It's pretty cool, the first few verses (not trying to downplay these, they just aren't what I was wanting to talk about) talk about the faithfulness of God "In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." The author (or would we call the author God? well, that's a whole 'nother discussion), David, goes on to pray that God, as a God who does not take pleasure in evil, who cannot stand the arrogant, who hates all who do wrong, would banish those whose "throat is an open grave", who with "their tongue [..] speak deceit." My question was, how do we respond to this? Do we look at God who takes out His wrath on the evil because we pray for it, and are we to be people who pray for God to take out His wrath on evildoers? My immediate response was, "well no, of course not, for I was once evil, and He did not take out His wrath on me." But I don't realy know how to think about God's justice in this sense, because He certainly does punish those who do wrong, that's fairly Biblical, but are we, as Christians, to be people who desire that?
Another thought hit me as I was thinking about this.
Let me quote verses 7-10.
7 But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.
9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
Now, the thought that hit me was that in verse 9, David refers to "their mouth," "their heart," and "their throat." He is talking about "[his] enemies," so I would think that he would refer to 'their mouthS' not, "their mouth," or 'their hearts,' not "their heart." Maybe this is just a literary technique I am not aware of, or perhaps I'm simply more grammar ignorant that I had before thought, but it seems as thought David is talking about a group of people, not certain people. Perhaps he is not condemning people specifically, but people who are in sin? That wouldn't make much more sense either.
Regardless, the beauty of a blog?
You guys.
You are right to say that David is speaking to the collective enemies. Thus the use of the words: heart and mouth. I think that it is obvious that David here has lost sight of his own sin. It is clear that David is not being Poor in Spirit. He has forgotten that he is no more righteous than his enemy. As he calls for God's wrath to fall on his enemy he is equally condemning himself without knowing it. "Judge not lest you be judged." I think that no Christian should ever want others to suffer the wrath of God. The wrath of God is a necessary reaction to our sin. God is only wrathful because we have offended His holiness. It is not our function to call down the wrath of God. I think the story in Luke about the arrogant pharisee and the tax collector shows how God receives prayers like this.
ReplyDeleteTo elaborate more on why David viewed his enemies as a group: he is Jewish. The Jews are not individualistic like Americans. They do not see individuals, they see communities.
I would agree. I guess my kind of "hidden" question was more a question of how we read and interpret the Psalms, whether we say that what is said in them is always true about God, or if the prayers are always right prayers, or if we look at the Psalms and say that it is a collection of prayers by fallen people, praying to a good God.
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