Psalms 109:26-31

David called on Yahweh to save him from the distress in which he found himself-in a way that would teach his enemies that God had delivered him. This would vindicate David, and all he stood for, in their sight. Again he asked God to shame his accusers and thereby signal divine disapproval of their opposition to God’s righteous servant. David concluded with a confident assertion that God would indeed vindicate him. This would result in the psalmist thanking and praising the Lord.

Believers can pray for the vindication of righteousness with good precedent in the psalms. With the light of later revelation, we understand better than David did, that God will not always vindicate the godly in this life, but He will do so eventually (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19; et al.; cf. Acts 17:30-31; Revelation 7:17; Revelation 21:4). In David’s day and in ours, God normally vindicates the righteous before they die, but His decision to postpone vindication often makes it appear that He is unjust (cf. Job). David’s "bottom line" concern in this psalm was the vindication of God Himself (Psalms 109:31), but he also wanted relief from his oppressors. [Note: See E. Calvin Beisner, Psalms of Promise, pp. 161-82. See also Thomas L. Constable, "The Doctrine of Prayer" (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1969), pp. 12-13.]

David did what we should do: he turned his enemies over to God. We can pray that God will punish the wicked because He has promised to do so, but we should also ask Him to bring them to salvation (e.g., corrupt politicians, crooked business men, drug dealers, terrorists, et al.). Peter applied Psalms 109:8 to Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:20), to whom Jesus had previously extended grace.