Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 109:5

And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

5. they have rewarded me &c.] Lit. they have laid evil upon me in return for good. Cp. Psa 35:12; Psa 38:20; Jer 18:20.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

And they have rewarded me evil for good – literally, They have placed against me. They have put it in my way; it is what they had to set before me. See the notes at Psa 35:12, where the same expression occurs.

And hatred for my love – Instead of loving me in return for my love, they have met me with the expressions of hatred. This often occurred in the life of David; it was constant in the life of the Saviour; it is habitually manifested by people toward God; it is often experienced by good men now; it may occur in the life of any man – and if it does occur to us, we should not think that any strange thing has happened to us.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Psa 109:5

They have rewarded me evil for good.

Evil for good

Florence, when dominated by the preaching of Savonarola, became transformed; high-born ladies threw aside their jewels and finery, men turned from evil ways into sobriety, the churches were crowded with all classes of the people, from nobles to peasants; the very children were turned into instruments of the good work, going through the streets in procession, singing hymns and collecting money for the poor–and then the tide turned, and, when Savonarola was in the crisis of his struggle with the pope, almost the whole city was against him; a mob attacked his convent of San Marco; and the great friar went to his martyrdom, with the sorer martyrdom of his heart at the thought that all his work was overturned. (Hugh Black.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

And they have rewarded me evil for good,…. For the good words and sound doctrine he delivered to them; for the good works and miracles he wrought among them, to the healing of them; see Joh 10:32.

And hatred for my love; he came to seek and save that which was lost, and yet they hated him, and would not have him to rule over them,

Lu 19:10.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

5 But I gave myself to prayer (297) Some are of opinion, that these words refer to David’s pouring out a prayer for his enemies at the very moment when they were furiously assaulting him, and with this opinion corresponds that which we have stated in Psa 35:13. But the more plain, and, to me, the preferable interpretation, is, that when he was attacked in a cruel and hostile manner, he did not betake himself to such unlawful means as the rendering of evil for evil, but committed himself into the hand of God, fully satisfied that he alone could guard him from all ill. And it is assuredly a great and desirable attainment for a man so to restrain his passions as directly and immediately to make his appeal to God’s tribunal, at the very time when he is abused without a cause, and when the very injuries which he sustains are calculated to excite him to avenge them. For there are some persons who, while it is their aim to live in terms of friendship with the good, coming in contact with ill men, imagine that they are at perfect liberty to return injury for injury; and to this temptation all the godly feel that they are liable. The Holy Spirit, however, restrains us, so that though oftimes provoked by the cruelty of our enemies to seek revenge, we yet abandon all fraudulent and violent means, and betake ourselves by prayer to God alone. By this example, which David here sets before us, we are instructed that we must have recourse to the same means if we would wish to overcome our enemies through the power and protection of God. In Psa 69:13, we have a parallel passage: “They that sit in the gate spake against me; and I was the song of those who drink strong drink. But my prayer was made to thee, O Jehovah!” In that passage, as well as in the one under review, the mode of expression is elliptical. Besides, it is the design of David in these words to inform us, that although he was aware that the whole world was opposed to him, yet he could cast all his cares upon God, and this was enough to render his mind calm and composed. And as the Holy Spirit taught David and all the godly to offer up prayers like these, it must follow, that those who, in this respect, imitate them, will be promptly helped by God when he beholds them reproachfully and vilely persecuted.

(297) In the Hebrew, the sentence is very short and imperfect, “But I prayer;” I am a man of prayer; or, I betake myself to prayer. Thus “I peace” is put for “I am for peace.” — Psa 120:7.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

Psa 109:5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

Ver. 5. And they have rewarded me ] See Psa 109:4 .

Flectere naturam gratia nulla potest.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)