Psalm 109:20

Psalm 109:20, in plain English

Everything the psalmist has prayed for in this entire psalm—all this judgment—may it be God's reward to the accuser and everyone who speaks evil against the psalmist.

Why it's here

This is the psalm's conclusion and vindication. The psalmist brings the entire imprecatory prayer together and presents it as a request for God's justice. He's not taking revenge himself but asking God to be the judge and execute judgment according to what his accusers deserve.

Who's speaking

David, summarizing his prayer for divine justice

Where it sits in the story

The psalm teaches us that when we face persecution or false accusation, we can bring our anger, our hurt, and our cry for justice directly to God. We don't have to pretend we're not angry. We can be honest with God about what we want—His justice—while leaving the actual judgment to Him. The psalm models honest prayer without self-help vengeance.

The scholarly reading

May all these curses—the accumulated judgment of verses 6-19—be the precise recompense that the Lord appoints for the psalmist's accusers and slanderers.

Language and setting

The final verse functions as a recapitulatory seal, transforming the preceding imprecations from personal vindictiveness into formal petition for divine justice. The phrase 'ze pa'ulatam' (this is their recompense) uses the word 'pa'ulah' (work/recompense), suggesting that the curses are not arbitrary but proportionate to the 'work' (the malicious campaign of verses 2-5). The address 'doberim khelumim alai' (speaking evil against me) returns to the original offense. By positioning this verse as the psalm's conclusion, the psalmist establishes that he is not taking personal revenge but rather appealing to God's covenantal justice: these curses are what the covenant stipulates for such violations.

Voice

The psalmist, presenting the entire curse structure as a petition for God's covenantal justice.

Significance

This final verse frames the entire imprecation as prayer rather than mere personal hostility. It echoes the principle established throughout Scripture that God's justice operates according to covenant—blessings for covenant-keeping, curses for covenant-breaking (Deuteronomy 27-28). The New Testament develops this by showing that Christ absorbs these curses on behalf of the righteous (Galatians 3:13), making this psalm ultimately christological: Christ bears the imprecatory curse so that believers are released from it.

18The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.

19May it be like a robe wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him.

20May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me.

21But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name; deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.

22For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.

Read all of Psalm 109 — David's most severe imprecatory psalm. The curses are shocking — but they come from a man who has handed vengeance to God instead of taking it himself.