Psalms 109:4
In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
BSB
ASV
For my love they are my adversaries: But I give myself unto prayer.
KJV
For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.
Instead of loving me, they disparaged me: but I kept praying. In return for the benefits which I had conferred upon them, they were doing me insults. But what was I doing? I kept praying. These are the weapons of the Lord: and these are our weapons too, prayer. So then, whenever anyone persecutes us, and hates us, let us say: Instead of loving me, they disparaged me. But what was I doing? I kept praying. That I might overcome them? Far from it: for whom did the Lord pray that he might overcome?
For my love they are my adversaries,.... For the love that Christ showed to the Jews; to their bodies, in going about and healing all manner of diseases among them; to their souls, in preaching, the Gospel to them in each of their cities; and for the love he showed to mankind in coming into the world to save them, which should have commanded love again; but instead of this they became his implacable adversaries: they acted the part of Satan; they were as so many Satans to him, as the word signifies.
For my love they are my adversaries. They hate me because I love them. One of our poets says of the Lord Jesus—"Found guilty of excess of love." Surely it was his only fault. Our Lord might have used all the language of this complaint most emphatically—they hated him without a cause and returned him hatred for love. What a smart this is to the soul, to be hated in proportion to the gratitude which it deserved, hated by those it loved, and hated because of its love.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Luke 23:34Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots.
leads to
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Falling on his knees, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.
But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Through
Psalms 38:20Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.
leads to
They repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.
Through
Psalms 35:7For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
leads to
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated Me without reason.’
The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
