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Psalm 109:19

Let it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself, for the belt that is always around him.

17Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him. He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him.
18He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment. It came into his inward parts like water, like oil into his bones.
19Let it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself, for the belt that is always around him.
20This is the reward of my adversaries from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my soul.
21But deal with me, GOD the Lord, for your name’s sake, because your loving kindness is good, deliver me;
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← Psalm 109:18Psalm 109:20 →
Notice

The belt that stays around him makes this prayer for judgment severe: the speaker asks that an adversary’s own cursing remain as close as his clothes.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What troubles you about the request that cursing stay around this adversary like a belt?

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How does the adversary’s love of cursing in verse 17 shape your reading of this request?

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What would entrusting judgment to God look like when someone’s words have harmed you?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

4 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
Psalm 109:29Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor. Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.Both verses picture judgment as clothing, with cursing here and dishonor and shame in the later prayer.
Psalm 132:18I will clothe his enemies with shame, but on himself, his crown will shine.”Both passages use clothing to portray judgment on enemies, though one is a plea and the other a declaration.
Psalm 35:26Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.Both prayers ask that adversaries wear the consequences of their hostility like clothes.
Psalm 109:18He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment. It came into his inward parts like water, like oil into his bones.The preceding verse names cursing as the garment; verse 19 asks that this covering remain around the adversary.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Write a prayer entrusting judgment to God

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Encouragement

This is a harsh plea against someone who loved cursing. The speaker takes that plea to YHWH, then asks for deliverance through God’s loving kindness.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 109:19. 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).