May his days be few; may another take his office!
Psalm 109:8 sits inside a long prayer against a treacherous enemy, asking that his life be cut short and his position handed to someone else. Peter later read this line as a written instruction about Judas — so how does a prayer for a man's downfall belong in Scripture at all?
A short life, measured against eternity
The first half of the verse asks that the wicked man's days be few. One writer says the prayer is already answered, however long the man lives:
L M GrantAs for the wicked, the psalmist prays, "May his days be few." And they will be few, even if he lives on earth a hundred years. For what is that compared to eternity? "And may another take his office." Peter quotes this in Acts 1:20 and applies it to Judas, when the disciples chose Matthias to take his place as an apostle.
Peter's use of the verse
Peter had to deal with the gap Judas left. He built his case on two lines from the Psalms:
W. W. FeredayPeter quoted two verses from the book of Psalms (Ps. 69:25; Ps. 109:8), both referring to the betrayer. Psalm 109:8 said, "may another take his office." So Peter urged them to add a man to their number. It had to be someone who had been with them the whole time the Lord Jesus lived and worked among them. That man would stand with them as a witness of His resurrection.
That tells us how Peter viewed the Psalms. He treated them as words spoken in advance:
H H SnellPeter, the apostle, in Acts 1, saw from Psalms 41 and 109 that another man should take the place of Judas the betrayer. His words show that he regarded the Psalms as inspired. He said to the others, "the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas."
How the verse shaped their action
The line did not just explain what had happened; it told the disciples what to do next.
J. N. Darby"May another take his office" guided what they did. The needed qualification was the ability to testify of Jesus in His life on earth, and now of His resurrection and ascension. Who the man would be was left to the Lord: they drew lots. Two men were put forward who met the qualifications, the lot fell on Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
Some have argued that the eleven jumped ahead of God, and that Paul was the real twelfth apostle. One writer answers plainly:
William KellyThere is no reason from Scripture to believe that Peter and the others acted hastily, or were mistaken. In this very book the Spirit of God approves the choice they made that day. He never points to Paul as the missing twelfth apostle. To do so would be, in my judgment, to weaken if not to ruin the truth of God. Paul was not one of the twelve.
Judas as the pattern, not the whole picture
Peter applied one verse to one man, but the psalm's reach is wider:
Hamilton SmithJudas is one clear case of the hatred described here. It took advantage of the humility of Christ, to persecute the poor and needy man and to kill the broken in heart. So the Spirit of God has applied expressions used in these verses to Judas... Verse 20, though, shows that more than one very wicked man is in view. It takes in all the "adversaries" of the Lord who have spoken evil against His soul.
Read that way, the sentence passed on the betrayer becomes a warning with a moral logic to it:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinVerses 6-15 refer to Judas who betrayed Him, and apply to all those who reject Him. All the cursing and punishment that comes on those who reject Christ is self-chosen.
Why this prayer is not Christian language
Many readers stumble at a psalm that asks God to shorten a man's life. One writer answers by asking whose words these are:
The Bible TreasuryLook at those who try to make Christian what belongs to Israel, and who say that the psalms calling for judgment belong to a savage age! How would Ps. 109:4-13 suit you? It is opposed to the principles of the kingdom and to the spirit of the Christian. But it will be right for the faithful Jewish remnant... The whole Bible is for us, but not all about us.
Summary
- Prophecy — Peter read this line as words the Holy Spirit spoke through David about Judas long before Judas existed.
- Prayer — "may his days be few" is not spite. Measured against eternity, the wicked man's life is short however long he lives.
- Pattern — Judas is a special instance, but verse 20 widens the view to all the Lord's adversaries who have spoken evil against Him.
- Practice — "may another take his office" directed the eleven. The office stood, the man was replaced, and the lot settled who took it. Commentators here hold that the choice of Matthias was right.
- Position — the prayer for judgment is not Christian speech; the whole Bible is for us, but not every part is about us.