Psalm 109

Whoops. Lazy. Must do better than this. Anyway, psalm 109.

An imprecatory psalm, intended to bring judgement down on false accusers. I'm not quite sure how to square this off against Christianity. It doesn't really fit with Jesus' "turn the other cheek" attitude. Basically, this starts out with a claim against false accusers. It goes on to level a very heavy curse against a particular accuser (never named, but it's attributed to David so someone has probably figured it out with a bit of effort). This curse runs the gamut, from cutting off the man's inheritance, killing him and leaving his wife widowed and his children starving and begging in foreign lands, all the way through bringing his ancestors' sins up before God to accuse them as well. At least, that's how I read it. The last third or so is a request for kindness and leniency on behalf of the psalmist, and a promise to praise God before the masses. And even buried in that sweet last third, there's a verse of contention asking that his accusers be "clothed in dishonor" and covered in their own shame.

This is one of those OT chapters that isn't really a fit for Christianity. How does that square off against Christ's forgiveness? Well, it doesn't. As far as I can see. I suspect it's kept around because at the time that the church decided on the canon this must have been an old favorite. Things were quite different then, or anyway different from the way they are in modern industrialized democracies. I know there is a coming judgement and the unbeliever will be lost, but somehow I find it hard to fathom that God might rain down punishment in this life on one of his own at the behest of another of his own. It just doesn't feel right. So to cut this short, I'll leave it at that. I need to get on to Matthew or it's liable not to get done. Again. I'll get back around to this again eventually.