Psalm 109
This is a
difficult psalm for me to read. I’m
going to be quite honest here. This is a
psalm to which I have a fairly negative reaction. So, as you read through this post, keep that
in mind.
I don’t
really have an issue with what David says in the psalm. After all, we know from the account in 1 and
2 Samuel that his time as king was fraught with antagonism. We know that there were many plots against
his life. Plots were made before he was
king. Plots were made after he was
king. We know that his reign was not an
easy one.
Knowing
that there were plots against his life, I don’t also have a problem with David
feeling antagonism against those who are against him. I think that is also a pretty natural
feeling. When people rise up against us,
I think that it is natural to dislike them.
It is natural to see their faults.
It is natural to want vindication.
It is natural to desire that they get what they deserve.
So from a
human perspective, I really don’t have an issue with most of this psalm. This psalm reads as a human being responding
quite naturally as human beings will. I
don’t see anything within this psalm that is out of the ordinary for human
nature.
However,
my problem with this psalm is that I believe Jesus calls us to a higher standard
than this. Jesus tells us to turn the
other cheek. In a similar line of
thinking, Paul tells us to show love to our enemies; for when we do “we heap
burning coals upon their head.” For the
record, this is a citation from Proverbs 25:21-22. Jesus tells us that if someone asks us to
walk a mile, then we should walk two. If
someone demands our tunic, we should give him our tunic and our cloak as well.
It is
absolutely human nature to be antagonistic to our enemies. But since it is human nature, when we follow
human nature how are we different from the rest of the world? We are called to be God’s people; pointing to
God rather than pointing to human nature.
I think
that is my primary issue with this psalm.
Like I said, I don’t have any particular issue with anything that is
said. From the perspective of human
nature, it absolutely is spot on as to how David would have been feeling about
his enemies when they rose up against him.
From that perspective I think this psalm is a valuable historical account
of David’s life. But theologically
speaking, I think there is much we should learn contrary to the example of
human nature that we find on parade within this psalm.
<><
This psalm reminds me of the song "ill pray for you", where hee's praying for his enemy to have all sorts of bad things. I see your point on this one. I also noticed this one has virtually no praise to start it (to get into the right mindset, odour your theory in the last few hold)... I wonder if that's not a cooincidence? If this is a "self-monger" time in David's life. I do find it encouraging David has "bad days", like this & some other stuff. That are examples in the Bible are human I think makes them easier to accept, and also let's us know that we can make mistakes and still be "a person after god's heart"
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your reflection, Tom. I haven't heard the song you reference, so I'll need to look it up. I hadn't picked up on the idea that there is virtually no praise to start ... which is an incredibly interesting point to ponder. I think you are right. David was in a bad frame of mind, he wrote this to get it off of his chest, and it shows.
ReplyDeleteMind you, I'm not saying it's not "Biblical." Nor am i saying that it shouldn't be a part of scripture. As you say, I think there is value in having these psalms be a part of scripture because they allow us times like this to reflect on humanity - even in our "bad" or "normal" days. It is good to remember that life is not spiritual mountaintop experiences. But as you say, we can still be a person after God's own heart in spite of our human nature.