Psalms 109:12
“Let there be no one to extend kindness to him, neither let there be anyone to have pity on his fatherless children.”
What does Psalms 109:12 mean?
This is one of the harshest prayers in the Psalms, and it can feel disturbing at first. The psalmist is calling down suffering not just on an enemy, but on that person's vulnerable children, and asking that no one step in to help. It's worth knowing that the Psalms often give us space to cry out our darkest, most vengeful feelings to God, even feelings we'd never actually want carried out. The psalmist here is expressing profound betrayal and rage, pouring out the worst of human anger into prayer rather than into action. Many scholars believe this whole psalm (starting at verse 6) is meant to be read as the words of someone who has been deeply wronged, letting God hear the full intensity of their pain, not necessarily as a model for how we should act.