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Psalm 109:15
Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off their memory from the earth;
13Let his posterity be cut off. In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by the LORD. Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off their memory from the earth;
16because he didn’t remember to show kindness, but persecuted the poor and needy man, the broken in heart, to kill them.
17Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him. He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him.
Notice
The plea to keep sins before God while erasing a family's memory is severe, especially as the next verse names persecution of the poor.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What troubles you about the plea to erase a family's memory from the earth?
Write on thisHow does the persecution named in verse 16 shape your reading of this plea?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Ecclesiastes 9:5For the living know that they will die, but the dead don’t know anything, neither do they have any more a reward; for their memory is forgotten.Both speak of memory being lost, though Ecclesiastes describes the dead being forgotten and the psalm asks God to erase memory.
Psalm 34:16The LORD’s face is against those who do evil, to cut off their memory from the earth.Both speak of the LORD cutting off memory from the earth, with Psalm 34 naming those who do evil.
Psalm 90:8You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.Both describe sins before God: Psalm 109 asks that they remain there, while Psalm 90 acknowledges their exposure in his presence.
Job 18:17His memory will perish from the earth. He will have no name in the street.Both describe the loss of earthly remembrance, with Job adding the disappearance of a person's name from the street.
Proverbs 10:7The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.Both connect wrongdoing with a ruined memory or name, while Proverbs contrasts this with the blessed memory of the righteous.
Psalm 51:9Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.Both address sins before God, but their requests run in opposite directions: keep them present or blot them out.
Ruth 4:10Moreover, Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, I have purchased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead on his inheritance, that the name of the …Both concern a name being cut off, though Ruth records an act to preserve a dead man's name.
2 Samuel 4:11How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house on his bed, should I not now require his blood from your hand, and rid the earth …Both connect lethal wrongdoing with a demand for judgment that removes the wrongdoer or his memory from the earth.
Job 13:12Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes. Your defenses are defenses of clay.The connection is slight: Job dismisses memorable sayings as ashes, while the psalm seeks the destruction of a family's memory.
Isaiah 65:15You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen, and the Lord GOD will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,Both link divine judgment with the fate of a name: erased from memory in the psalm, left as a curse in Isaiah.
Deuteronomy 32:34“Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures?Both use language of keeping something present or preserved, though Deuteronomy does not identify what is stored within this verse.
Jeremiah 2:22For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord GOD.Both portray iniquity remaining before God, with Jeremiah declaring that washing cannot remove its mark.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
These words are hard to pray. They ask God for judgment against a persecutor and his family; they give you no command to carry out that destruction.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 109:15. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
Keep goingPsalm 109 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).