Dcn Susan Erickson

Dear Siblings in Christ,

Do the Psalms ever make you uncomfortable?  I’m thinking in particular about all the references to the Psalmist’s “enemies,” and his pleas that God will punish them and put them to shame. This sentiment pops up again in the very first verses of today’s Psalm for Morning Prayer:  “Unto thee, O Lord, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in thee/O let me not be confounded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me.”  (Ps. 25: 1-2)

It seems jarring that we should continue to read the Psalms—at least the parts about enemies—when we’re trying to practice a Gospel of love. And in fact, the Daily Office often brackets those verses in the Psalms that inveigh against the Psalmist’s enemies and pray for their downfall, signaling that it’s permissible to omit them from recitation.

But today’s reading from 1 Samuel, which tells the well-known story of David’s rise to fame and Saul’s increasing hatred for him, started me wondering who is meant by “enemy.”

I’ve always felt a little sorry for Saul. First God tells Samuel to anoint him as Israel’s king. But then God withdraws his favor from Saul (for a reason—Saul has failed to follow God’s commands); instead, “the LORD was with” David. In today’s reading Saul tries to kill David twice with his spear while David plays on the lyre (perhaps composing one of the psalms in his head!). Yet Saul can’t ignore David’s successes, and he gives his daughter Michal to Saul in marriage, hoping she’ll distract David from his military prowess. When he sees that Michal truly loves David, Saul seems almost surprised. “"So Saul was David’s enemy from that time forward.” (1 Samuel 18: 29)

But Saul is his own worst enemy. We read earlier in this chapter that he was afflicted with an evil spirit and that “he raved within his house … .” Saul cannot tolerate that God should favor someone else; today we might say that he had an inferiority complex.

We know that even David did not lead a totally exemplary life—far from it. As the author of at least some of the Psalms, he may have been reflecting back not only on his external enemies, like Saul, but on his own warring spirit. “For thy Name’s sake, O Lord/be merciful unto my sin, for it is great.”  (Ps 25: 11)

I invite us to consider that sometimes, even without willing it, we are our own enemies, for “[we] do not do the good [we] want, but the evil [we] do not want is what [we] do.” (Romans 7: 19) This is true not only for us as individuals but also collectively:  sometimes we participate without realizing it in social evil and thus become enemies of the communities to which we also belong.

Perhaps we can read those troublesome verses in the Psalms in a different light, and pray for grace to embody Christ’s love. That would truly be a triumph over “enemies.”

Faithfully,

—Dcn Susan