Psalms 109:15

Psa 109:15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

Ver. 15. Let them be before the Lord] Stand ever upon record in his presence, to provoke him to wrath. A heavy curse indeed.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. (Psa 109:15) Let them be before Jehovah always, and let him cut off from the earth their memory. The subject of the first clause is the guilt and sin mentioned in the verse preceding. Before Jehovah, in his sight, an object of attention to him. See above, Psa 90:8. With the last clause compare Psa 9:6; Psa 34:16.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. Let them be] The iniquity and sin. Cp. Psa_90:8; Lam_1:22.

the memory of them] Of his ancestors and all their posterity. Cp. Psa_34:16.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because that he remembered not to show mercy,.... As Judas did not; neither to the poor, whom he cared not for, Joh 12:6 nor to Christ, whom he betrayed with a kiss to his enemies: nor had these words of Christ any effect upon him, to move his pity and compassion, "Friend, wherefore art thou come?" Mat 26:49 nor did the Jews show mercy to him: they were a merciless and hardhearted people; though mercy was one of the weightier matters of the law, this they omitted, Mat 23:23, their want of compassion may be observed in the priest and Levite passing by the man wounded by thieves, Luk 10:30. Nor did they show any mercy to Christ, when they smote and buffeted him; nor did it move their pity when Pilate brought him forth with a crown of thorns on his head, and in a miserable condition, saying, "Behold the man"; but they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him"; and gave him gall for his meat, and vinegar to drink; and mocked him when in all his miseries and agonies.

But persecuted the poor and needy man; Christ, who became poor for our sakes, and stood in need of the ministration of others to him, Co2 8:9 and was poor in spirit, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs; him Judas and the Jews persecuted to death, as follows:

that he might even slay the broken in heart; Christ, whose heart was broken with the reproach and cruel usage of men, Psa 69:20, whose life the Jews sought to take away, and by means of Judas did.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Let them be before the Lord continually - Let their sins never pass from the mind of God. Let him never so forget them as not to inflict punishment for them.

That he may cut off the memory of them from the earth - That they may be wholly forgotten among people. Let their very name perish; and let the offender in this case be in the condition of those who have no ancestors to whom they can refer with pride and pleasure. The idea here is drawn from the honor which is felt in being able to refer to ancestors worthy of being remembered for their virtues.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Let them, the sins of his parents last mentioned, be before Lord; in God’s sight and memory, to provoke God them: let them not be covered or pardoned.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 15. Again, he wishes that his father's sins may follow up the transgressor and assist to fill the measure of his own iniquities, so that for the whole accumulated load the family may be smitten with utter extinction. A king might justly wish for such an end to fall upon an incorrigible brood of rebels; and of persecutors, continuing in the same mind, the saints might well pray for their extinction; but the passage is dark; and we must leave it so. It must be right or it would not be here, but how we cannot see. Why should we expect to understand all things? Perhaps it is more for our benefit to exercise humility, and reverently worship God over a hard text, than it would be to comprehend all mysteries.

Ver. 15. Let them be before the Lord continually. The fearful punishment of sinners is, to be always under the eye of an angry God: then the soul of the sinner is dismayed at its own deformity. Le Blanc.

Ver. 15. Let them be before the Lord continually. Lafayette, the friend and ally of Washington, was in his youth confined in a French dungeon. In the door of his ceil there was cut a small hole, just big enough for a man's eye; at that hole a sentinel was placed, whose duty it was to watch, moment by moment, till he was relieved by a change of guard. All Lafayette saw was the winking eye, but the eye was always there; look when he would, it met his gaze. In his dreams, he was conscious it was staring at him. "Oh", he says, "it was horrible; there was no escape; when he lay down and when he rose up, when he ate and when he read, that eye searched him." "New Cyclopaedia of Illustrative Anecdote", 1875.

Ver. 15-19, 29. Strict justice, and nothing more, breathes in every petition. Cannot you say, Amen! to all these petitions? Are you not glad when the wicked man falls into the ditch he has made for another's destruction, and when his mischief returns upon his own head? But you say, "These petitions are unquestionably just, but why did not the psalmist ask, not for justice, but for mercy?" The answer is, that in his public capacity, he was bound to think first about justice.

No government could stand upon the basis of forgiveness, justice must always go before mercy. Suppose that in the course of the next session Parliament should decree that henceforth, instead of justice being shown to thieves, by sending them to prison, they should be treated charitably, and compelled to restore one half of what they stole, what would honest men say about the government? The thieves would doubtless be very complimentary, but what would honest men say? Why, they would say the government had altogether failed of its function, and it would not live to be a week older. And just so, the psalmists were bound first of all to seek for the vindication and establishment of justice and truth. Like the magistrates of today, they considered first the well being of the community. This they had in view in all the calamities they sought to bring upon wrong doers. R.A. Bertram.

Psalms 109:16*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. Cut off the memory of them—That is, the honourable memorial of them, as the word commonly signifies. Their crimes are their only memorial, as in the case of Judas Iscariot; and this is equal to “cutting off, blotting out,” or forgetting the memory of them. See Exo_17:14; Deu_25:19; Psa_34:16

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let them be before the Lord continually; i.e. let these sins be present to the mind of God constantly, that he may visit for them constantly, even to the bitter end; and so may cut off the memory of them (i.e. of the original sinners) from the earth (comp. ver. 13).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

May they be [May] these iniquities [be] before the Lord constantly.

and may He cut off their remembrance from the earth [the remembrance] of Esau and his chieftains.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.