Psalms 109:17 Meaning: What We Love Finds Us

The first verb, loved, translates the Hebrew ahab, the same word used for God’s love for His people and for the command to love your neighbour. Here it describes a person who set his heart on cursing, who drew emotional nourishment from wishing others harm. The word for cursing, qelalah, means vilification or execration, the opposite of the blessing (berakah) he refused to delight in. The verb delighted, chafetz, carries the sense of taking pleasure in something, bending one’s will toward it gladly. The verse forces a quiet question: what do I truly love? What do I delight in when no one is watching? The grammar leaves room to read the second half as an invitation to consider the outcome of a life shaped by those affections.

Christians have read this verse in two main ways. Some, following the Septuagint and early translations, see it as a prayer, the psalmist asking God to let the enemy’s curse return on his own head. Others, including several Reformed commentators, note that the Hebrew verbs can be read as simple past tense: “He loved cursing, and it has come to him.” In that reading, the verse is not a wish but a statement of how life works. Many Church Fathers and later interpreters, including Calvin and Gill, connected the verse to Judas and the Jewish leaders, understanding it as prophetic. Across traditions, readers agree that the verse reflects a principle of divine justice, though they differ on whether the psalmist is praying it or observing it. Both readings caution against delighting in harm toward others.

A common misreading is that this verse gives Christians permission to pray curses over people who hurt them. In fact, the psalmist is either crying out for God’s justice or stating a law of moral consequence, and he does so in the context of a personal lament, not a command for all believers. Jesus explicitly taught His followers to bless those who curse them (Luke 6:28). This verse can warn us about the danger of a cursing heart, but it is not a model for our own prayers against enemies.

This week, pay attention to what you rehearse in your mind. When someone wrongs you, do you let the replay spin toward resentment, mentally wishing them ill? The man in this verse did not stumble into cursing; he loved it. He delighted in the absence of blessing. That kind of inner posture grows slowly, one small choice at a time. You might try a simple practice: when a bitter thought about someone rises, gently replace it with a silent blessing, even a short one like “Lord, give them what they need.” It is not pretending the hurt away. It is choosing a different delight.