Ps. 109 (Blessing and Publicity)

When the psalmist turns to Yhwh and pleads for help, the basis for his redemption is so that Yhwh will “will be made known”. This is public, this is “out in the open”, this is for every eye to see, this is display. And the display will be the psalmist himself. He will be seen, portrayed and displayed as Yhwh’s “handiwork”. Even those who have attempted to coax Yhwh to their side and curse the psalmist will have no doubt that the act of redemption will be Yhwh’s, that “you yourself [Yhwh] have done it.”

This very public act, this display, will continue not with the accuser’s redemption, of course, but with their being “covered with disgrace and clothed with confusion.” Note how the psalmist is using the accusers words against them. They sought to have curses “seep into the psalmist like water” and, importantly, for the curses to be worn like clothing, like a belt, around him. The psalmist here takes these images of clothing and closeness and turns them on the accusers. Now they will be covered; they will be clothed. Again, this is all public. If the psalmist will be displayed as Yhwh’s “handiwork”, the accusers will be displayed as disgraced and shamed. This is the great reversal, the ‘standing of the world on its head’.

This focus on the public, on the display is important to grasp when we look at how Yhwh redeems the psalmist. At the beginning, the wicked sought to have a “wicked person testify against him”; they wanted an “accuser to stand on his right” (6). During a trial to “stand on the right” is where both an accuser stands and a witness for the defense (here, the psalmist). At the end of the psalm, the psalmist looks forward to the conclusion of the trial, and for thanking Yhwh himself for “standing on the right of the needy person, ready to save him from those who put him on trial.” In other words, Yhwh will be the psalmist’s witness. He will stand on his “right hand” and ‘testify’ for him. CRUCIALLY---Yhwh’s defense testimony is, at least in part, the psalmist’s physical redemption from suffering. This is where all this publicity, this display, comes into focus. Yhwh, who is  the ‘judge’ of this case, will also stand on the side of the suffering psalmist, Yhwh’s covenant partner. As such, his ‘verdict’ and his ‘testimony’—his ‘judgment’ and his ‘witness’—will coincide. It will be the psalmist’s redemption.

Once this occurs, the covenant partners—Yhwh and the psalmist—will both have their reputations, their public faces, redeemed, or glorified, in the sight of everyone. The psalmist will be, himself, the embodiment, expression, and act, of Yhwh’s loyal-love and faithfulness. This will redound to Yhwh’s glory—with the psalmist himself engaging in a thanksgiving offering, and “praise among the assembly” (30).