Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-083 Sunday 28 Apr 2002

Reading: PSALM 109 – BITTERNESS AND BETRAYAL

(From ‘Encounter with God’ Bible Reading Notes)

‘Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly fine’ (F Von Logau, 1604-1655).

This psalm describes a situation of false accusation, in which a bitter, humiliated, and broken sufferer finds himself repaid ‘evil for good, and hatred for … friendship’ (v 5). His response, which takes up the majority of the psalm (vs 6-20), is to invoke calamity and divine judgement upon both the accuser and his family. It is less problematic to read these curses as the words of the enemy (as do the NRSV and the NIV marginal notes), but more honest to human experience to take them at face value, as words of rage – and outrage – in the face of injustice and betrayal.

Scripture sometimes describes the wicked being caught in their own snares, even as Jesus warns that we will be measured by the same standard with which we have judged others(1). Thus, as with the psalmist’s wish for his accuser, judgement consists of being treated in the same way that one has dealt with others.

It is important to remember however that the psalmist himself is powerless, and that even in his deepest rage he can do no more than implore God for justice, in the assurance that God is indeed just. For whether we feel comforted or discomfited by the thought, the scriptural principle is clear. ‘Vengeance is mine, says the Lord, I will repay'(2).

The psalmist’s agony resembles that of Jesus himself. But Jesus refused to follow his example, insisting instead that his followers love their enemies and pray for those who hate them(3). Fittingly the New Testament quotes this psalm just once, in Acts 1:20, with reference to Judas. With Jesus having taught a better way the psalm finds its final meaning, not as a model for our conduct, but in the fate of Jesus’ own betrayer.

When you are deeply betrayed, is there more comfort in demanding immediate vengeance, or in knowing that God’s justice will ultimately prevail?

(1) Ps 9:16; Prov 18:7; Matt 7:1 (2) Rom 12:19; Heb 10:30; Deut 32:35 (3) Luke 6:35; 23:34

– Rev Dr Michael Knowles

Copyright Scripture Union, 2002

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