‘Let his days be few’: The meaning of Psalms 109:8

To appreciate how boneheaded this mistake is, you first have to actually read Psalm 109 and be able to understand it.

Ready? Great. Here are the first eleven verses:

God whom I praise, do not be silent!

Wicked and deceiving words
are being said about me,
false accusations are cast in my teeth.
Words of hate fly all around me,
though I give no cause for hostility.

In return for my friendship they denounce me,
and all I can do is pray!
They repay my kindness for evil,
and friendship with hatred.

‘Set up a wicked man against him
as accuser to stand on his right.
At his trial may he emerge as guilty,
even his prayer construed as a crime!

‘May his life be cut short,
someone else take over his office,
his children be orphaned,
his wife be widowed.

‘May his children wander perpetually,
beggars, driven from the ruins of their house,
a creditor seize all his goods,
and strangers make off with his earnings.

It goes on, but you get the idea. The devout and good-hearted writer (King David, according to Jewish tradition) is asking for God’s help because he is being falsely accused by hateful, evil enemies (the Hebrew word for “accuser” used here is actually satan).

Next, beginning with “‘Set up a wicked man against him,” several examples of the plots and hateful intentions of those evil enemies are quoted.

Obviously, anyone reading this passage is supposed to sympathize with the slandered psalmist. No one with a brain would instead adopt the “wicked and deceiving words” of the evil accusers as a slogan, right?

Wrong.

As a Christian Science Monitor story notes, the eighth verse — the one about the man’s life being cut short and someone else taking over his office — is the hot new Internet “prayer” for President Obama among some supposedly Bible-savvy dimwits.

As in, “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8”

Who does this? What kind of treasonous moron aligns himself with — literally — satan in order to both mock prayer and call for our president’s life to be cut short?

Worse, who can’t figure out that cursing Obama in this particular context identifies President Obama as the righteous and holy man?

Reportedly, they’ll be easy to spot.

Not only are these idiots too clueless to understand that they are condemned by their own Bible verse, but they are proudly advertising the fact on bumper stickers — basically taking the middleman out of the proverbial “I’m with stupid” T-shirt.

Which brings to mind verse 29:

Let my accusers be clothed in disgrace,
enveloped in a cloak of shame.

Drive safely, America.

(Note: The passages quoted above were taken from The New Jerusalem Bible, my preferred Bible translation. You can read Psalm 109 in many other translations at BibleGateway.com.)