve Him as shepherd, someone else will always insist this is not really God’s will. They would make the worst of rulers, and cannot help themselves in opposing the most moral of kings. Again, David promises to give due publication to the glory and justice of God.
The final section emphasizes the threat of conspiracies and plots. No king can reign without facing people in his own court who secretly work against him. If they were strong enough to challenge him alone, they would. To plot secretly is cowardice against a king who isn’t particularly harsh. David was known for making allowance to hear those who might have a complaint against his decisions. Thus, he cries for God to see and know things others would hide, and to exact His own justice against those who are bitter and resentful. David then again calls on all who are blessed by God’s justice to declare it loudly.
