Psalm 109 is probably not anyone's favorite psalm. While it is not sung as infrequently as, say, Psalm 88, it is not in the "regular rotation" of psalms used for congregational singing. This may be the case because the Psalm is calling for Yahweh's judgment. We also know from Acts 1:20 that this Psalm is about Jesus Christ. This should not surprise us, but often it does because we're used to thinking that the psalms are about us. We sing them as we do hymns, with ourselves as the subject. And when we do that, we become uncomfortable with those calls for judgment. If the psalms are about us and our various spiritual conditions, then Psalm 109 is rightly considered an oddity. Yet if we rid ourselves of the notion that the psalms are directly about us, then we may realize that the psalms are all about the Messiah. We may only sing them in him.

If we move away from a subjective understanding of the psalms, we may be able to understand David's statement at the end of verse 4. Literally it reads, "I am a prayer." Prayer, in some sense, defines the essence of the Messiah's being. This being the case, Paul's exhortation to "pray continually" (1 Thess 5:17) makes more sense. It has to do with being united to Christ. Similarly, Paul calls the church to be devoted to prayer (1 Cor 7:5), because she is devoted to Christ. When we are given an instance of the church's devotion to prayer, the church is praying Psalm 2 and calling for God's judgment on unbelieving Israel and the Roman empire (Acts 4:23-31).

Unfortunately, our understanding of the psalms and prayer has gone astray. Prayer has become a "spiritual discipline" which is good for us. It is, in the words of a rather gooey hymn, a "sweet hour" that takes you away from a "world of care." Prayer seems to ping-pong between being a discipline by which to attain stoic detachment and a mystical experience of losing oneself. Neither is biblical. Mystical and stoic influences have produced a radically subjective understanding of prayer. Gone is the notion of the Christian as a warrior who wrestles, even in prayer. Gone is the idea that in prayer the Christian's words are, by the Spirit, united to the intercession of the One who says, "I am a prayer." Instead, prayer gives you peace, calm, and detachment. Certainly prayer has an effect on the believer. In prayer we draw near to the living God who is a consuming fire. This is something that cannot leave you unaffected. Yet when this effect becomes the primary purpose of prayer, we have crossed the line from biblical religion to a sentimental mush.

Prayer is personal and objective. It operates in the sphere of the covenant. Look at Psalm 109: what does the Messiah do? He prays that God would fulfill his promises to his faithful people and would pour out his curses on covenant-breakers. Praying as we are taught in the psalms is to call on God to judge in terms of the covenant. What are the so-called historical psalms but long celebrations of the LORD'S faithfulness to the covenant, a faithfulness shown in both blessing and curse? Prayers offered in and with the Messiah are legal petitions for God's favourable judgment. It is small wonder that when Solomon dedicates the temple, one of the recurring phrases is "May your eyes be open." God's eyes are opened so that he can render judgment rightly and mercifully (1 Kings 8:32, 34, 36). This is the nature of prayer throughout the Old and New Testaments.

We pray in him who is a prayer, and we pray in terms of the covenant. Our prayers are not intended primarily for self-improvement or for peace of mind, but they are objective, legal petitions to the Judge of all the earth. This also means that what we pray is limited by God's Word. Over and over again, the prayers of the Bible are appeals to God to fulfill his promises and his warnings in the Messiah. God has sworn that he will be exalted on the earth. Our requests should follow this path. In all our prayers, we ask God to render judgments according to his commands and promises.

This also means that we should not shy away from the imprecations in the psalms. Some find it hard to pray "May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children" (v. 12). It's not "nice"; it certainly isn't something you'd find in any self-respecting hymn. But the imprecations are prayers that ask God to fulfill his promise to Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse." The curses are simply the obverse of the prayers for blessing. In both, we ask God to judge according to his Word. The world is governed by God's judgments. In prayer, the church participates in Christ in the government of the world.