More On Enemies...

Psalm 109

This Psalm is quite an expression of David’s pain! Here we see that his enemies are at full force and openly cursing him. No longer are they quietly, subversively speaking against him, but now they’ve moved into the open speaking words of hate.

Psalm 109:2-5, “For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.  They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.”

This Psalm and Kidner’s commentary that I used shed light on the question of our enemies. How do we define them? And more importantly, how are we to treat them?

We see in the above verses how David defined these enemies. They “spoke against him with deceitful mouths and lying tongues.” They encircled him with “words of hate.” But I think the more important phrases follow. They “attacked without cause” and “in return for my love they accuse me.”

Let’s look at verse 8. “May his days be few; may another take his office!” This is actually a prophecy of Judas. A portion of this verse is quoted in Act 1:20 when the apostles replaced Judas with Matthias. So if Psalm 109:8 points to Judas, then we must also remember who Judas betrayed with a deceitful mouth, a lying tongue, and words of hate. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was the object of Judas’ hatred. We know from our study of God’s word that David is one of the closest human pictures of Christ that ever lived. And this Psalm makes more sense when we understand it that way.

We have a tendency to place ourselves beside David in these verses. We have all felt from time to time “encircled by hatred.” As part of the collective of Christians in the world, we feel marginalized, mocked, and mistreated because of our name. But we fall short in the comparison. The words “without cause” may sometimes be true of us, but fundamentally we know that Romans 3:23 is still true. So rather than compare ourselves to David, would we dare to be so bold to compare ourselves to Christ? And if we boldly dare, then will “without cause” still stand? It would not.

So how did Jesus treat his enemy? I believe verses 4-5 help us remember. “In return for my love” and “hatred for my love.” Jesus pulled Judas close, walked with him, fellowshipped with him, ate with him, and even served him by washing his feet. Never once did Jesus betray Judas. When Jesus mentioned that one would betray him, the disciples didn’t know who it was. It seems there were no offhanded remarks made behind his back or any separation that would mark him as unsafe. No. Jesus loved him and he is our example. 

However, the words of Psalm 109 are still standing in scripture for us today.  But why? I believe Derek Kidner helps us understand. 

We therefore take these words to be David’s own, and while giving due weight to the element of righteous anger and of rhetorical hyperbole… [they seem to be] recorded for our learning and not for our imitation; yet voicing the cry of innocent blood which God is pledged to hear, and thereby becoming God’s mouth-piece in pronouncing judgement on the unrepentant. This is not our function under the gospel, for we are to ‘bless, and curse not.’ The psalm may even shock us into more fervent compliance with our instructions, as ministers of reconciliation. (p.389)

Maybe these words put our feelings onto paper so that we know that God sees us. He knows our pain. He hears our cries. The Holy Spirit speaks these words on our behalf. However, when we remember that our standard is Christ, our mouths should be closed and our knees bowed. For while the world hates the Christ that saved us, we were once part of that world and an enemy of the Savior. Romans 5:8, “…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

Sisters, our only option is follow Christ wherever he goes. We follow him to the enemy. We love the enemy as Christ has loved us, and we leave the judgement to him.

Quotations were taken from Psalms 73-150: A Commentary, by Deriek Kidner.